Jedd Fisch shares Washington never received apology from Weber State on Quentin Moore injury

The Washington Huskies‘ 2024 season got off to an ominous start when starting tight end Quentin Moore went down with an injury on just the 12th play of the season against Weber State. Now, he’s returning and the hope is he can make a major impact next year after losing his entire season last year.

Washington head coach Jedd Fisch never ended up hearing from anyone at Weber State about the injury. That’s behind them now, though, and the hope is that Moore can make an impact this upcoming season.

“Well, my hope is that Quentin Moore is going to be our starting Y-tight end,” Jedd Fisch said. “Our on the ball, physical, tight end. Similar to the role of Keleki [Latu], that Keleki had to take over, but even more so of that ability to be a great pass protector and play action. Be a great run blocker. Then, be able to give us some stuff vertically down the field. That’s my hope.”

Quentin Moore went into the 2024 season having mostly acted as a blocking tight end throughout his career. In fact, in 14 games the previous season, he only had two receptions for 10 yards and a touchdown. It was on his first reception of the 2024 season, which went for 14 yards when he was injured.

The play itself was a fluke injury. On the broadcast, Weber State linebacker Garrett Beck suddenly appeared and undercut Moore. That led to the injury. It also should have been a penalty because Garrett Beck wasn’t eligible to be on the field that play. After review, the Big Ten found Weber State started the play with 10 men on the field and Beck had come on from the sideline during the play.

“It was such a shame,” Fisch said. “It was the 12th play of the first game of the year and we lose our starting tight end to a fluke play. My thought is that if we can get him to where we think he can be, his contribution is going to be significant.”

Clearly, the injury to Moore shouldn’t have ever occurred because the player who tackled him shouldn’t have been there to make that hit in the first place. Despite that, Fisch shared that he’s heard very little about it. Other than officials saying it was an illegal play, there has never been an apology. Of course, that wouldn’t have un-injured Moore.

“Yeah, that never got addressed ever since from that game,” Fisch said. “It was just the officials coming back to me and telling me that it was something that is illegal, but that was the extent.”

Officials on the field didn’t notice the illegal substitution at the time, so no penalty was called. Still, after the fact, the Big Ten released a statement to On Montlake after the fact, admitting to the error.

“With 8:03 remaining in the second quarter of Saturday’s game between Washington and Weber State, a Weber State defender entered the field after the ball was snapped and eventually made the tackle following a 14-yard completion,” the Big Ten said. “The late addition of the eleventh defender was not seen by officials. The play would not have been stopped in progress if the illegal substitution had been observed. At the conclusion of the play, a five-yard penalty from the previous spot should have been assessed to Weber State under Rule 3, Section 5, Article 2.a.” 

Hopefully, situations like this won’t arise in the future for Washington or any other team across the Big Ten. Luckily, Quentin Moore was able to return for the 2025 season and look to make his impact felt for Jedd Fisch’s second season leading the program.