Dissly On TD ‘I Don’t Remember What Happened’
September 18, 2016 | Football, General
By Mason Kelley
GoHuskies.com
For Will Dissly, the way the play unfolded was simple.
"I caught it and scored," the tight end said. "I don't really remember what happened."
Well, to recap, in the fourth quarter of Washington's 41-3 win over Portland State, the junior caught a pass from K.J. Carta-Samuels. Then he turned up field, broke a tackle using a Heisman-like stiff arm and rumbled 27 yards into the end zone.
And, while Dissly might not remember the details of the touchdown, he will never forget being mobbed by his teammates in the end zone.
"It feels really good," he said. "It was a good team win and I'm just happy to celebrate with my guys."
For Dissly, the touchdown was nice – he credited Carta-Samuels with a "great throw" – but the former defensive lineman doesn't play football for the Huskies because of potential individual accolades. He simply wants to win and, if along the way he can make a few plays that just makes the experience a little sweeter.
So, when asked about finding the end zone for the first time in college career, he crafted his answer to include his teammates.
"We all work so hard," he said. "We've all got each other's back. We're thankful when those touchdowns come to us."
But, while Dissly was humble after Washington's third straight win to open the season, his teammates were quick to praise his performance, with a little playful teasing thrown in for fun.
As defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski walked by outside the locker room, he called the tight end "twinkle toes," while linebacker Keishawn Bierria said, "He went from getting sacks to scoring touchdowns," right before Myles Gaskin came by to pat him on the back.
"Seeing him out there running that sideline and scoring, that was amazing," Bierria said. "I was excited."
The late-game touchdown put an exclamation on another 40-point performance for the Huskies, who have now hit that mark in six straight games, which is the longest current streak among FBS teams.
"It was awesome," tight ends coach Jordan Paopao said. "I think the coolest thing about that was to see Darrell (Daniels), Drew (Sample) and Jeff (Lindquist) all sprint to go celebrate with him. I think it just speaks to the continuity, family and brotherhood we have within our unit."
Paopao was then asked about the athletic move Dissly put on a defender to secure his path to the end zone.
"It was good to see him roll and get some yards after contact," Paopao said. "What's deceiving about Will is he can go. He can run. He's primarily a blocking tight end, but he's got soft hands and when he gets in open space he's a hard man to bring down. He's a pretty big dude."
For Dissly, though, with Pac-12 play on the horizon, it is already time to move forward.
"We're excited to get into conference play and see what we can do," he said. "It's been a good three games, a nice little warmup, but Pac-12 play is a different ballgame. We're ready to go."
