Washington's Jimmy Lake under fire for pushing player in the facemask
The incident occurred after the first-half kickoff
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Washington football coach Jimmy Lake is facing scrutiny after he appeared to slap one of his players in the facemask and push him back toward the bench during the team’s loss to Oregon on Saturday.
Lake was seen running down the sideline at linebacker Ruperake Fuavai after the player had gotten into a skirmish with another Oregon player after the first-half kickoff. Fuavai was already on the sideline away from the play when Lake came rushing in.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ruperake Fuavai of the Washington Huskies during the game against the Arizona Wildcats at Husky Stadium on Nov. 21, 2020, in Seattle, Washington. (Getty Images)
Lake claimed after the game he was trying to keep the player back.
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"I went in to separate them and push them back. After that, we settled down a little bit. That was our deal all week long was, 'We got to have poise.' We knew this was going to be a very heated matchup and there was going to be a lot of trash talking. And when we stepped in there, we were glad that a penalty wasn't thrown on our guys to put us back even further on that kickoff return," Lake told reporters, via ESPN.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Washington head coach Jimmy Lake talks with field judge Jeffrey Yock and referee Michael Mothershed during the first half against Oregon, Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)
He contended he didn’t strike Fuavai.
"I separated them. I didn't strike him. I separated them."
Washington athletic director Jen Cohen released a statement on the incident.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Washington head coach Jimmy Lake during a game against the UCLA Bruins on Oct. 16, 2021, at Husky Stadium in Seattle. (Jesse Beals/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
"We are aware of an interaction between Head Coach Jimmy Lake and a student-athlete during the first half of Saturday’s game. We have high expectations of the conduct of our coaches and we are working to gather more information on this matter," Cohen said, via The Athletic.
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Fuavai is a freshman linebacker from Auburn, Washington.