University of Washington football coach Chris Petersen suspended sophomore quarterback Cyler Miles for the Huskies’ season opener at Hawaii. The favorite to succeed Keith Price, Miles already served a three-month suspension due to a pair of post-Super Bowl assault incidents on the UW campus. Miles was not charged and was reinstated May 14 after missing all of spring practice.
Miles’ suspension means that sophomore Jeff Lindquist or redshirt freshman Troy Williams, who shared reps during the spring, will start at Hawaii when the Huskies begin their first season under Petersen. Neither Lindquist nor Williams has completed a pass in a college game.
“I think we took some pretty hard action when things were still being decided,” Petersen told reporters Thursday in Los Angeles at the Pac-12 Conference media days. “He didn’t do anything with us football-wise (during spring ball). You have a brand-new staff teaching this and you take a guy out and give him nothing at that position — it’s pretty tough.
“And then we’re also going to sit him for the first game. I think (Miles) will learn.”
Another player, wide receiver Damore’ea Stringfellow, pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor assault after his attorney told a King County judge that Stringfellow was “backing up his quarterback.” Stringfellow admitted knocking down a woman during a bonfire celebration. Miles was present, wearing Denver Broncos gear, but was not charged due to a lack of evidence.
Stringfellow subsequently announced that he would transfer to Nebraska. But he changed his mind and is now enrolled at the University of Mississippi.
A sophomore from Centennial, CO., Miles started one game last season, a 69-27 victory over Oregon State, in place of the injured Price. Overall, Miles saw action in eight contests, completing 37 of 61 passes for 418 yards and four touchdowns and two interceptions.
“That quarterback position is wide open,” Petersen said. “We need to get Miles in there competing with those guys to see what he brings to the table.
“He’s done everything right, without question, or he wouldn’t be with us. Guys make mistakes, we all know that, certainly in that age group. We always say that the age group we’re dealing with, for the most part, is the dumbest age group in America.
“It just happens to be so public. Guys make mistakes, but the important thing is that we learn from it.”
Miles’ suspension was first reported by The Seattle Times.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="2187495 https://sportspressnw.wpengine.com/?p=2187495">4 Comments
I guess a wrist-tap suspension for one nonconference game is better than nothing, “discipline” being a relative term and everything.
BTW, Stringfellow has transferred to Ole Miss, the same fine folks who looked the other way when they brought in Jeremiah Masoli from Oregon. Maybe they figured there wasn’t as much stuff worth ripping off from students in Oxford than there was in Eugene so Masoli wasn’t as tempted.
Miles got lucky when no charges were filed. He was so foolish to provoke trouble by wading into Seahawks fans wearing Broncos gear. But dumb isn’t criminal.
Meanwhile we added a link to a website interview with Stringfellow’s mother. If you can figure out what happened with his transfer, you’re smarter than me.
I guess the part of this I’ll never really understand is how this guy could possibly come to the conclusion that it was a good idea to go start trouble with his OWN fans. Remember these were husky fans that had cheered for him, on the campus paying for his education. I work at the UW & most students were pretty high on this guy & felt he was going to be a step up up from Price. Now they just hope he goes away so they aren’t forced to root for him.
Let’s see…he beats up Seahawk and UW fans and plays for a Washington team. That builds fan support. Got Brains?.?.?
Good luck getting tips from Russell Wilson.