How UW tight end Quentin Moore learned lessons of patience through fatherhood
Washington tight end Quentin Moore elevates for a one-handed catch as he warms-up before the start of a game against UC Davis Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025 in Seattle. (Jennifer Buchanan / The Seattle Times)
By Andy Yamashita Seattle Times staff reporter
Quentin Moore never saw the defender approaching. How was he supposed to, when Weber State linebacker Garrett Beck was on the sideline when the play started?
With 8:03 remaining during the second quarter of Washington’s 2024 season-opening game against Weber State, Moore — now a seventh-year tight end with the Huskies — ran a shallow drag route across the middle of the field.
Before he received the ball from quarterback Will Rogers, Moore checked to see if any defenders were nearby. He thought he was alone.
“There was nobody, didn’t see anybody,” Moore said Tuesday, speaking for the first time since his injury. “So I caught the ball, turned my head. And the next thing I know, I looked to my left and there was a guy diving at my knee. Saw him a little too late. Didn’t get my knees up. And that was it from there.”
Moore suffered an MCL injury and damaged the cartilage behind his left knee cap when Beck — who illegally entered the field — hit him. Moore was eventually ruled out for the season, despite initial optimism he might return in 2024.
The former Inglemoor High standout returned to Washington in 2025, where he’s been a crucial part of UW’s prolific rushing game and will be a key factor when Washington attempts to win back the Apple Cup against cross-state rival Washington State at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in Pullman. But even returning to the field was an arduous journey, Moore said.
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“It was rough, but I feel like I needed it,” Moore said. “I feel like I matured a lot from that process. The hardest thing for me was the mental side of things. The recovery was the recovery, like the physical part. But the mental thing was the hardest part for me that I had to get over.”
Moore’s difficult recovery stemmed from pressure he’d put on himself because of his new family situation. Shortly before UW embarked on its 2024 campaign, Moore learned he’d be welcoming his first child, a daughter.
It seemed like perfect timing. Moore, then a sixth-year senior, spent the previous two seasons stuck in the log jam at tight end behind Devin Culp and Jack Westover. His game-winning 1-yard touchdown catch during the 2023 Pac-12 championship game against Oregon seemed to put him in position for a breakout 2024 season under coach Jedd Fisch after Moore chose to stay at UW after Kalen DeBoer’s defection to Alabama.
So Moore expected to have a strong final collegiate season before departing to pursue a professional career and support his family. His plans went up in smoke less than 22 minutes into UW’s opening game.
“That season was really big for me, really important,” he said. “I feel like it just got taken from me.”
Moore said Fisch told him the team suspected Beck illegally entered the game to make the tackle while he was receiving treatment on the UW sideline. Moore said he was simply in shock watching the play in film review following the game.
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Two weeks later, Moore felt even worse as he watched from the sidelines as UW fail to execute a speed-option pitch on fourth-and-one from the WSU 1-yard line late in the fourth quarter while trailing 24-19.
The play failed because Husky transfer tight end Keleki Latu, playing in Moore’s place, blocked the wrong player.
“You grow up in Washington wanting to play in the Apple Cup your whole life,” Moore said. “For you to just be sitting on the sideline and then end up losing the game, it was just really hard.”
Meanwhile, Moore’s rehabilitation wasn’t going well. He’d decided to put off season-ending surgery and was targeting a Nov. 9 game against Penn State as a potential return date. However, after his knee didn’t respond as well as hoped to treatment, Moore and the coaching staff decided surgery was the best option.
Moore’s recovery still wasn’t straightforward. He began doing return-to-run workouts during winter conditioning, but suffered a minor right knee injury during his rehabilitation because his body was overcompensating. He was limited throughout spring practices, though Moore said it was mainly out of caution.
“I had to figure out why this was happening to me,” Moore said. “Not feel sorry for myself.”
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He found answers through fatherhood. Moore’s daughter, Tatum, was born April 6 and the Kenmore native said she’s changed his outlook on life. He said he’s become more patient and added having her around throughout his recovery process made his rehabilitation process easier.
“I’m a happier person than I’ve ever been,” he said.
Moore’s back on the football field, too. He played 29 snaps during UW’s 2025 season-opening win against Colorado State and 27 against UC Davis. Moore hasn’t caught a pass yet, but Pro Football Focus graded him as fourth-best run blocker this year.
It’s another sign of growth for Moore, who arrived at Washington with little to no blocking experience and said he had to learn by watching former Husky Cade Otton. Earlier this month, Fisch praised Moore’s ability to combo block with both tackles, but particularly with right tackle Drew Azzopardi. Washington has rushed for 189 yards behind its tight ends — usually Moore — this season according to PFF.
“He’s one of the best tight ends,” Fisch said, “I’ve ever been around in college football.”
Transfer portal complaints
The NCAA officially approved the elimination of the spring transfer portal window Wednesday, shifting college football toward a single portal window in January though final dates were not confirmed.
Fisch, a fervent supporter of one transfer portal window in the spring, discussed his disappointment in the proposal Monday.
“Almost every one of the Big Ten coaches felt January was not the right time,” Fisch said. “I still believe that.”
Fisch argued an early January portal takes focus away from preparing teams for bowl games, as programs will now need to begin negotiating contracts and maintaining their rosters in December instead.
He also said any new coaching staffs have almost no time to build a foundation of their program to present new players if they aren’t hired before the portal opens. In 2024, Fisch was officially hired by Washington on Jan. 14 and took 14 players out of the spring transfer portal to bolster the Huskies’ depleted roster.
But his largest complaint was that a January portal is a “monster disadvantage” for any schools on a quarter schedule like Washington, which begins its winter quarter Jan. 5.
“To get guys into school is going to be extremely challenging,” Fisch said. “So we’re going to have to figure out how that’s going to work. Are guys going to spend a few months in Seattle without being in school? There’s a lot of things that went into these decisions that for me, I just don’t see it. I don’t see the argument that you have to know who your team is Jan. 10.
“I think we do know who our team is. I think 95% of our team would stay if it was a spring portal window. And I think the 5% you brought in would just be people who are going to aid and help your program. The idea of thinking 25 guys are going to leave, or 20 guys are going to leave, in January to me is crazy and not realistic. But we didn’t win that one, so we’ll adjust.”
Extra points:
- Fisch said Thursday senior cornerback Tacario Davis will travel with the team to Pullman for the Apple Cup but remains a game-time decision after suffering an injury against UC Davis.
- Senior wide receiver Omari Evans and sixth-year defensive lineman Deshawn Lynch remain on track to make their 2025 debuts against Washington State, Fisch said. Evans has been kept out by a soft-tissue injury while Lynch’s injury is undisclosed.
- Fisch added senior linebacker Jacob Manu might be available for the Apple Cup, too. Manu suffered a season-ending ACL injury while playing for Arizona against Colorado on Oct. 19, 2024.
Andy Yamashita: ayamashita@seattletimes .com. Andy Yamashita is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times, primarily covering Washington Huskies football.