Washington's Jimmy Lake suspended for shoving player in facemask

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Washington football head coach Jimmy Lake was suspended one game Monday after he shoved one of his players in the facemask and pushed him toward the sideline in a game Saturday.

Lake was seen running down the sideline at linebacker Ruperake Fuavai, who had gotten into a skirmish with an 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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Washington head coach Jimmy Lake reacts while talking with field judge Jeffrey Yock (left) and referee Michael Mothershed in the game against Oregon on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)

University of Washington officials said in a statement to the Seattle Times they took the day to review the incident and made the determination to bar Lake from Saturday’s game against Arizona State.

"Our staff has spent the last 24-plus hours reviewing video of the incident, as well as speaking with Coach Lake, the involved student-athlete and several other student-athletes and members of the staff, and I have made the decision to suspend Coach Lake for next Saturday’s game against Arizona State," athletics director Jen Cohen said.

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"President (Ana Mari) Cauce, our faculty athletics representative, Alexes Harris, and members of our executive staff are in agreement that while we do not believe that his actions were intentional or deliberate, we can have no tolerance for a coach interacting with a student in the manner Coach Lake did. We have high expectations of conduct for our coaches, and we will not shy away from those expectations."

Head coach Jimmy Lake during a game between his Washington Huskies and the UCLA Bruins on Oct. 16, 2021, at Husky Stadium in Seattle. (Jesse Beals/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Defensive coordinator Bob Gregory will take over head-coaching duties.

Lake claimed after the game Saturday that he was trying to keep the player back.

"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.

He contended he didn’t strike Fuavai.

Ruperake Fuavai of the Washington Huskies during the game against the Arizona Wildcats at Husky Stadium on Nov. 21, 2020, in Seattle. (Getty Images)

"I separated them. I didn't strike him. I separated them."

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Fuavai is a freshman linebacker from Auburn, Washington.