Lake thrust his right arm toward Fuavai when they were along the Washington sidelines, hitting him in the facemask, and then pushed him further back, according to Fox News. Moments before, Fuavai appeared to be talking to Oregon’s Jaylon Redd. Lake denied that he hit Fuavai, stating that he was trying to get him away from Redd.

“I separated him. I didn’t strike him. I separated him,” Lake said.

However, the TV replay showed that Fuavai had already moved away from Redd before Lake approached him to intervene, ESPN reported.

Washington athletic director Jen Cohen released a statement about the incident, explaining that after the staff spent 24 hours reviewing the video of the interaction and talking with Lake, she decided to suspend Lake for the next game against Arizona State.

“…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,” Cohen said.

Lake is also suspended from team activities for the week. He can return Sunday.

The game suspension for Lake follows growing discontent between the coach, fans, and alumni. In the previous week, Lake took a shot at Oregon’s academics when talking about recruiting. He stated that Washington competes against schools with more “academic prowess,” and does not compete with Oregon in recruiting, as reported by USA Today.

The interim coach for Saturday’s game against Arizona State will be defensive coordinator Bob Gregory.

Overall, the Huskies lost to the Ducks for the seventh time in the past eight games in Seattle. Washington is 4-5 this season.

For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.

“We have high expectations of conduct for our coaches, and we will not shy away from those expectations,” Cohen said.

Lake fired offensive coordinator John Donovan on Sunday with the Huskies ranking in the bottom third nationally in most offensive categories. Washington is 109th in scoring offense and 112th in total offense.

Washington must win two of its final three games to become bowl eligible.