College football seasons are rarely predictable. Who had Alabama going 9-4 last year, or the fourth-place team from the Big Ten winning the national championship?
How many outside Bloomington and Gerald J. Ford Stadium thought Indiana and SMU would make the 12-team playoff?
Every year there are surprises, collapses and runs of luck. In 2023 Washington won eight one-score games on the way to the National Championship Game. In 2024 the Huskies were a hard-luck team that lost 21-18 at Rutgers, 26-21 at home to USC, 35-34 to Louisville in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl.
They weren't great.
In the Big Ten there is a tier of teams that could contend with a little help, and UDub is one of them. Demond Williams is one of the best young quarterbacks in the game and Husky fans believe he'll take a leap forward as a sophomore.
Jonah Coleman returns at running back after piling up 1,053 yards and 10 touchdowns as a junior. The 5-9, 229-pound workhorse averaged 5.5 yards a carry in his first season in Seattle.
Second-leading receiver Denzel Boston grabbed 9 touchdown passes last year, 63 catches for 834 yards. Tight end Quentin Moore is back from injury-- he caught the winning touchdown pass in the 2023 PAC-12 Championship season but missed nearly all of last year.
The Huskies picked up Penn State wide receiver Omari Evans in the transfer portal, 6-0, 190 from Killeen, Texas. He caught 21 passes for the Nittany Lions for 415 yards and five touchdowns, averaging a gaudy 19.8 yards a catch.
Evans could surprise, a hurdler and long jumper in high school with good speed.
The offensive line was a sore spot last year, ranking dead last in the conference in sacks allowed with 39, an abominable 10 in the rivalry game with Oregon. Gaard Memmelaar and Kahlee Tafai left in the portal.
Three starters return, Maximus McCree ,Soane Faasolo, and Drew Azzopardi. Four-star junior Landon Hatchett takes over at center. The unit should be improved, and having the mobile and elusive Williams as a fulltime, full-year starter should help them.
On defense Jedd Fisch plucked another of his old players from Arizona, Tacario Davis, a 6-4, 200 cornerback from Long Beach, Calif., a two-year starter with the Wildcats, second team All-Big-12 in 2024, second team All-PAC-12 as a sophomore.
The Huskies also picked up 6-2, 198 Alex McLaughlin from Northern Arizona, a hard-hitting safety who tallied 96 tackles for the Lumberjacks last season. Linebacker Xe'ree Alexander came home from UCF, a strong coverage linebacker who's 6-2, 223.
A three-star transfer originally from Burien, Washington, Alexander posted 68 tackles and six tackles for loss for the Knights in 2024.
The proper dose of luck and help: The Huskies don't leave the state until October 4 for a game at Maryland. They should start 3-0, at home against Colorado State and UC Davis, then a cross-state trip to Martin Stadium to face traditional rival Washington State.
All manageable, particularly since Wazzu lost quarterback John Mateer to Oklahoma. Fisch and Company catch Ohio State early in Husky Stadium on September 27, new Buckeye QB Julian Sayin's first road test.
A couple of fumbles, a sluggish start and a fourth-quarter interception and maybe the Huskies put the hurt on the defending national champions before a raucous crowd, and suddenly the Big Ten looks at the return of Purple Reign.
A road game at Maryland should be another win as Williams is getting mention as a Heisman candidate. The Huskies move into the Top 15. Rutgers comes across the country to play in a full-throated Husky Stadium this year and Williams passes for three touchdowns and runs for another as the Dawgs reach an improbabl 6-0.
In Ann Arbor they have problems of their own as Bryce Underwood experiences some first-year growing pains. Tacario Davis goes 89 yards with a back-breaking pick six late in the third quarter as Washington wins on the road, 24-21.
Illinois proves too much as Luke Altmyer throws for 268 yards but UW takes care of conference basement teams Wisconsin, Purdue and UCLA to stay in the race at 10-1.
In Seattle on November 29 the No. 3-ranked Ducks prevail as Matayo Uiagalelei sacks Williams three times in a 38-20 Oregon victory.
Still, 10-2 gets Washington in the playoffs as the 11-seed. Williams finishes 8th in the Heisman voting while the Dawgs travel to LSU for a first-round playoff game. Heisman winner Garrett Nussmeier lights them up for 411 yards as the Tigers win 42-10 in Death Valley.
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