Bowl eligibility has been secured. In a season that featured a radically rebuilt roster, a brand new coaching staff, and a new conference home, Jedd Fisch and the Washington Huskies got to six wins to secure a spot in a bowl game this season.
Now, it wasn’t always pretty. Washington probably shouldn’t have lost against Washington State or Rutgers earlier this season, but as we’ve noticed from this Huskies team, it hasn’t exactly been the most consistent group ever.
And still, the Huskies are headed to a bowl game. Largely because they beat the UCLA Bruins 31-19 on Friday night. Washington, now 6-5 on the season and 4-4 in Big Ten play, was led by Jonah Coleman’s impressive effort and the fact that UW’s defense came to life to create headaches for the Bruins offense.
Washington Huskies headed to a bowl game after beating UCLA 31-19 in UW’s final home game of the 2024 season
Coleman is a huge reason for this win and it’s because he ran for 95 yards on 21 carries. Oh! And Coleman scored a couple of touchdowns. At quarterback, Will Rogers experienced a few ups and downs, so that led to the Huskies trusting Demond Williams. Between the two of them, UW got 182 passing yards and two touchdown passes.
On the ground, Williams added an additional 31 yards on a half dozen carries. A not-insignificant amount of those rushing yards came as Williams scrambled and evaded UCLA’s front seven in crucial moments. It truly is exciting to see what Williams brings to the table and what he might be capable of in Jedd Fisch’s offense.
The defense should be commended for the way they applied pressure on UCLA all throughout this game. Russell Davis racked up three sacks while Alphonzo Tuputala compiled a total of 10 tackles and a sack of his own.
What’s next for Fisch and the Huskies?
Well, UW gets a bye week. A week of rest is certainly going to be beneficial as the Huskies will follow that up with a road trip to take on the Oregon Ducks in a rivalry game. Bowl eligibility won’t be on the line for UW in that game, but the Huskies will have a chance to spoil Oregon’s perfect season. And that is something that would certainly be welcomed.