Washington Husky football fans sound off after Huskies handle Northwestern Wildcats

There are plenty of ways to respond to a rivalry loss, but few are better than getting a double digit win against a longstanding member of the new conference that you just joined. So, it felt pretty good to see the Washington Huskies handle business on Saturday afternoon against the Northwestern Wildcats.

While Jedd Fisch’s Huskies weren’t perfect in this game, it was encouraging to see Washington approach things with a balanced offensive attack and an incredibly dominant defensive effort. All things considered, there is room to improve, but Washington looked pretty good. 

There is room to improve and Washington Husky fans certainly feel that right now.That said, a 24-5 win over Northwestern at Husky Stadium? 

That’s not a bad thing to celebrate. 

Washington had complete control of this game from pretty early on. Will Rogers was efficient and effective, completing 20 of his 28 passes for 223 yards and two touchdown catches by Denzel Boston. And Boston was the best receiver in this game as he hauled in seven catches for 121 yards and those two aforementioned touchdowns, including a 46-yard score.

Add in the fact that Jonah Coleman had 15 carries, 67 yards, and a touchdown on the ground and Washington’s offense looked decent against a Northwestern Wildcats defense that has been holding opponents to an average of 12 points per game and 272.3 yards per game. The Huskies were able to gain 391 yards in this one, which is under their season average but still decent.

Oh, and Washington’s defense was dominant, picking off a couple passes and holding Northwestern to just 112 yards, which is over 240 yards fewer than what the Wildcats are used to.

Washington Husky football fans react after 19-point win over Northwestern Wildcats 

And while I highlighted much of the offense in that brief recap up there, it wasn’t consistent or all that great. The defense is really what stood out in this game and Steve Belichick deserves a ton of credit for the work he’s done on that side of the ball.

For the most part, this team looks decent, but there’s still plenty of room for growth and improvement. Given how this team is still learning exactly who it is and how much has changed in recent months, that’s understandable.

The offense needs some work. Penalties are a problem. There is still this odd tendency to go to a (very talented and exciting and dynamic) freshman quarterback when there’s really no need to do so. It’s odd. This team is in an interesting place right now.

We’ll see how things unfold moving forward. Washington looked decent in this one. If the Huskies can limit mistakes and routinely play up to their potential, then maybe we’ll see more wins in Big Ten play. I, for one, would welcome that.