Friday evening, the Washington Huskies were able to secure bowl eligibility by beating the UCLA Bruins 31-19 at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium. In addition to locking up a spot in a bowl game somewhere, the Huskies also extended their home winning streak out to 20 games.
So, we get to celebrate! With a bye week! And then a game against Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks, who are arguably the best team in the country! And then a few weeks off to rest and recover!
After that though? Well, we’ll get to see the Huskies play in a bowl game. And that’s a good thing. This win over UCLA wasn’t exactly the prettiest thing ever, but it did allow for the Huskies to get a chance at 15 more practices, another game full of reps, and an opportunity to roll into the offseason with a win.
That’s not bad. In fact, if Washington had entered the season with leveled expectations and wasn’t fresh off a national title appearance, that’d be something to brag a bit about in what is truly a rebuilding year.
Especially when you look at how the Huskies struggled at times against the Bruins. Washington is still evolving as a team and the Huskies need all of the time available for them to continue to develop. That’s especially true when looking at the future of the program, which will be centered around guys like Demond Williams Jr.
So, other than a bowl game, what can we take away from this win over UCLA? What is there to learn here? Let’s go over three things that we learned in Washington’s 12-point, bowl game appearance-scuring, home win over the Bruins.