An Early Projection for Husky Football That's Worth Debating

Originally posted on Washington Huskies on SI
By Dan Raley | Last updated May 19, 2025 2:29 PM ET

The University of Washington football team came out of spring practice clearly a more talented group than the season before with huge offensive linemen wandering the back acreage and productive players such as Demond Williams Jr., Jonah Coleman and Denzel Boston ready to use them to their yard-churning advantage.

The defense is a little more uncertain, but put potential first-round draft pick Tacario Davis at cornerback on the field with a healthy Zach Durfee, Jayvon Parker, Russell Davis Jr. and Jacob Manu, all noted playmakers, and the possibilities exist for a season that maybe puts the Huskies back in the playoff conversation again after a year's absence.

So how much better can Jedd Fisch's second UW team be over Fisch's first?

According to USA Today, the Huskies will be three wins better.

What's interesting, if not foolhardy, is these guys in the purple shirts are predicted to go 9-3 -- with all three losses coming at Husky Stadium to Ohio State, Illinois and Oregon.

Three formidable opponents for sure. The UW hasn't beaten the Buckeyes in 30 years.

However, Fisch's guys are no guppies in Montlake, holding up the nation's second-longest home winning streak at 20 behind Georgia at 32.

Big Ten Record Predictions for Each Team in 2025, via Zachary Neel | Ducks Wire pic.twitter.com/wbAA1Ws3nG
— The Big Ten Huddle ️ (@TheBigTenHuddle) May 18, 2025

Husky Stadium always makes these guys better. Ask last year's players from Michigan and USC who came to visit and limped home.

While 9-3 sounds possible, and certainly nothing to dismiss at all, it's how Fisch's team might get there is what's up for debate.

Illinois is this year's Indiana, according to the analysts, becoming a program that all of a sudden is on very sound footing.

Lost in that discussion is the real likelihood that description better fits Washington, coming off a 6-7 season, than the Illini.

Here is my Post-Spring Power Conference Top 70.

From Penn State to Purdue, I ranked every team in a power conference and Notre Dame + the Pac-2.

How would you change this ranking? pic.twitter.com/b0MGtmSJeu
— CFBudge (@CF_Budge) May 18, 2025

Then there's the matter of Oregon, which has reached perennial reload status rather than rebuild. Yes, there always will be well-funded talent in Eugene as long as Phil Knight is upright and overseeing the financials.

Yet the Ducks have to break in a new starting quarterback, most likely Dante Moore, and he's no Bo Nix or Dillon Garbriel, which is someone who's a proven talent, or at least not yet.

An untested man behind the center always is a crucial question mark for any football powerhouse.

Longest Active Home Winning Streaks ️

Which streak is most at risk next season? pic.twitter.com/w2gfz9oqHW
— CFB Tracker (@MatchupTracker) May 13, 2025

Also interesting is USA Today projects a UW victory at Michigan, which maybe has never happened -- the prediction that is. Sure, the Huskies won in Ann Arbor once before, emerging with a 20-11 victory in 1984, but no one in their right mind forecasted it.

So 9-3 currently stands as the high bar for UW football this coming fall, until someone else says different. It could happen, just not with three losses at Husky Stadium.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Had He Entered Draft, Coleman Felt He Would Have Been Picked

Husky Roster Review: Tacario Davis Wants It All

Husky Roster Review: Lawson Made Nice Landing

This article first appeared on Washington Huskies on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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