Washington’s season opener was a mess, and it gives USC something to note with the Trojans set to face the Huskies in just under a month.
In the 118th Apple Cup, Washington escaped with a 24-10 win over Washington State, but the box score came with plenty of baggage. Jedd Fisch’s team was hit with 12 penalties for 130 yards, and the game was also interrupted by injuries to running backs Quaid Carr and Jayden Limar, wide receiver Christian Moss, and defensive tackle Elinneus Davis.
Fisch didn’t hide his frustration afterward, especially with the flags that kept piling up. The issue echoed the 2024 Apple Cup, when Washington was flagged 16 times for 135 yards.
"'It's concerning when you give first downs away,' (coach Jedd) Fisch said. 'I think that our team plays with an edge, and I felt it all of camp, and all of spring, and no matter how many times, as coaches, you remind them that there's gonna be a time where that edge is gonna get you; and they have to feel that edge, and they have to feel it also getting them.
And today, it got them, so my thought process and my hope is that happens; we're over it. We learn that you can take it so far, and then you have to stop, and they're gonna continue to play extremely hard.
But on the same token, they need to know where to just draw the line, to have that discipline, to make sure we don't give anything away.'"
Washington’s penalty sheet was especially ugly because it included three personal fouls. Safety Rylon Dillard-Allen was ejected on a targeting call, and that came on the heels of what would have been a fourth Washington turnover after a fumble by Caden Pinnick. The Huskies also had two delay-of-game penalties, one of them on the first play of the second half, along with two unsportsmanlike conduct flags, including one on senior linebacker Jacob Manu.
None of that guarantees anything for USC one month out. But it does show that the Trojans’ Big Ten opponents aren’t exactly rolling into the season cleanly. USC has issues of its own to sort through, but Washington’s opener made it clear the Huskies are not exactly ahead of schedule either.
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