The Washington Huskies opened the season with a win, but the real edge in their 24-10 victory over Washington State on Sunday came from a unit that looked every bit as advertised. Washington’s offense only managed 10 points through three quarters, and the Huskies piled up 12 penalties for 130 yards. Even so, the defense kept the Cougars off the board for the first three quarters and set the tone at Husky Stadium in Seattle.
At the center of that performance was fifth-year linebacker Jacob Manu, who showed why the coaching staff has talked about him as a difference-maker. Manu finished with 11 total tackles, seven of them solo, and added a sack. That output nearly matched half of what he produced across the 2025 season, when injury limited him to five games and he ended with 23 total tackles, 13 solo, and a pass defended.
Manu said afterward that the defense had a solid showing, while still leaving room for improvement. "I feel like we looked pretty clean (on defense)," Manu said in a postgame interview Sunday.
"But there's definitely work we could do. I felt like they had too many yards rushing and passing.
Stuff we could work on. ... Definitely gives us momentum."
His presence went beyond the stat sheet, too. After one of the defense’s penalties extended a Washington State drive, Manu gathered the group and owned his own mistake.
"I felt like the times that teams do get yards on us is when we get penalties," Manu said. "We give them the first downs and stuff.
I took accountability for my penalty. ... I just told them 'that's on me.'
We're gonna make up for it, we gotta be more disciplined."
That kind of impact lines up with what head coach Jedd Fisch said in his weekly news conference on Aug. 31, when he described Manu as a player who makes everyone better when he’s on the field and secured him a starting role in a linebacker room loaded with talent.
For Washington, the penalties were a problem. For the defense, the first three quarters were a statement. And for Manu, Sunday looked like the kind of game the Huskies expected when they brought him in from Arizona, where he spent three seasons and earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors in 2023.
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