Derek Colman-Brusa wasted no time making his presence felt for Washington.
In his first college game, the true freshman defensive tackle logged 28 snaps and turned in a productive debut in the Huskies’ 24-10 win over Washington State in the Apple Cup on Sept. 6. He finished with three tackles, including one tackle for loss, added two quarterback pressures and got a hand on a pass that popped right into the arms of fellow true freshman cornerback Jeron Jones.
Washington heads into its second game of the season 1-0 and will face Utah State at 12:30 p.m. PT on Saturday at Husky Stadium. The Huskies didn’t look as sharp on offense as they would have liked, but the defense was the bright spot, flashing some of the potential players and coaches had been talking up all offseason.
That unit featured several true freshmen in key roles, and two of them drew attention for their play. Colman-Brusa was one of them.
A consensus four-star recruit, Colman-Brusa entered college as a highly regarded edge rusher. According to the 247Sports composite, he was ranked No. 158 overall, the ninth-best edge rusher and the top player in Washington. He was also listed as a top 200 prospect in the class.
At 6-foot-5 and 295 pounds, he added roughly 20 pounds during the offseason and moved from the edge to the interior of the defensive line. The Kennedy Catholic (Burien, Wash.) graduate spent much of the offseason taking reps with the starters, and he backed up that trust against the Cougars.
Washington coach Jedd Fisch has made it clear that the “best players will play,” no matter how much experience they have. That approach put Colman-Brusa, Jones, edge rusher Ramzak Fruean and left tackle Kodi Greene on the field for meaningful snaps in the opener. Jones and Greene were both included on On3 Sports’ preseason True Freshman All-American list.
It wasn’t a flawless day for every first-year player in purple, but Colman-Brusa’s debut gave Washington a strong early look at what he can bring.
In Other News...
Washington Gets An Early Warning About Bronco Mendenhalls Aggies
Bronco Mendenhalls first Utah State team has already given Washington a little early-season film to study, and the first impression is not especially tidy. Dan Allisons breakdown of the Aggies paints a picture of a program still trying to settle in under a new coach, with both sides of the ball carrying a mix of familiar Mendenhall traits and the kind of growing pains that can show up fast when a staff is asking players to learn on the fly.
For the Huskies, the bigger takeaway is not just who Utah State is right now, but how much room there still is for the Aggies to improve before the matchup comes into view. The reformed Pac-12 adds more urgency to every nonconference test, and if Utah State begins to clean up its operation the way Mendenhalls track record suggests it can, this is the sort of opponent Washington will want to have fully charted before it shows up on the schedule. [Read more 🡒]
Washington May Have Found A Missing Piece In Its Roster Reset
Washingtons roster reset under Danny Sprinkle has needed more than just time. After two seasons marked by major turnover and the usual headaches that come with rebuilding in the transfer-portal era, the Huskies have added another layer to the staff, bringing in Alex Kline to assist with roster building. It is the kind of move that reflects where the program is right now, with personnel work just as important as what happens on the floor.
Kline arrives after previously being on the Syracuse coaching staff, giving Washington another voice with experience in the behind-the-scenes grind of assembling a team. For a program trying to stabilize its foundation and find the right fit around Sprinkle, the addition points to how seriously the Huskies are treating this next phase. The bigger question is how quickly that extra help translates into a roster that looks more settled and more built for the long haul. [Read more 🡒]
Washington Heads Into Utah State With Two Problems Fans Already Saw
Washington opened its 2026 season with a win over Washington State in the 118th Apple Cup, but the celebration came with a clear sense that the Huskies still have some sorting out to do. A late touchdown and Alex McLaughlins key interception got the job done, and now the focus turns to Utah State, where the margin for error should feel a little thinner.
Jack McCauley and Luke Mounger, the two interns grading the Apple Cup and looking ahead to the next matchup, pointed to the same concerns fans noticed right away: the state of the offensive backfield and the teams discipline. Those issues loom larger now because Washington heads into the Utah State game already short in a spot that can change the shape of an offense, and because the penalties from last week left plenty for the Huskies to clean up before the next kickoff. [Read more 🡒]