Washington’s defense is staring at a major test this weekend, and it starts with trying to contain USC true freshman tight end Mark Bowman.
The Huskies head to Los Angeles on Saturday for a 4:30 p.m. PT kickoff at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and they do so with plenty on the line after a rough stretch that knocked them out of the AP Top 25 picture entirely.
Washington opened the season ranked 17th and was viewed as a possible College Football Playoff dark horse, but a 27-24 loss to Minnesota on Sept. 26 left the Huskies without a vote in the latest Associated Press poll. That drop came after an undefeated nonconference run that was solid in the record book but not especially convincing.
Now comes the first road game of the year, and it’s against No. 18 USC.
A win would likely push Washington back into the conversation in the AP poll and, at least for now, back into the CFP mix. But the path there runs through a Trojan offense that has already leaned hard on Bowman, the highest-ranked recruit in the Class of 2026.
The 6-foot-5, 245-pound freshman has wasted no time making an impact. Through five games, he has 21 catches for 204 yards and two touchdowns.
He also produced one of the season’s most eye-catching plays so far, hurdling two defenders against Louisiana on Sept. 12.
Washington defensive coordinator Ryan Walters spent part of his Tuesday news conference at Husky Stadium breaking down exactly what makes Bowman such a problem.
"He was rated the No. 1 tight end in the country for a reason," UW defensive coordinator Ryan Walters said in a weekly news conference Tuesday at Husky Stadium. "He's big, looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger-big (from) back in the day, he's a cut-up dude.
Has really good athleticism, good catch radius. They find ways creatively to give him the ball.
He's really good with the ball in his hands, yards after contact. You can't go low, because he'll hurdle you, so you got to hit him up high and get him down.
As the season has gone on, he's gotten better in the run game, as well, and being physical at the point of contact. Really good player.
He is as-advertised."
Walters also made clear Washington won’t be planning around a one-on-one linebacker matchup with Bowman.
"Will we match a linebacker on Mark Bowman? Probably not," Walters said.
"Not on purpose. There might be times of, we're in zone coverages or things of that nature where they might be matched up. ...
The pressure, collectively to get off the field as a defense is going to be high. I think they're averaging a little over 10 explosive plays a game.
A lot of yards after contact, a lot of yards after catch."
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