Washington came out of Friday night’s loss to Iowa with a harsh answer to the question that had been hanging over this offense all week: against the first truly good defense it faced, it had almost nothing. The Huskies managed three points in the first half, never established a run game, and were flattened 41-24 at home after trailing 27-3 at halftime. A team favored by three points in its own building is now 3-3 and riding a three-game losing streak that feels uncomfortably familiar.
The biggest jolt came at quarterback. Demond Williams opened the game 6 of 11 for 69 yards and was sacked four times before leaving with an injury late in the second quarter. His play looked like the same story Washington has been telling all season: hesitation under clean pressure, missed throws when he did let it rip, and a steady diet of heat all around him.
Then Elijah Brown entered and changed the shape of the offense. He went 28 of 39 for 251 yards and three touchdowns, showing poise in the pocket, working through his reads, and getting the ball out on time.
Washington’s passing game suddenly had structure. It was impossible not to notice how much easier the offense looked when someone simply ran it effectively.
There are obvious asterisks. Iowa was already ahead 24 and likely loosened up its coverage.
The game was well out of hand by the time Brown threw his final touchdown on the last play of the blowout. Still, with the offense sitting near the bottom of the country in almost every category, Washington doesn’t have much reason not to see what happens if Brown gets the job.
He looked composed, and that alone stood out.
Chris Lawson caught 8 passes for 86 yards and a touchdown, while Rashid Williams added 5 catches for 66 yards once Brown took over. That felt like the clearest offensive takeaway: there are receivers here who can do damage if the ball arrives on time.
The line, though, was a mess no matter how Washington arranged it. Landen Hatchett returned at center and John Mills stayed at left tackle, but the shuffling continued anyway, with multiple combinations tried across the interior and at tackle.
Nothing stuck. The Huskies have now allowed 21 sacks, the most by any Power 4 team, and that number says plenty about the season as a whole.
The ground game was even more alarming. Washington’s backs finished with 19 yards on 12 carries, and once sacks are folded in, the total drops to minus-3.
The Huskies are now 132nd in FBS in yards per carry. At some point, this stops being just about injuries or youth up front and starts pointing to the kind of toughness and identity a team is carrying onto the field.
On defense, the night was just as ugly in different ways. Jeremy Hecklinski threw for 202 yards and three touchdowns, and all three scores came to receivers with nobody anywhere near them.
Washington was losing with busted coverage, bad positioning, and play-action confusion. Hecklinski finished by completing his last 12 passes over the final three quarters, while Iowa’s offense looked exactly as comfortable as it needed to be.
That wasn’t supposed to happen against this Hawkeye team, which had entered the game with 16, 20 and 14 points in its three Power 4 outings. But Iowa’s offensive coordinator found a way to keep Washington guessing, and the pass rush never got there quickly enough to change the equation.
The run defense was even more punishing. Kamari Moulton carried 26 times for 208 yards and two touchdowns, and his 56-yard score late in the first quarter pushed Iowa out to a 13-0 lead while also putting the Huskies’ tackling on full display.
The Hawkeyes controlled the line of scrimmage, moved Washington around, and kept doing it over and over. The tackling problems that showed up at USC only got worse here.
Iowa finished with 41 points at 8.2 yards per play, the most any team has scored at Husky Stadium since Washington State in 2021.
Special teams brought a small but notable shakeup. Hunter McKee sent two more kickoffs out of bounds and lost the job to Hunter Green, who is becoming the most dependable player on the roster. With Grady Gross no longer eligible, Green appears to be the kick return answer moving forward.
The coaching grade was impossible to ignore. Washington looked unready in every phase.
Iowa’s physical edge was no mystery, and this was a rematch of the kind of game Fisch’s team ran into two seasons ago at Iowa in his first year. The Huskies had 11 first- or second-year players starting, which matters, but it only goes so far when a preseason No. 17 team gets shoved around at home by a Big Ten opponent and never really lands a punch.
There was also a late moment that said plenty about where things stand. On one of Iowa’s final drives, multiple Huskies threw a Hawkeye player to the ground well after the play and appeared to injure him.
After getting handled for four quarters, Washington chose that moment to try on toughness. It was a bad look, and a reflection on the head coach as much as anyone.
Now the schedule turns to Purdue, which has won two Big Ten games in a row after a 19-game conference losing streak and will be the betting favorite. The Boilermakers are playing with confidence and will sense blood in the water.
Even if Elijah Brown has a limited ceiling, and even if Demond Williams gets healthy, Washington needs basic competence at quarterback to have any shot at bowl eligibility. Brown should start.
In Other News...
Michael Penix Jr. Faces Another Injury Scare At The Worst Time
Michael Penix Jr. ran into another injury scare Sunday, this time in the closing moments of a game between the Atlanta Falcons and Baltimore Ravens. The former Washington quarterback left late with a rib injury after throwing for 240 yards and a touchdown, adding another tense chapter to a stretch that has already tested his durability at the worst possible times.
Penix was replaced in overtime by Tua Tagovailoa, who ended up throwing the game-ending interception, while the severity of the quarterbacks latest setback remained unclear with imaging still pending. For Washington fans still tracking one of the programs most prominent recent stars, it was the kind of update that instantly turns a routine box score into a waiting game. [Read more 🡒]