Washington’s path to bowl eligibility is still alive, but the margin for error is gone.
The Huskies had a chance to lock it up on Nov. 7 against Penn State at Husky Stadium, riding a two-game winning streak and needing just one more victory to get over the line. Instead, Washington dropped a 28-25 decision after Penn State erased the game with 19 unanswered points in the second half.
That leaves Jedd Fisch’s team at 5-4 overall and 2-4 in Big Ten play with three games left, and three more shots to reach the six wins needed for bowl eligibility for the third time in Fisch’s three seasons in charge.
The next one looks like Washington’s clearest opening.
On Nov. 14, the Huskies head to Michigan State for a 1:15 p.m. PT kickoff at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich. It’s the most favorable chance left on the slate for Washington to grab win No. 6, especially with the added wrinkle that both of the Huskies’ Big Ten road wins this season have already come away from home.
Michigan State’s profile gives Washington a real opportunity. The Spartans beat Washington 15-6 without scoring a touchdown, and they enter the matchup last in the Big Ten in points per game at 19.3 and 14th in the 18-team league in points allowed per game at 23.6.
After that comes the final home game of the season, a Nov. 21 meeting with Indiana at Husky Stadium. Time is still to be determined, but the challenge is clear: the Hoosiers are the defending national champions and ranked No. 5 in the country.
Washington has not scored more than 25 points at home this season, and it still hasn’t beaten a conference opponent in Seattle. Even so, Indiana may not arrive at full strength.
The Hoosiers have only one loss this season, a 19-15 setback against Ohio State on Oct. 17, but their last two outings have both gone to overtime, against Michigan and Minnesota. Before they get to Seattle, they also have No.
14 USC on Nov. 14.
If Indiana stumbles there, Washington could be facing a team that’s sliding.
The regular season closes Nov. 28 at Oregon, with a time still TBD at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore. The Ducks are No. 19 and have three losses, which has all but ended any realistic College Football Playoff hopes.
Still, Oregon just turned in its best win of the season, beating No. 20 Ohio State 41-28 on Nov.
Washington has not beaten Oregon since Fisch arrived. Ending the year with a win in Eugene would be a strong finish on its own. If that win also sends the Huskies to a bowl and knocks the Ducks out of playoff contention for good, it would mean even more to the Seattle-based Dawgs.
In Other News...
Jedd Fisch Sees A New Playoff Challenge For Washington
The College Football Playoff is headed for another major overhaul in 2027, and Jedd Fisch thinks Washington should welcome the shift. The Huskies coach said at a news conference that moving from 12 teams to 24 gives more programs a real path into the bracket, while also forcing the sport to rethink how the regular season is built and how teams are tested before December arrives.
Fischs comments come as the new setup promises a different kind of race for the Huskies, one shaped less by the old conference-title-weekend model and more by the week-to-week strength of schedule. For Washington, the change adds another layer to a future already being defined by tougher nonconference planning and the broader demands that come with trying to stay in the national mix. [Read more 🡒]
Washington Fans Have Every Right To Be Frustrated After Penn State
Washingtons latest trip left plenty for fans to chew on, because the performance was messy in almost every phase and the final margin reflected just how thin the margin for error has become. The passing game had its moments, the run game never quite found a steady rhythm, and the defense had to spend too much of the night trying to absorb damage rather than dictate terms.
Special teams and coaching decisions only added to the frustration, especially when the game got tight and every snap carried extra weight. There were individual efforts worth noting on both sides of the ball, but the larger picture is harder to ignore now, with the Huskies trying to sort out what still works and what keeps slipping away as the season moves deeper into November. [Read more 🡒]
Washington Just Landed In A Big Ten Reality Nobody Expected
The first Big Ten season with the former Pac-12 schools was supposed to bring more fireworks, more tempo and more of the wide-open football that followed Washington into the league. Instead, the early returns have looked a lot more familiar to old-school Big Ten observers: defenses are dictating terms, scoring has dipped and offenses across the conference are still trying to find answers against some of the leagues toughest fronts.
For Washington, that shift matters because it changes the weekly math. The Huskies came in expecting a different kind of test, but the conference has already shown how quickly a struggling attack can become a problem, with several programs making changes on the offensive side and the leagues scoring pace lagging behind recent seasons. Even with the new blood, the Big Ten still looks like a place where every possession gets squeezed, and Washington is learning there may be less room for error than anyone imagined. [Read more 🡒]