The Huskies took their first loss of the Kalen DeBoer era on Friday night in Los Angeles, falling to UCLA 40-32. Washington made some uncharacteristic mistakes on the offensive side of the ball, and the secondary allowed Bruins quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson to throw for 315 yards and three touchdowns on the night. Thompson-Robinson also added 53 yards and a touchdown on the ground, and seemingly did whatever he wanted the entire night.

Washington also allowed receiver Jake Bobo to go for 142 yards and two touchdowns, and running back Zach Charbonnet totaled 180 scrimmage yards as part of UCLA’s offensive barrage, that put up a total of 499 yards on the night. Along with Thompson-Robinson, they left the Washington defense searching for answers all game long, as the Bruins didn’t punt until midway through the fourth quarter.

While Michael Penix Jr. still ended up with a great night on the stat sheet, as he finished his day with 345 yards and four touchdowns, his two second-quarter interceptions were the turning point in the game. They allowed UCLA to go into halftime up 26-10, and Penix also took his first sack of the season. The Bruins brought him to the ground three times on the night, and had pressure in his face throughout the game.

Penix showed a lot of composure and poise, leading the Huskies back from a 40-16 deficit coming into the fourth quarter, but the Husky defense only forced one punt on the night and lost the turnover battle 3-0 which sealed the deal in the first loss of the Kalen DeBoer era.

While there were multiple questionable calls against Washington on the night, the Huskies couldn’t overcome nine penalties for 98 yards that included multiple holding calls seemingly whenever the offense was just about to get things going.

Outside of Penix, it felt like the only guy on the Husky offense who was in a rhythm for the entire night was wide receiver Rome Odunze. Odunze has firmly established himself as Penix’s number one target this season, and he ended the night with 116 yards and two touchdowns. This marks Odunze’s second straight game with over 100 yards receiving, and he looks like he’s going to be a problem for the rest of the Pac-12 this year.

With the loss, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Washington drops out of the top 25, but that will probably depend on how the voters feel about UCLA. The Huskies’ first road game of the year, especially coming on a Friday, probably played a factor in the team’s slow first half, but now the coaching staff has an extra day to prepare for another road game, as they’ll head off to the desert for a matchup with Arizona State on Saturday, October 8th.