The Washington football program seems to be staring into a distorted puddle after its embarrassing 10–13 loss to a now–three-win Wisconsin team — a team whose punter led them in passing yards.

Anyone who watched the game knows the Huskies had every opportunity to win despite the awful weather in Madison. This loss resembles the 2022 defeat to Arizona State more than the Montana loss that torpedoed any chance of Jimmy Lake becoming a successful coach on Montlake.

While the situations are similar, the future of the program remains hazier than ever.

In 2022, the Washington Huskies were in their first year under Kalen DeBoer. DeBoer inherited a roster full of talent. Their only two blemishes that season were road losses, including a 38–45 defeat to a two-win Arizona State team.

The Husky defense was shaky from the start under DeBoer, and the team was missing starters, including Asa Turner, who was removed in the first half due to a targeting call.

That loss kept the Huskies from both the playoff and a Rose Bowl appearance. It rightly prevented the playoff committee from ranking them higher, haunting them each week as new rankings were released.

This year, the Huskies still had an outside shot at earning a berth in the 12-team playoff. All they had to do was win three games in which they were favored and then defeat the Ducks in a heavyweight matchup at the end of the season.

All of those aspirations are gone now. This loss will have ripple effects this year, but it could also serve as a reflection point for what might become a special season in 2026.

In the short term, the Huskies are now headed to a less desirable bowl game. They went to the Alamo Bowl and beat Texas, which catapulted them to a final ranking of No. 8.

As of now, the Huskies seem bound for the LA Bowl or the Holiday Bowl. While things can change, they will need to finish at least 8–4 to secure a mid-tier bowl like the Holiday Bowl.

While there are similarities between 2022 and 2025 that could lead to a special year ahead, the reflection is still cloudy.

Quarterback:
The quarterback room is an intriguing one. Michael Penix Jr. is the greatest quarterback to ever play at the University of Washington. There is debate among fans of other Husky legends, but Penix’s leadership, poise, and playmaking carried Washington to the doorstep of a national championship. As Penix went, so did the Huskies.

Demond Williams is a special quarterback with the potential to become an all-time great on Montlake, but he is far from cementing himself among the program’s elite. His talent gives him a real chance to take the next step as a junior and become the foundation of a future national championship run.

Roster:
Kalen DeBoer was handed the keys to a wrecked Ferrari. Jimmy Lake had inherited a deep and talented roster from Chris Petersen, and many Petersen recruits were critical pieces of the historic 2023 run. All DeBoer had to do was fill a few holes through the transfer portal — most importantly, bringing in three-star transfer Michael Penix to compete for the starting job.

Jedd Fisch was not given that luxury. Nearly all major contributors outside of the linebackers either went to the NFL or transferred — many following DeBoer to Alabama. Fisch brought some key players with him but entered spring camp with only seven offensive linemen. The cupboard was bare. Fisch and his staff have rebuilt the roster the right way, signing good young players from the high school ranks and supplementing them with transfer-portal talent.

When healthy, this roster can compete with any program in the country. The problem is that the depth is still a year away. The backups and third-string options are either not yet ready to contribute or are simply not good enough for major college football. Injuries have contributed to every loss on the schedule so far.

While this loss mirrors the 2022 defeat to Arizona State, the better comparison is the 2015 Huskies — year two of the Chris Petersen era — when Washington finished 8–5 after the bowl game. That team featured young players like freshman Jake Browning and Myles Gaskin and was loaded with future NFL talent despite being “just” a roster full of three-star recruits. The following year launched a run that included a playoff berth, a Rose Bowl, and a Fiesta Bowl.

The Huskies have a long way to go to repeat the success of either the 2023 or 2016 teams, but the talent is there — starting with Demond Williams Jr. and the young core of starters — to make a serious run in the next few years.