Inside The Huskies

Biggest UW Football Game of the Season? Not Up for Debate

There are so many ramifications for this match-up, nothing else comes close on the schedule.
Dan Raley|
Husky fans rush the field to celebrate beating Michigan.
Husky fans rush the field to celebrate beating Michigan. | Skylar Lin Visuals

The bracketologist listed Big Ten football games coming this season by their importance.

He highlighted Washington three times -- against Michigan, Oregon and Illinois -- among 27 conference match-ups, which is a lot.

However, nowhere to be found, in our estimation, is the Huskies', no, make that Jedd Fisch's, most weighted, crucial and potentially season-altering league outing for 2025.

September 27 against Ohio State, at Husky Stadium.

Buckeyes, eye to eye, in the public eye.

Could be eye-opening.

A win over Ohio State -- which hasn't happened since 1994 -- could set the tenor for the UW's 12-game schedule, nine of which are conference match-ups.

It could be the difference between a good Husky season and a great one.

Should Fisch's rebuilt team pull off an upset of the defending national champions, it would be an anything-goes moment for the rest of the season.

A win over The Ohio State puts the Huskies in the playoff conversation for the first time since Kalen DeBoer left town, providing there are no ensuing letdowns, or not many.

That game is far bigger than UW-Michigan, UW-Oregon and UW-Illinois.

It means the UW is back after its one-year absence from the polls, the primetime games and being feared as a postseason team.

A win there would be payback on many fronts.

The Huskies haven't beaten Ohio State since taking a 25-16 decision at Husky Stadium in 1994, in the second season removed from the Don James era.

The UW owes the Buckeyes a little something after seeing Emeka Egbuka, JT Tuimoloau and Gee Scott Jr. pilfered from the Seattle-Tacoma high school ranks, and quarterback Lincoln Kienholz flipped from the DeBoer staff at the last minute.

Game of the year?

From a Montlake perspective, it's the UW against Ohio State.

It could be la bowl game in September.

It might be bigger than anything the Huskies will see the rest of the way.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Published
Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

Home/Football