Huskies Go Out In Style at Rose Bowl, Win In Rout

Just when the University of Washington football team was finally getting comfortable in Pasadena again, the Huskies said good bye to UCLA and then probably farewell to the Rose Bowl.

They might have shaken hands with the Bruins, but the home team couldn't get a grip.

UCLA lost three first-half fumbles -- with UW safety Alex McLaughlin returning one of them for a 59-yard touchdown runback -- and the Huskies turned all of this goodwill into a 48-14 victory on Saturday night in what could be their last appearance in the iconic stadium for quite some time.

"I thought our defense was outstanding," said UW coach Jedd Fisch, 3-2 away from Husky Stadium this season. "They were aggressive, physical. They went after the ball."

The outcome marked the UW's first win at the Rose Bowl since 2018 and only its second victory there in the past 11 outings against the Bruins.

That might be it for a while, with UCLA reportedly trying to get out of a contract and move to SoFi Stadium for its future home games after making the Rose Bowl its home field since 1982.

Huskies edge rusher Deshawn Lynch (41) gets congratulated by Landen Hatchett (66) after a strip and a fumble recovery. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Missing several starters, the UW (8-3 overall, 5-3 Big Ten) kept things simple by trying to run the football and take it away whenever it could from UCLA (3-8, 3-5).

Sophomore Adam Mohammed, starting for the second consecutive game, came up with his first 100-yard game for the Huskies, running 21 times for 108 yards. He ran hard and shifty.

Fellow sophomore Demond Williams Jr. chipped in 56 yards and 2 scoring runs on 6 carries. He also completed 17 of 26 passes for 213 yards and 2 more scores, with an interception.

The loose ball stuff, however, worked out really well early on.

With the game scoreless, Husky redshirt freshman nickelback Rahshawn Clark punched the ball out of the hands of Bruins receiver Mikey Matthews and UW freshman cornerback Dylan Robinson covered it on the UCLA 20.

A short pass and two completions later, Grady Gross gave the UW a 3-0 lead with a 31-yard field goal with 1:10 left in the opening quarter.

That was just a warm-up.

The Huskies next went with a conventional change of possession to add more points, holding UCLA to a 3-and-out.

Capping a 65-yard drive, Williams took a shotgun snap, burst up the middle, broke a tackle on the 10 and scored on a 25-yard run to give the UW a 10-0 lead with 10:56 on the clock in the second quarter.

Then it was back to relying on the Bruins' offensive generosity.

With quarterback Nico Iamaleava scrambling, Husky edge rusher Deshawn Lynch knocked the ball away from him and fell on it at the UCLA 45. Lynch had an overly productive night, earlier swatting down his team-best seventh pass of the season.

The Huskies' Demond Williams Jr. (2) hands off to Adam Mohammed (24) with John Mills leading the way. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Eight plays later, Gross converted another field goal, this one from 22 yards out, and the UW led 13-0 with 5:46 left in the opening half.

Just enough time for UCLA to botch another play and give the Huskies a gift.

After setting up for a 46-yard field goal, the Bruins called for a fake kick that was a total disaster. Holder Cash Peterman, in a kneeling position flipped the ball over the head of place-kicker Mateen Bhaghani running to the right who couldn't get his hands on it.

With the ball bouncing free on the midfield UCLA logo, McLaughlin alertly scooped up the ball and took off running for the end zone and nobody was there to get in his way. With 1:44 until half, the Huskies were up 20-0.

This marked the second defensive touchdown for McLaughlin, the Northern Arizona transfer who returned an interception 47 yards for a score against Washington State in the Apple Cup.

Husky edge rusher Zach Durfee hits Bruins quarterback Nico Iamaleava (9) to force an incomplete pass. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

After a 3-and-out to open the second half, the Huskies went back to conventional point-making, driving 55 yards for Williams' second touchdown run of the game, this time an 11-yarder. They led 27-0 with 10:38 in the third quarter.

UCLA hung onto the football, but lost Iamaleava on the next series. He got dropped for a 15-yard loss and a sack by Bryce Butler, was shaken up in the process and was done with 8:55 left in the quarter.

Iamaleava, who sat out last week's game at Ohio State while in concussion protocol, got hit in the helmet by UW linebacker Deven Bryant. After spending time in the injury tent, he walked to the locker room with towel covering him from the neck up. He finished with 16-for-26 passing for just 69 yards.

The Huskies weren't ready to take their foot off the gas just yet. Williams found freshman receiver Dezmen Roebuck running right to left with an 18-yard touchdown and they were up 34-0, still in the third quarter. With so many receivers out, Roebuck stepped up and led his team with 7 catches for 96 yards and that score.

"Dez has really just played just at a high level all season," Fisch said.

After the change in quarterbacks, UCLA finally got on the the scoreboard with backup Luke Duncan finding Matthews with a 37-yard TD pass, with the receiver getting behind the Huskies' Leroy Bryant, and it was 34-7.

The UW responded with a 75-yard drive, capped off by Jonah Coleman's 1-yard run for his 16th overall touchdown and the his team went up 41-7 with12:53 left. Coleman, dealing with a knee injury, returned after missing last week's Purdue and wore a thick brace on his left knee.

As it turned out, UCLA wasn't the only one coughing up the football in this game. With 11:19 left, Roebuck gathered in a punt and had it stripped from him, and Bruins special-teamer Jamir Benjamin picked up the football and scored from 13 yards out and it was 41-14.

Bruins quarterback Nico Iamaleava (9) tries to elude the UW's Bryce Butler (92). | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Back came the UW, unstoppable on this night in the Rose Bowl. Tight end Decker DeGraaf caught a 24-yard touchdown pass to close out the scoring and his team pushed out to a 48-14 advantage with 7:14 still on the clock.

The UW used both of its players who have been attempting to redshirt this season, one on each side of the ball, by starting senior linebacker Jacob Manu and sophomore wide receiver Audric Harris.

A Santa Ana, California, product who chose to play near his hometown, Manu reached his four-game limit for the season and now likely won't play against Oregon next week to preserve his eligibility for 2026.

"I promised him when he joined us if he was healthy, he was going to play in this game," Fisch said of his linebacker.

Replacing the injured Raiden Vines-Bright, Harris made the first start of his UW career and his fifth appearance of the season, which put the pass-catcher over the limit to redshirt. So he'll enter 2026 as a junior.

"Hats off to Audric," Fisch said. "He wanted to put the team first."

This game was all about good hands in the Rose Bowl, using them to wave good bye to everyone in blue and gold colors and call for Oregon next weekend to close out the regular season at home.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: