Huskies Have Been Sad Sacks, But That Could Change At Wisconsin

The University of Washington football team on Saturday afternoon finds itself at a stadium called Camp Randall, which sounds a lot like a place where you go to roast marshmallows and hop around in sack races.

For the Huskies, they take on Wisconsin interested only in piling up sacks while feasting on Badgers quarterbacks,

Edge rushers Zach Durfee and Jacob Lane won't have a better opportunity to cause havoc in the backfield and inflate their defensive numbers than they will in this Big Ten match-up in which the home team's quarterback situation is an absolute mess.

Entering with a five-game losing streak, Wisconsin (2-6 overall, 0-5 Big Ten) has flipflopped among three signal-callers with a fourth waiting in the wings this season.

Jacob Lane sacks Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin. | Dave Sizer photo

The Badgers are expected to turn to 6-foot-3, 197-pound sophomore Danny O'Neil, a San Diego State transfer who's appeared in five games and started twice. He's completed 61 of 88 passes for 635 yards and 5 touchdowns, with 5 interceptions.

If so, he'll replace 6-foot-3, 229-pound senior Hunter Simmons, who's played in six games and started four, losing each time as the main guy in October.

Likely unavailable is 6-foot-2, 228-pound grad student Billy Edwards Jr. , a Maryland starter in 2024 who suffered a knee sprain, re-aggravated it and likely is done for the season after making a pair of reserve appearances for the Badgers.

That leaves 6-foot-3, 190-pound freshman Carter Smith, a one-time 4-star prospect from Florida who hasn't played yet.

And that has the Huskies guessing on who they might face and what type of offense could be thrown at them, if not salivating.

"It can be challenging when you don't know who's going to be out there or what style of play they're going to emphasize on game day," UW defensive coordinator Ryan Walters said. "We'll just have to adjust."

Each of these Wisconsin quarterbacks appear highly vulnerable and the Huskies would be crazy not send everybody as much as possible once they check into Camp Randall.

Zach Durfee cuts a formidable figure with his 6-foot-5, 258-pound frame that's filled with tattoos. | Dave Sizer phot

While Lane and Durfee have had their moments on defense this season in supplying pressure, their sack numbers definitely are a little on the light side.

Lane leads the Huskies with 2.5 sacks, while Durfee has just 1. It's time for them to double down on those numbers and there's no better place to make this happen than at Wisconsin with its questionable quarterback offerings.

Durfee has extra incentive to have a big day because he'll never play any closer to his hometown of Dawson, Minnesota, which is just over 400 miles away, than he will on Saturday.

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