Huskies Showed Off Fountain Of Youth in Purdue Victory

Everybody rightfully agreed that 2024 was a rebuild season for the University of Washington football team. Nobody has said it out loud, but this year fits that bill, too.

Yet the Huskies, with their over-the-top freshman class, are getting ever closer to losing that renovation or remodeling tag in 2026.

This past Saturday's game against Purdue, a 49-13 victory, was a lasting glimpse into the future. With the Wisconsin upset loss since forgotten, everything is back to building a Top 25 team once more that gives everyone a battle, scores at will and satisfies the Montlake masses.

At one point, the Huskies (7-3 overall, 4-3 Big Ten) had freshmen and sophomores on the field in 9 of the 11 offensive positions as they put seven touchdowns on the scoreboard.

"This is how you build it -- you build it with young guys," UW coach Jedd Fisch said.

Among the Huskies' 28 current true freshmen, 14 have made game appearances thus far and five have started 28 times in all, with these first-year players collectively pulling snaps in 76 games.

Midway through the Purdue beatdown, the Huskies were moving down the field with three freshmen, true and redshirt, manning offensive-line assignments. That trio alone weighed in at a collective 1,000 pounds or close to it.

Almost exactly a year ago, a somber Fisch sat with the the media following a lopsided 35-6 loss at Penn State, bemoaned the Huskies' lack of size and promised that would change. So far, so good, with more behemoths on the way.

John Mills comes out of his stance at right tackle, looking for somebody to hit. | Dave Sizer photo

"We're going to have to continue to add with size in this conference," Fisch said. "We were able to bring some size in this recruiting class. We'll bring more size in the next one. We'll continue to build out a Big Ten team, no longer a Pac-12 team. Those teams will have to carry the load on 60-play games, not 75-play games.

"They're going to have to be more physical -- they're going to have to look a lot more like John Mills."

Running behind these big guys against Purdue, with senior Jonah Coleman out, were sophomore Adam Mohammed, who scored on three short runs, and redshirt freshman Jordan Washington, who went the distance on a 68-yard sprint to the end zone, and even freshman Quaid Carr, who made his UW debut and got a run in and a pass reception.

It would be curious to see who's the fastest over 40 yards, quarterback Demond Williams Jr. or Washington -- or maybe over 68 yards.

Jordan Washington is in full stride on his way to a 68-yard touchdown run. | Dave Sizer photo

"He's' really, really fast, which is awesome," Fisch said of Jordan Washington before pivoting to Carr and soon-to-sign recruit Brian Bonner. "We've got some fast dudes. Quaid Carr is super fast, too. And we've got a guy coming in who's super fast also. Speed is good."

For much of the season, the Huskies have started a pair of freshmen receivers in Dezmen Roebuck and Raiden Vines-Bright, who have a combined 54 catches, though the latter got hurt against Purdue.

Defensively, the Huskies are a little older with five seniors in the starting lineup, yet freshman linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale has exhibited immediate star quality, backed by an interception against Purdue.

In the secondary, freshman safety Rylon "Batman" Dillard-Allen, freshman cornerback Dylan Robinson and redshirt freshman nickelback Rahshawn Clark have been starters.

Freshman linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale (23) brings down a Purdue quarterback. | Davd Sizer photo

"Defensively, I think we've got guys that are beginning to look the part," Fisch said. "Zay really looks the part and that's exciting."

Mills and Rainey-Sale are generational football players, the kind of guys who become All-Americans and then head early to the NFL, leading the way for a whole host of young guys establishing themselves out of the gate.

No other FBS team has committed to such a youth movement this season, to using so many freshmen for so many snaps, to banking on the future by getting ready for it now.

"I'm really excited about what our team is looking like," Fisch said.

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