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Inside The Huskies

Ultimate Dark Horse? Some Are Placing Bets on UW

The Huskies turn up on a list of unsung teams that could surprise everyone.
Dan Raley|
Jedd Fisch might have the nation's ultimate dark horse college football team.
Jedd Fisch might have the nation's ultimate dark horse college football team. | Dave Sizer photo

A dark horse is readily defined as someone not expected to win but who surprisingly races from behind to secure victory.

Like that unknown thoroughbred from Enumclaw that suddenly cashes tickets at Emerald Downs.

The opposite of the Mariners.

In this case, the University of Washington football team.

Like most years, the college football experts siimply don't know what to make of the Huskies, who are located somewhere in the Alaskan suburbs.

My oh my, the abject surprise they created across the land in 2023 by advancing all the way to the College Football Playoff national championship game.

Now comes another college season and the UW seems on the cusp of being taken seriously or not at all.

Leave it to someone called CFBSelect.com to anoint Jedd Fisch's football team coming off a 9-4 season as a certifiable dark horse, the No. 1 choice among a dozen candidates deemed capable of proving everyone wrong and doing great things.

In other words, land one of the 12 playoff berths when absolutely no one is looking.

Others in this mix, in this order, are Houston (10-3), New Mexico (9-4), Virginia Tech (3-9), Maryland (4-8), FAU (4-8), Hawaii (9-4), Minnesota (8-5), UCLA (3-9), South Carolina (4-8), Nebraska (7-6) and Pittsburgh (8-5).

Looking at this list, it's more of a gauge about improvement rather than glory.

The Huskies seem like a reasonable choice for this designation because they've been in a steady rebuild since going 14-1 and finishing second in the nation to Michigan.

They have a quarterback in Demond Williams Jr. who is so good LSU allegedly tried to buy him out from under Fisch and his staff.

They have newfound physicality in trotting out some of the most promising young offensive lineman coast to coast in John Mills and Kodi Greene, surrounded by two or three seniors.

They have a Ryan Walters defense that probably will be way better than outsiders envision, built around players such as linebacker Jacob Manu, defensive tackle Elinneus Davis and strong safety Alex McLaughlin.

They have an elite tight end in Decker DeGraaf and wide receiver Dezmen Roebuck, the latter coming off a Freshman All-American season.

They even have a punter in Hunter Green who might be the best in the country at what he does and has the NFL salivating at the possible field-possession advantages he can bring.

On top of that, the Huskies have a favorable schedule in which they could go 9-1 or 10-0 before things really get tough.

Dark horse?

Place your bets.

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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.

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