UW Fall Camp Ends in Positive, Upbeat Manner

Fall camp came to an upbeat and ceremonious close on Friday morning for the University of Washington football team, which emerged from 19 practices with a lot of stuff to be encouraged about.

Surrounded by a large turnout of donors, vendors and former players, the current Huskies seemed to fully understand the hard work of competing for jobs and conditioning is over and the season opener against Washington State in the Apple Cup is close at hand, with just nine days of systematic preparation to come.

The players came out to the East field yelling and hugging each other, with extroverted offensive guard John Mills leading the frivolity, as country music boomed through the audio system.

They collectively raised their hands and began jumping up and down for stretching exercises as the song "Pump It Up" played loudly.

Foremost, Jedd Fisch's team suffered no additional serious injuries over a month of August workouts. It also got nearly every major contributor back with the possible exception of returning starting center Landen Hatchett, who is still trying to return with his broken wrist fully mended.

This UW team in a lot of ways has become much younger and faster, foremost by starting a trio of talented freshmen in edge rusher Ramzak Fruean, defensive tackle Derek Colman-Brusa and offensive tackle Kodi Greene.

They have a notable swiftness upgrade in having linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale now for a full season and Fruean for a first one, both possessing elite speed for their positions.

Most of all, the Huskies know they have a much better team than they've had since their 2023 national championship game run and subsequent rebuild following the coaching change from Alabama-bound Kalen DeBoer to Fisch.

So now it's time to turn to a season that has them listed as a top 20 team with a favorable schedule in which these much-improved Huskies, following a 9-4 season, have a reasonable chance of winning their first 10 games before defending national champion Indiana comes to Montlake in November.

First comes the Cougars, with a new coach, a new quarterback and a new era of football for the UW to contend with on Sunday, Sept. 6 at Husky Stadium.

"It's a rivalry game," said Zaydrius, preparing for his first one against WSU. "It's another championship to be won."

Jordan Washington runs with his UW teammates while recovering from a neck injury. | Dan Raley

Things were so positive in this closing fall camp practice that injured running back Jordan Washington, who made multiple appearances this week including on Friday, came out to stretch and run with his guys.

That would signify there is great hope for Washington to continue his college football career, which was interrupted by a spring neck injury when he was the UW starter that wiped out this coming season for him.

With former 1980s players in offensive linemen Don Dow and Scott Fausset and safety Jimmy Rogers among those watching from the sideline, the mood was decidedly festive with these alums aware this team might be fairly stout.

During two hours of drills and 11-on-11 plays, repetition was the big thing. Out of the ordinary was veteran edge rusher Jacob Lane crashing through with others to cause a fumble on a handoff involving back-up quarterback Elijah Brown, the Stanford transfer, and Lane personally recover it and run 40 yards to score himself.

The Huskies begin practice for the Cougars game on Monday.

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