Inside The Huskies

UW Football Schedule Looks Favorable With Early Home Games

The Huskies don't play on the road until October and the first one's in Los Angeles.
Dan Raley|
The dates and places for the 2026 UW football schedule are all set.
The dates and places for the 2026 UW football schedule are all set. | Dave Sizer photo

The University of Washington football team will have absolutely no excuses for getting off to a slow start during the upcoming football season if that happens.

The Huskies are set up for big success -- they open with four consecutive games at home, and five of the first six outings will be played in Montlake.

Overall, the UW has seven home games lined up for 2026, but they'll have some tough ones for sure, coming against visiting Indiana, Iowa and Penn State.

Road trips to Lincoln, Nebraska; East Lansing, Michigan; West Lafayette, Indiana; Los Angeles and Eugene, Oregon, appear winnable in most cases, with the Huskies needing to dig down deep to survive at Autzen Stadium in the regular-season finale.

The following is a breakdown of the 12 games lined up, with kickoff times to come:

2026 UW FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Sept. 5 -- Washington State

For the first time ever, the Huskies will open the season in the Apple Cup against WSU, which coming off a 7-6 season and has a new coach. It's a home game against a Pac-12 member. The UW holds a 77-34-6 all-time record.

Sept. 12 -- Utah State

The Huskies are 3-0 the Aggies, who are coming off a 6-7 season and will be playing their first season in the Pac-12. It the first meeting for these teams since 2015.

Sept. 19 -- Eastern Washington

It's not non-conference play for the UW without a Big Sky opponent and Eastern, coming off a 5-7 season, will provide just that. The Huskie, lead the all-time series with the Eagles 3-0, with these teams meeting for the fist time since 2015.

Sept. 26 -- Minnesota

The Gophers will give the UW four consecutive home games to start the season in the first meeting between these two schools since 1977 -- when Warren Moon was quarterbacking a Rose Bowl-bound team. The Huskies lost that one 19-17 in Minneapolis. However, the UW won 17-7 over a No. 1-ranked Minnesota team in the 1961 Rose Bowl and claim a national championship because of it. The Gophers lead the series 7-10.

Oct. 3 -- at USC

The Huskies finally take to the road and face the Trojans at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where they won the last time they played there, 52-42, during the Penix era. Same s the UW, USC finished 9-4 in 2025. The Huskies trail in this series 32-52-4, but need to take advantage of newfound momentum that has seen them beat the Trojans three times in a row.

Oct. 10 -- Iowa

The Hawkeyes come to Husky Stadium for the first time since 1963, when they beat a Rose Bowl-bound UW team 17-7. Iowa, coming off a 9-4 season, leads the series 3-4.

Oct. 17 -- at Purdue

The Huskkies haven't played in West Lafayette, Indiana, since 1990, when a Mark Brunell-led team won 20-14 on the way to the Rose Bowl. Purdue is coming off a last-place Big Ten showing of 2-10 overall and 0-9 in conference games. The UW leads this series 7-2-1.

Octo. 31 -- at Nebraska

In what could be a trip game, the Huskies come off a bye and return to Lincoln for the first time in 15 years, since losing 51-38 in shootout. This is the scene of perhaps the UW's greatest road win ever, 36-21 in 1991, when the Huskies roared back from a 12-point deficit in the second half to win handily on the way to a natonal championship. The Cornhuskers, 7-6 in 2025, lead the all-time series 4-5-1.

Nov. 7 -- Penn State

At home, the Huskies will try to beat the Nittany Lions for the first time in five games -- in the first meeting between these teams in Seattle. Penn State is coming off a rare down season at 7-6 that led to a coaching change.

Nov. 14 -- at Michigan State

The UW faces another team coming off a coaching change following a 4-8 season. The Huskies have fond memories of East Lansing, having won there 41-7 in 2023. They hold a 5-1 record in the all-time series.

Nov. 21 -- Indiana

In the Huskies' final home game of the season, they'll face the 16-0 and defending national champions. Could the Hoosiers be riding a 26-game winning streak coming into Montlake? UW is 1-3 all-time against Indiana, 0-1 against Curt Cignetti. This potentially will be the biggest game of the season for the UW.

Nov. 28 -- at Oregon

It's back to Autzen Stadium for the Huskies, who have lost their last two games to the Ducks overall and 12 of 16 in Eugene since Kenny Wheaton's infamous interceptions return. Oregon is coming off a 13-2 seasons. The UW holds a continually shrinking 63-50-5 advantage in the series.

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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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