Washington’s offense was as prolific as any offense in the country last season with Michael Penix at quarterback.
The key word in that sentence is was.
Without Penix and a handful of receivers that left after the 2023 season, the Huskies have had a difficult time replacing that talent, and the offense on the whole has suffered.
Replacing Penix is Will Rogers, a senior transfer out of Mississippi State. While he is nowhere near what Penix did for the Huskies, Rogers is having a very good season in his own right despite being benched a couple of times in favor of true freshman Demond Williams, Jr.
Rogers is completing 71 percent of his passes good for 2,458 yards and 14 touchdowns, but it’s those seven interceptions that has caused first-year coach Jedd Fisch to go to the true freshman from time to time.
In the ground game, the Huskies feature one of the best tailbacks Oregon is going to face, according to Oregon coach Dan Lanning. Besides Ashton Jeanty of Boise State, Washington’s Jonah Coleman is one of the better running backs that appears on the Duck schedule. The transfer from Arizona hasn’t disappointed. He has a career-high 1,007 yards and nine touchdowns.
Washington has a good tailback, a better-than-average quarterback, and the Huskies have a pair of receivers that can do damage as well.
Wide-out Denzel Boston had plenty of reasons to transfer out of Washington with the coaching change and the uncertainty of his role as a first-year starter. But he stuck it out and now leads the Huskies with 764 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.
On the other side of the field is receiver Giles Jackson, a veteran who started his career at Michigan in 2019. After two seasons in Ann Arbor, Jackson found his way to Seattle. This season, he leads the team with 68 catches, good for 663 yards and two touchdowns.