Tag: washington huskies football

Trojans Wire offers a warm welcome to the new College Wire site Huskies Wire

Washington is joining USC in the Big Ten in 2024. Go to UW Huskies Wire for complete U-Dub football coverage.

It’s a special time at the College Wire network of college sports team websites. We at Trojans Wire have been around for five years. We are happy to welcome UW Huskies Wire into the fold as a partner for Big Ten coverage in 2024 and beyond.

The move to the Big Ten for USC in 2022 was followed in 2023 by Washington and Oregon joining the exodus from the dying Pac-12 Conference. Washington’s run to the national title game against Big Ten stalwart Michigan certainly whetted the appetite for more Huskies coverage. UW Huskies Wire, edited by Roman Tomashoff, is your home for complete Washington football coverage. Get stories on the transfer portal, new commitments for coach Jedd Fisch, and a whole lot more from Roman and the rest of the team at UW Huskies Wire, part of the growing community of College Wire team sites. Keep tabs on USC’s fellow Pac-12 refugees this year in the Big Ten Conference.

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Portal News: Quarterback Will Rogers renews his commitment to Washington

Will Rogers won’t leave the Washington Huskies after all.

Following Kalen DeBoer’s departure for Alabama, the Washington Huskies were left with an uncertain quarterback situation. Will Rogers, who ranks second only to Aaron Murray in SEC history for passing yards, had transferred to play for DeBoer and chose to re-enter the transfer portal after the coaching change.

New Huskies coach Jedd Fisch then witnessed four-star quarterback Austin Mack, who was ranked 73rd overall by 247Sports, join Rogers in the portal. Late last week, Mack committed to Alabama, which paved the way for Rogers’ return.

Rogers told ESPN that Fisch’s NFL pedigree sold him. “That’s the plan. Coach Fisch told me today, ‘I want to treat you like a professional football player.’ I told him that’s what I want, and that’s what I’m looking to do.”

With over 13 years of experience in the NFL, Fisch primarily served as an offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. His two most recent coaching positions were with the Rams, where he worked as the assistant offensive coordinator under Sean McVay, and with the Patriots, where he held the role of quarterbacks coach.

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USC will not face Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan at Washington next year

USC won’t have to play Noah Fifita or Tetairoa McMillan in 2024 as members of the Washington Huskies. That’s #B1G.

Arizona Wildcat football fans have a lot to celebrate today. The Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year, quarterback Noah Fifita, and sophomore Second Team All-Pac-12 selection Tetairoa McMillan will be returning to Tucson to play for new head coach Brent Brennan in 2024. Fifita and McMillan explain in a tweet below from Arizona Football, “Tucson we have unfinished business. We runnin’ it back!”

This means that Trojan fans, Lincoln Riley, and D’Anton Lynn might also be celebrating today with the Wildcats. These prime Arizona players will not follow Jedd Fisch, the head coach who recruited them both out of Servite High School in Anaheim, to Washington next season. USC is scheduled to play its (soon-to-be) former Pac-12 opponent in a conference game in the Big Ten on November 2, 2024, in Seattle.

247Sports shared a conversation with Les Fifita, Noah’s father, in which he explains that McMillan and his son had thoughts of leaving, but it was not where everyone was expecting.

“We’ve known Kalen DeBoer for a long time and he loved Noah when he was at Fresno State,” [Les Fifita] said. “He recruited him hard when Noah was at Servite and they wanted both boys at Alabama.

“It’s ’Bama, we had to listen. But, end of the day, both kids felt like they had unfinished business here. Plus, it’s a family here — it really is. We want to keep this thing together and we know the whole team couldn’t go to ’Bama just like the whole team wasn’t being recruited to Washington. This is the best move for everyone and, with Noah and TMac and the core staying, we think we got a great shot to keep everyone else here as well.”

The Wildcats have their dynamic passing duo back for their first year in the Big 12. Fisch will continue to search for a replacement for Heisman runner-up Michael Penix, who is off to the NFL, and Will Rogers, the transfer from Mississippi State who entered the portal again when DeBoer left Washington. Most importantly, the Trojans will not face the trio of Fisch, Fifita and McMillan in 2024, a combination that took USC and Riley to triple overtime last October in the Coliseum.

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Oklahoma Sooners drop in final US LBM Coaches Poll of 2023

After their 10-3 season, where did the Oklahoma Sooners finish in the final US LBM Coaches Poll?

The 2023 season has come and gone, and what a ride it was. Michigan went undefeated and won the national championship. Georgia failed to make the playoff. Jordan Travis’ injury provided the biggest “what if?” of the season.

The Oklahoma Sooners improved in 2023, earning Brent Venables’ first 10-win season as a head coach. After their win over Texas, it felt like the playoff was a reasonable expectation. But losses to Kansas and Oklahoma State in back-to-back weeks spoiled what looked to be an incredible turnaround.

Still, it was a strong season that gives the Sooners a lot to look forward to as they get ready for the SEC.

Now that the season’s concluded let’s take a look at where the Sooners landed in the final US LBM Coaches Poll of the 2023 season.

More: Sooner Nation reacts on Social Media to Michigan’s national title win

Michigan hopes to run the ball the way it did in 1993 Rose Bowl vs Washington

The 1993 Rose Bowl was a blueprint for how Michigan still wants to play today under Jim Harbaugh.

The Michigan Wolverines, in 2023, loved to run the ball. They hope to run the ball well in 2024 in Monday night’s title game against Washington.

If UM can run the ball with success, it would be a lot like the last Rose Bowl meeting between the two schools.

In back-to-back years in the early 1990s, Michigan and Washington faced each other in the Rose Bowl. The schools alternated wins and losses. In the 1992 Rose Bowl, Washington won. In 1993, Michigan defeated Washington 38-31 in a rematch, ruining the Huskies’ attempt at a third straight Rose Bowl victory.

This was a back-and-forth game, and Michigan took the lead with a Tony McGee touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.

Washington quarterback Mark Brunell, who went on to have a long NFL career, led the way for the Huskies. However, Michigan running back Tyrone Wheatley exploded in this game, rushing for 235 on just 15 carries (15+ yards per carry) and three touchdowns. Wheatley was named the unquestioned Rose Bowl Player of the Game.

As it turns out, this would be the final game for Washington coach Don James, who later resigned following this Rose Bowl contest.

Now, three decades later, these two programs meet in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, the last ever Pac-12 football game before Washington moves to the Big Ten Conference.

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Michigan-Washington national title game recalls 1992 Rose Bowl showdown

The biggest Michigan-UW football game is Monday night. The second-biggest game was the 1992 Rose Bowl.

The Washington Huskies play the Michigan Wolverines for the national championship on Monday. No Washington-Michigan game from the past was bigger than the 1992 Rose Bowl.

The Washington-Michigan Rose Bowl results went back and forth. The Huskies won the first one in 1978, then Michigan won in 1981 as Bo Schembechler finally got a bowl game victory.

Eleven years after the 1981 game, the two programs faced off in the Rose Bowl again. This time it was all Washington. The Huskies dominated in a 34-14 rout of Michigan in 1992.

The Huskies finished No. 1 in the Coaches Poll, splitting the national title with Miami. The Hurricanes hammered Nebraska later on New Year’s Day of 1992 and finished first in the Associated Press Poll. Washington, like Miami, finished the season undefeated.

UW entered the 1992 Rose Bowl ranked No. 2, Michigan at No. 4. No. 3 Florida lost in the 1992 Sugar Bowl to Notre Dame, which meant that if Michigan had beaten Washington, the Wolverines would have finished No. 2 in the country.

The Huskies scored 21 points in the second half to run away with the 1992 Rose Bowl. They made great halftime adjustments to stake their claim to a split national title. UW’s Billy Joe Hobert (quarterback) and Steve Emtman (defensive tackle) were named the players of the game.

Don James’ Husky program had been very good for 15 years. Washington finished No. 2 in the country in the 1984 season, narrowly missing a national title. Several years later, the Huskies finally reached the summit.

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Bo Schembechler, defeated by USC, finally won his first Rose Bowl vs Washington

Bo Schembechler was 0-3 vs USC and 0-5 overall in the Rose Bowl before breaking through in 1981 vs Washington.

Washington plays Michigan for the national title on Monday night. In another significant episode of past Michigan-Washington matchups, let us examine the Rose Bowl game in 1981.

USC fans know that the Trojans hounded and haunted Michigan and Bo Schembechler in the Rose Bowl. John McKay beat Bo in the Michigan coach’s first Rose Bowl game in January of 1970. John Robinson then beat Bo and Michigan in the 1977 and 1979 Rose Bowls. Schembechler also lost the 1978 Rose Bowl to Washington. When was Bo ever going to break through and win the Granddaddy?

This is where we return to 1981. This was a memorable Rose Bowl for the Wolverines. Schembechler finally got the monkey off his back with a 23-6 win over Washington in the 67th edition of the legendary game.

The only points Washington scored came in the second quarter, and it was all Michigan from that point on.

John Wangler was the quarterback for the Wolverines this season. Butch Woolfolk, a future pro who had a solid NFL career, earned Rose Bowl Player of the Game honors with 26 carries for 182 yards in a massive performance.

The Michigan defense flexed its muscles in this game, limiting Washington to just 105 yards in the second half.

The Wolverines scored 16 unanswered points to finish the game. The infamous Schembechler Rose Bowl drought was snapped. Beyond that, Schembechler won his first bowl of any kind after seven consecutive losses heading into this game. Schembechler lost three Rose Bowls to USC in the 1970s. He also lost the 1972 Rose Bowl to Stanford, the 1976 Orange Bowl to Oklahoma, the 1978 Rose Bowl to Washington, and the 1979 Gator Bowl to North Carolina. The 1981 Rose Bowl lifted a weight off Bo’s shoulders, and his players carried him on their shoulders after the final seconds ticked off the clock in Pasadena.

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1978 Rose Bowl: Washington stuns No. 4 Michigan as heavy underdog

The rise of Washington under Don James began with the 1978 Rose Bowl upset of Michigan.

The College Football Playoff National Championship Game is a matchup between Washington and Michigan. The two future Big Ten opponents have faced each other quite a few times in the Rose Bowl.

One by one let’s examine the past matchups, beginning with the 1978 game.

The Huskies defeated the Wolverines that year, 27-20. A quarterback you might have heard of, Warren Moon, was named as the Rose Bowl Player of the Game. He went on to have a stellar CFL and then NFL career.

Notably, Washington outgained Michigan by just 10 yards, 398-388.

Washington went into halftime with a 17-0 lead and led 24-0 before the Wolverines made a comeback and came just short of winning the game.

Rick Leach was the quarterback for Michigan. He had a pair of touchdowns in the game as the fourth-ranked Wolverines made their desperate rally.

Michigan was favored by 14 points in the game, so the Huskies getting the win, led by head coach Don James, was a massive boost for the program, which began to take off after that point and establish itself as a West Coast power.

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Texas A&M legend Johnny Manziel takes shot at Longhorns after College Football Playoff loss

The Lone Star Showdown officially returns to the Texas gridiron this year and the smack talk has already begun for the Nov. 30 matchup at Kyle Field.

The Lone Star Showdown officially returns to the Texas gridiron this year and the smack talk has already begun for the Nov. 30 matchup at Kyle Field.

Washington defeated Texas 37-31 in the Sugar Bowl on Monday night in New Orleans. With a win in the College Football Playoff semifinals, the unbeaten Huskies advanced to play undefeated Michigan in the championship game this upcoming Monday at NRG Stadium in Houston.

The Longhorns, meanwhile, nearly pulled off the unthinkable by mounting a late comeback. However, Texas turned the ball over on downs in the red zone to end the game, crushing the hopes of Longhorns fans around the country.

Many people in Aggieland were overjoyed by the outcome, including Texas A&M legend Johnny Manziel.

TexAgs executive editor Billy Luicci took a moment to congratulate Texas fans on an impressive season, which included the first Big 12 Championship since 2009. Manziel, however, was having none of it.

With the CFP expanding to 12 teams for next season, a berth, if not two, will be on the line when the Aggies and Longhorns clash two days after Thanksgiving. It’s safe to presume that Johnny Football will be locked in with the rest of us for such an exciting showdown.

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Kalen DeBoer, like Mario Cristobal, fails to take a knee at the end of a game

Do these coaches never learn?

The backlash is certainly coming for Kalen DeBoer, even after the Washington Huskies defeated the Texas Longhorns to advance to the national title game for the 2023 college football season.

His failure to take a knee caused Dillon Johnson to get injured. It also enabled Texas to get the ball back with nearly 45 seconds left instead of only 10 to 15 seconds. That difference in time allowed Texas to nearly pull off a miracle comeback.

Ultimately, Quinn Ewers’ pass as time expired was knocked away incomplete, but DeBoer’s questionable decision was Mario Cristobal-esque in nature.

With time ticking down just inside of one minute and Texas having no timeouts, Washington could have knelt and guaranteed a 40-second runoff after the end of the play. That 40-second runoff, plus four or five seconds to run the third-down play and then five more seconds to execute a punt, would have left Texas with no more than 15 seconds, maybe only 10, and nearly the whole field to go in a game Washington led 37-31.

Instead of taking a knee on third down, however, DeBoer ran a normal running play, and Johnson proceeded to get injured and leave the game. The clock stopped for the injury without a restart. Texas gained over 30 extra seconds because the normal play put an injury in play as a real possibility. Kneeling the ball would have taken the possibility of an injury off the board.

It was a questionable decision, and it will be even more discussed if Johnson isn’t able to play in the title game for Washington against Michigan next Monday.

Cristobal did the same thing against Georgia Tech earlier this season in one of the most puzzling meltdowns in the history of college football, and then he had another episode of mismanagement in the Pinstripe Bowl. Cristobal also infamously failed to kneel the ball late in an Oregon loss to Stanford several years ago. An Oregon fumble on a handoff opened the door for Stanford to make a late comeback in Eugene.

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