Insider thinks UW Huskies can keep up in Big Ten debut season
Jul 18, 2024, 5:51 PM
The UW Huskies offense huddles during a football game at USC on Nov. 4, 2023. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
(Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
There are plenty of storylines surrounding the 2024 UW Huskies football season.
UW Huskies will experience one of the great college football traditions
For instance, how will they follow up playing for the College Football Playoff championship in January?
Or, how different will the team look with Kalen DeBoer now at Alabama and Jedd Fisch coming up from Arizona to take over as head coach?
And don’t forget about the whole leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten thing.
But when it comes to the storyline that stands out to longtime insider Phil Steele, who publishes an annual college football preview magazine, he goes a different route.
“The most interesting storyline for Washington this year probably goes back to when we asked Washington for pictures of the players who played last year for this year’s magazine, and they sent an e-mail that said we don’t have any,” Steele told Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy.
Ah, yes. Things really will look different on Montlake this year, won’t they?
All that roster turnover that Steele pointed to is definitely going to be a factor, but he doesn’t necessarily think it’s going to keep Fisch from seeing some success in his debut with the Dawgs.
“When you look at Washington overall, they’re very inexperienced. They go to No. 132 on my experience chart,” Steele said. “… I think they can still come through with a decent year. I like Jedd Fisch. He’s got some talent. You look at Will Rogers at quarterback, Jonah Coleman coming over from Arizona at running back. In fact, in my magazine, six of the eight (position) units rank in my top units in the front of the magazine, so they’re not bereft of talent.”
A return trip to the College Football Playoff is obviously a long shot at best for the UW Huskies, but Steele thinks they’ll find themselves playing in a postseason bowl game of some sort. It’s not going to be an easy road, though.
“They draw the toughest schedule of the entire Big 10. They draw Michigan, Oregon, Penn State, Iowa, USC, UCLA, a vastly improved Rutgers team, and five of their games in Big Ten play are on the road this year,” he said. “So an extremely tough schedule, extremely inexperienced team. I still think they get to a bowl game this year, but I don’t think they’re going to be a playoff contender.”
Hear the full conversation with Phil Steele in the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post. Catch Bump and Stacy from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports.
More on UW Huskies football
• What can be expected from new-look Dawgs this fall?
• Caple: Eight players who could raise UW Huskies’ ceiling
• Five recruits to watch who could still join UW Huskies
• Is Fisch delivering on goal of UW’s best recruiting class ever?
• Caple: A closer look at the 2024 UW Huskies football roster
