Huskies Humiliated at Home by No. 20 Iowa

SEATTLE, Wash. — If you want to beat a good Big Ten team, you have to play like a good Big Ten team.

And the Washington Huskies fell short in virtually every way in a 41-24 loss to No. 20 Iowa Friday night at Husky Stadium.

Aside from a strong performance from UW backup quarterback Elijah Brown, not much went right for the Huskies, who fell to 0-3 in the Big Ten and 3-3 overall. Washington finished with -3 yards rushing, while giving up 263 to the Hawkeyes (5-2, 2-1).

"We were not strong enough and stout enough to be able to hold up at this point in time," Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch said. "And we need to be bigger, stronger to do that. And the point of emphasis that I've made for three years: if you want to beat the Big 10 teams in the Big 10 then you have to be physical, big, strong."

It’s been a while since the Washington Huskies football team played so poorly in the first half of a game at Husky Stadium.

The game that appeared to feature very little fight early in front of an announced crowd of 66,231, many of whom could probably find Ray Kinsella's Iowa cornfield where “Shoeless” Joe Jackson roamed center. By the third quarter, it was all Iowa, on the field and in the stands.

Visiting Hawkeyes fans saw quite a show.

Washington's defense joined the dysfunctional offense on Friday. The Huskies narrowly lost its first two Big Ten games to Minnesota and USC. The Hawkeyes gained 279 yards in the first half alone, rushing for 163 yards while holding the Huskies to 3, leading 27-0 late in the second quarter.

It invoked memories of the 2021 Apple Cup, when Bob Gregory was coaching in place of fired Jimmy Lake. The Huskies appeared to lack energy, focus and effort in all phases on Friday.

Iowa scored on five of its first six drives. Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. was sacked four times while compiling six total yards in between.

Williams, hit hard several times in the half, was escorted to the locker room while backup Elijah Brown took over for the final drive before halftime. The student body roared as Brown completed his first three passes, though the drive stalled at the Hawkeyes 42.

Starting jobs landed without any competition observed in open practice sessions were handed off to others on Friday, though for different reasons.

Brown took over for Williams, who departed with a rib injury that required X-rays. Kodi Greene, the freshman left tackle who took virtually all of the No. 1 practice reps starting the first day of spring ball, gave way to John Mills at left tackle for most of Friday's game.

Washington tried a few different combos on the offensive line, but the outcomes were similar.

"They were able to win at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, both running the football and stopping the run," Fisch said. "And there was nowhere for us to run the football, and there was no stopping them when they were running it."

Things changed on offense with Brown under center. The ball came out quickly. Receivers caught the ball on time, in stride. The chains moved. And the Huskies scored touchdowns on their first two drives of the second half. Brown's first significant playing time at Washington began with 19 completions in his first 22 attempts for 156 yards and TD tosses to Chris Lawson and Dezmen Roebuck to open the second half.

"Yeah, I mean, I felt good, trusting the process, trusting what the coaches prepared us for and that's it," Brown said. "[The offense utilized] quick game, just give it to the receivers, let them go, make some plays."

Brown, a third-year player who transferred from Stanford after last season, finished the game with 251 yards and three touchdowns, completing 28 of 39 passes despite receiving two practice reps with the No. 1 offense during the week.

"I felt that Elijah Brown came in in his role and did a outstanding job managing the game, managing the offense, making really good decisions," Fisch said.

Fisch did not have an update on the Williams' injury, and said, "Give me 48 hours to process" when asked if Brown would be under consideration to start at Purdue.

"I think that Demond is the starting quarterback, and he's been our starting quarterback, and we expect him to be our starting quarterback," Fisch said. "We expect him to continue to improve and get healthy and play, but play well and play better and keep getting better. But at this point in time, I got to see where he's at health-wise, and I got to make sure that he's good to go before we declare any starter for this week."

In 12 Big Ten games, Williams has surpassed 250 yards four times – all in 2025 in wins over Illinois, Purdue, Rutgers and Maryland. Brown entered with 1:17 remaining in the second quarter, got there in just over a half against a team that began Friday's matchup ranked eighth in scoring defense (12.6 points per game) and 25th in average total yards allowed at 288.6.

The Huskies began the game with two three-and-out offensive drives, which put them two-for-24 on third-down conversions in Big Ten play at that point. Before heading to the locker room for evaluation late in the half, Williams finished with six completions in 11 attempts for 69 yards. He registered -9 yards on 11 official rushing attempts, aided by four sacks.

Expected to be a defensive battle, the Hawkeyes made sure that would not be the case from the beginning.

Offensively-challenged Iowa, playing with a backup quarterback, got two wide-open touchdowns to build a 27-0 lead by the middle of the second quarter.

UW's offense and defense self-destructed, and two Hunter McKee kickoffs went out of bounds to give the Hawkeyes possession at their 35. Punter Hunter Green eventually took over the kickoff duties.

One defensive low point of the game came late in the first quarter, when Washington missed four tackles while allowing a 56-yard TD run by Kamari Moulten.

And there wasn't much time to rest for the beleaguered defense.

Washington’s offense began the game at is often has this season — with a three-and-out when Williams was sacked on third down.