Ranked Huskies Fall Flat During 13-10 Loss at Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis. — The progress made by the Washington Huskies during the 2025 season fell faster than the snow on the Camp Randall Stadium turf on Saturday.
Like snowflakes, failure has many different shapes and sizes. UW utilized most of the options during a 13-10 loss to a struggling Wisconsin team.
“There’s an old quote that one of my coaches used to say,” left tackle Carver Willis said. “More teams lose on Saturday than get beat. Although they are a great defense, I think really the mistakes we made on offense hurt us more. Just out of character mistakes — myself included.”
Gone is any slim chance the Huskies — now 6-3 overall and 3-3 in the Big Ten — held to make the College Football Playoff. There will be no need to look at rankings and projections. All that was taken off the table by a Badgers (3-6, 1-5) team that suddenly found enough fight to win their first Big Ten game of the season after being essentially noncompetitive in their first four attempts.
The Badgers fans, who saw their team whipped by a combined 71-0 in their two prior home game, stormed the field along with precipitation after time expired. The crowd was announced as 71,217, but perhaps 20,000 of them stayed home for this one.
Those who sat this one out didn’t miss much offense.
The defense gave Washington multiple chances, but couldn’t overcome a lopsided performance by the offense and special teams units.
“Never got in much of a rhythm at all today, offensively, but defensively, we did a really nice job of really holding them down and keeping them to six points,” said UW coach Jedd Fisch, who is 2-9 away from Husky Stadium in two seasons at UW. “Fumbling the ball on the 6-yard line isn’t really the defense’s fault there.
”I thought that special teams did a great job of setting up (Washington’s) first touchdown, and then we can’t get a field goal block type of game. We can’t have a penalty, block in the back, on a return. … We can’t have an illegal fair catch.”
Washington’s Luke Dunne attempted a season-high five punts on Saturday, and the Badgers closed in on most of them. Not including the block, Dunne averaged 36.8 yards on four punts.
Special teams did set up UW’s lone touchdown, when Anthony Ward blocked Wisconsin’s punt to set up the Huskies just ouside the Badgers’ goal line.
Washington led 10-3 at half, and it felt that might be enough on a day Wisconsin used three different quarterbacks. In the end, though, the Huskies needed one more offensive drive to escape, and that series never came and a day when not much was required.
The Badgers did not complete a forward pass until the final 52 seconds of the second half when Wisconsin’s third quarterback of the day, Hunter Simmons, completed a four-yarder. Wisconsin finished 6-for-18 for 48 yards through the air.
The Badgers’ leading passer was punter Sean West, who completed a 24-yard pass when the Huskies were fooled for a fake punt.
The Badgers ran the ball just well enough to keep them in contention, averaging 3.3 yards to finish with 157 yards on 47 attempts.
The Huskies, conversely, couldn’t run it — at least not with their running backs. Washington rushed for one yard on its first seven attempts before Demond Williams Jr. broke loose for a 36-yard scamper. That play eventually led to Grady Gross’ game-tying field goal for the 3-3 score with 9:33 to go in the half.
UW running back Jonah Coleman carried the ball five times for two yards before leaving the game with a lower body injury. Backup Adam Mohammed got things going in the second half and compiled 54 yards on 12 attempts.
“The field position today just felt like we were having to go 85-90 yards almost every drive, and it’s a real challenge to do that with a defense like Wisconsin’s,” said Fisch. “So, altogether, not a very good day for the Huskies.”
Williams made miraculous plays for both teams on Saturday.
The sophomore quarterback kept drives alive with his running ability, leading the Huskies with 19 rushes for 61 yards. Williams completed 20 of 32 passes for 134 yards. He tossed a 1-yard TD to receiver Denzel Boston, and threw a pass that was intercepted by Wisconsin defensive back Ricardo Hallman in the Badgers’ end zone.
Williams’ fumble deep in Washington territory set up Wisconsin’s lone TD of the game when freshman quarterback Carter Smith ran twice for seven yards to reach the end zone to tie the score at 10-10 with 6:26 to go in the third quarter.
He was sacked four times, and Washington’s thoughts of a comeback essentially ended when he attempted to scramble on fourth-and-six from his own 41 with 1:08 remaining. Williams was sacked by Mason Posa, and the game — and the Huskies’ high hopes — essentially ended.
“I don’t think we played as well as Demond would like to play,” Fisch said. “I think that we got to continue to help him and give him different ball plays that maybe he can execute differently or better.
Though Williams struggled, it certainly wasn’t all on the quarterback. The offensive line, down two starters at times, could not open holes on a regular basis, and William was often forced to scramble out of, or into, trouble.
“Protection wasn’t as good as we wanted it to be today,” Fisch said. “(Wisconsin) certainly challenged us in a lot of manners. Think there’s some things we missed in terms of quarterback that we need to make sure we don’t miss again.”
Game-tying Field Goal Attempt Blocked
With snow swirling in a light wind and his team trailing 13-10, facing fourth-and-5 at the Badgers 31 with 10:53 to go, Fisch sent Gross out to attempt a 50-yard field goal. Gross, who hit from 51 at Washington State this season, never really had a chance. Wisconsin’s Ben Barton leaped up and blocked Gross’ kick, and the Huskies failed to get off the ground again.
“We felt like the wind was in our favor,” Fisch said. “We felt like we had a chance. Grady felt really good about the distance. …. We felt like at the time, we tie the game up, and if we don’t make it, they get the ball at the 31-yard line. We were playing very good on defense. We felt like there was plenty of time in the game.”
Defense Get it Done
Washington’s defense hasn’t been flashy this season, but it continues to give the Huskies a chance. No team has scored more than 27 points against Washington this season, and the Badgers were mostly ineffective aside from the two-play, 7-yard TD drive.
Wisconsin started quarterback Danny O’Neill, who misfired on two passing attempts for leaving the game after a hit from UW safety Rylon Dillard-Allen. Enter Smith, a true freshman who scored the first TD of his career but passed for eight yards while completeing three of 12 attempts. Hunter Simmons won the quarterback derby on Saturday, completing two of three for 23 yards.
Lineback Xe’Ree Alexander led the Huskies with 10 tackles. Edges Zach Durfee (five tackles) and Jacob Lane each recorded a sack.
“The defense put us in more than a good enough spot to win the game,” Willis said.
More Huskies Injured
Washington came into the game with relatively good health, but will leave Madison with some issues. Center Landen Hatchett attempted to play with a cast on his hand, but Fisch said the Badgers “were challenging it.” Zachary Henning, who played some tight end against Illinois two weeks earlier, spent most of the game at center against Wisconsin.
Boston was rolled up on during a punt return late in the first half and exited the field on a cart. He returned in the second half, but seemed to be favoring an ankle that was rolled up on during the game. Coleman was also rolled up on, but to a degree that did not allow him to return.
Right tackle Drew Azzopardi, arguably Washignton’s best offensive lineman this season, left the game before halftime and was unable to return with what Fisch deemed a “lower leg injury.”
Nickelback Rahshawn Clark, who filled in for Boston as punt returner, left the game with an unspecified injury. Makell Esteen also appeared to miss a significant portion of the game.
