The Washington Huskies were thoroughly dismantled by the Iowa Hawkeyes in a 41-24 loss on Friday night in a year that has felt like a downhill slide since the first game.
Despite the final result being a 24-10 win for the Huskies, it felt like a sign of things to come when the Washington State Cougars turned away running back Jayden Limar on the goal line just before halftime in the season opener. Since then, issues have continued to build up and seemed to bubble over against the Hawkeyes.
"We've got to get back to work," Fisch said on Friday. "We've got this weekend to reset. It's halftime of a 12-game season where we're sitting here at 3-3 and not playing good enough ball. We expect to play better than we're playing, but we also recognize that
there were a lot of positives in the resiliency of the team."
Following whatever that reset might look like, the Huskies will have to prepare for their second consecutive Friday game as they head to Purdue to face the suddenly hot Boilermakers team that has won its last two games, including a 41-13 trouncing of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who started Washington's slide towards 0-3 in Big Ten play.
Defensively, the Boilermakers come at the perfect time to reset for coordinator Ryan Walters, after his unit gave up 41 points and 465 yards in the loss to the Hawkeyes. 2025's matchup with Purdue seemed a little extra chippy as Walters matched up with the program he was at the helm of in 2023 and 2024, and as the Huskies look for any sort of spark for the back half of the season, Friday's matchup could help galvanize a unit that has been asked to do a lot to keep Fisch's team afloat in the early part of the year.
With Demond Williams Jr.'s status up in the air following an injury that forced him out of the Iowa game in the second quarter, the Huskies are looking for any sense of rhythm on the offensive side as they rank No. 16 in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 26.2 points per game, and should have an opportunity against the Boilermakers' defense, which ranks in the same spot in scoring defense, allowing 31.3 points per game.
If the Huskies can't turn things around in the back half of the season, that might raise much bigger questions about Fisch's program.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Jedd Fisch has to reset Washington football quickly amid losing skid
