Following another disappointing loss in Big Ten play, a 25-21 defeat at the hands of the USC Trojans on the road, the Washington Huskies were nowhere to be found in the latest installment of the US LBM Coaches Poll, nor should they be.
In Jedd Fisch's third season at the helm, the Huskies entered the year ranked as the No. 17 team in the country and have seen a steady decline since. Close wins over Washington State and Utah State exposed serious concerns along the offensive line, and as Big Ten play began, the Huskies have been unable to generate any semblance of consistency on offense.
Through two games, UW has gone 2-for-22 on third down, dropping its season average down to 29 percent, vastly the worst in the Big Ten, more than 6 points worse
than the Maryland Terrapins, who sit at just under 36 percent.
Almost more disappointing than the third down struggles is the fact that the Huskies had every opportunity to upset a ranked opponent in Los Angeles. A 42-yard touchdown from tight end Decker DeGraaf gave UW a 21-10 lead with 13:30 to play in the third quarter, but Washington's offense ground to a halt after that.
Between self-inflicted wounds by the Trojans, who also could have just as easily pulled away for a multi-touchdown victory and moved up one spot in the poll to No. 17, and Washington's inability to put together anything consistent, it feels like it could be a long time before Fisch's team comes anywhere close to sniffing a return to the poll.
Here's what the top 25 looks like, with the No. 18 Iowa Hawkeyes coming to town on Friday after dropping four spots following a loss to No. 6 Ohio State.
Schools Dropped Out
No. 22 Penn State; No. 24 Michigan;
Others Receiving Votes
Oklahoma State 187; Boise State 161; Nebraska 117; Wake Forest 87; Northwestern 70; Wisconsin 47; James Madison 42; Minnesota 40; North Dakota State 29; Arizona 15; New Mexico 7; Baylor 3; Virginia Tech 1; Texas A&M 1; Kansas State 1;
The US LBM Board of Coaches for the 2026 season: Tim Albin, Charlotte; Blake Anderson, Southern Mississippi; Dave Aranda, Baylor; David Braun, Northwestern; Jeff Brohm, Louisville; Fran Brown, Syracuse; Neal Brown, North Texas; Troy Calhoun, Air Force; Jamey Chadwell, Liberty; Curt Cignetti, Indiana; Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech; Spencer Danielson, Boise State; Ryan Day, Ohio State; Kalen DeBoer, Alabama; Manny Diaz, Duke; Jake Dickert, Wake Forest; Matt Drinkall, Central Michigan; Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri; Sonny Dykes, TCU; Jason Eck, New Mexico; Mike Elko, Texas A&M; Tony Elliott, Virginia; Matt Entz, Fresno State; Jedd Fisch, Washington; James Franklin, Virginia Tech; Willie Fritz, Houston; Scott Frost, Central Florida; Tony Gibson, Marshall; Alex Golesh, Auburn; Will Hall, Tulane; Blake Harrell, East Carolina; John Hauser, Ohio; Clay Helton, Georgia Southern; Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky; Charles Huff, Memphis; Butch Jones, Arkansas State; KC Keeler, Temple; Charles Kelly, Jacksonville State; Brent Key, Georgia Tech; Zach Kittley, Florida Atlantic; Collin Klein, Kansas State; Tre Lamb, Tulsa; Rhett Lashlee, SMU; Clark Lea, Vanderbilt; Lance Leipold, Kansas; Pete Lembo, Buffalo; Sean Lewis, San Diego State; Dowell Loggains, Appalachian State; Joey McGuire, Texas Tech; Jeff Monken, Army; Kirby Moore, Washington State; Eric Morris, Oklahoma State; Dan Mullen, UNLV; Billy Napier, James Madison; Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh; Brian Newberry, Navy; Ken Niumatalolo, San Jose State; Barry Odom, Purdue; Tim Polasek, North Dakota State; Tavita Pritchard, Stanford; Ricky Rahne, Old Dominion; Matt Rhule, Nebraska; Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia; Jay Sawvel, Wyoming; Morgan Scalley, Utah; JaMarcus Shephard, Oregon State; Kirby Smart, Georgia; Will Stein, Kentucky; Jon Sumrall, Florida; Lance Taylor, Western Michigan; Jeff Traylor, Texas-San Antonio; Scotty Walden, Texas-El Paso; Kyle Whittingham, Michigan; Casey Woods, Missouri State.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Washington football nowhere to be found on US LBM Coaches Poll
