Thanks to whatever upper-respiratory virus I’ve contracted, I watched Washington’s 41-24 loss to Iowa on Friday night from my living room.
That being the case, I’ll eschew the typical game column and instead break my reaction into three main takeaways.
How many more wins do you see?
In theory, Washington appeared to have several advantages Friday night: Iowa traveled two time zones on a short week after a three-score loss to Ohio State and played its backup quarterback (though he looks like he might deserve to be QB1). Maybe that helps explain how UW entered as a three-point favorite.
In reality, the Huskies looked more like a nonconference tuneup for the Hawkeyes, who exposed UW’s lacking physicality on both sides of the ball and rendered Washington’s first-half offense non-functional, even with Landen Hatchett returning at center and John Mills playing most of the snaps at left tackle.
At least against Minnesota, the Huskies rallied to lose by only a field goal. At least at USC, their defense played well enough to give them a chance to win.
This was a top-to-bottom embarrassment, one that would feel like rock bottom if you didn’t know the remaining schedule.