Revamped Washington begins life in the Big Ten with 35-3 win over Weber State

Updated Sep. 1, 2024 3:19 a.m. ET

Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — Jonah Coleman rushed for 127 yards and three touchdowns, Will Rogers threw for 250 yards and one TD, and Washington cruised past Weber State 35-3 on Saturday night in Jedd Fisch’s debut as the Huskies' new coach.

With Big Ten Conference logos now stitched onto the field at Husky Stadium, Washington (1-0) took the field looking little like the team that played in the College Football Playoff championship game less than eight months ago.

The result was the same as it was 14 times last season when the Huskies reached the title game before falling to Michigan.

“It was fun, man, to win here and get a Big Ten win as a head coach, I don't take that lightly at all,” Fisch said.

The Huskies unveiled a fully overhauled coaching staff led by Fisch and a roster featuring just 11 players that remained from the depth chart at the start of last season.

But the two most important additions to that roster are Rogers and Coleman. And it didn’t take long to understand the significance of their presence.

Coleman rushed for a pair of 5-yard touchdowns and a 1-yard score on his way to the third 100-yard rushing game of his career. The previous two came last season at Arizona before Coleman followed Fisch to the Pacific Northwest to continue his career with the Huskies.

“It seems that we had some pretty gaping holes at times that Jonah was able to run through untouched for the first few yards and when you give Jonah the head of steam he's a very hard guy to tackle with just one guy,” Fisch said.

Coleman also had a 44-yard touchdown run called back in the first quarter by a penalty.

“I was going to go to the sideline and celebrate with everybody and I looked over and I was like ‘ah, next play,'" Coleman said.

Rogers, who transferred from Mississippi State, completed 20 of 26 passes and threw a 33-yard touchdown to freshman Decker Degraaf late in the first half. Freshman Demond Williams Jr. added his first career TD pass in the fourth quarter hitting Denzel Boston on a 6-yard TD.

Damon Bankston rushed for 105 yards for the Wildcats, but the 22nd-ranked team in the preseason FCS poll eventually wore down against depth and size of Washington. Kyle Thompson’s 28-yard field goal in the final seconds of the third quarter kept Weber State (0-1) from being shut out.

The Takeaway

Weber State: The Wildcats were picked sixth in the Big Sky preseason poll, which shows the depth of the conference. Weber State will need to find a more consistent pass attack to have success – QB Richie Munoz was 11-of-32 passing for 98 yards.

Washington: One of the biggest questions for the Huskies is the offensive line and the reviews after the opener were mixed. Washington rotated several combinations and while the run game was a positive there were breakdowns in pass protection.

Quotable

“It's going to be our worst game moving forward. We have a lot of things to clean up, but celebrate the wins,” said Washington linebacker Alphonzo Tuputala.

Injuries

Already thin at the position, Washington lost starting tight end Quentin Moore to a left leg injury in the first half. Moore was tackled low with his leg planted and was down for several minutes before being helped off the field.

Fisch said he believes Moore will be OK but still needed to be checked by doctors on Sunday.