After a thrilling 24-20 come-from-behind win over Maryland on the road last week, the Washington Huskies return to Husky Stadium to face Rutgers. The Huskies will be looking to avenge last year’s 21-18 loss to the Scarlet Knights. UW has been preparing for Rutgers by watching last season’s game. Here is what to watch for when the Huskies face the Scarlet Knights on Friday.
UW looks to get the offense going early
In their previous two games, the Huskies have struggled on offense in the first half. Scoring just three points combined against Ohio State and Maryland. UW must do a better job of sustaining drives after converting one of 12 on third down attempts in the first half of each of the last two games. The Huskies’ early game offensive struggles have put them behind at halftime. They trailed 13-0 at halftime in last week’s game against Maryland and were down 7-3 at the half when they played Ohio State.
Making QB Demond Williams comfortable will be key to a first-half offensive turnaround
After going just 10/19 throwing the football in the first half last week, QB Demond Williams found a rhythm in the third and fourth quarters. Williams completed 18/22 passes and threw two touchdown passes as he led the Huskies to a comeback win. UW can do a better job of helping Williams settle in early in this week’s game by running the football as they did in the second half of last week’s game. RB Jonah Coleman had just 57 yards rushing on 18 carries against Maryland, but had seven strong carries to start the second half. Establishing the run with Coleman early against Rutgers can help alleviate the pressure on Williams and address UW’s first-half offensive woes.
UW’s defense seeks another strong showing
The Huskies have been strong on defense of late, as they came up big in last Saturday’s win. UW held Maryland’s QB Malik Washington to 219 yards passing, allowing him to complete just 30/49 passes. The Huskies’ defense will look to continue to frustrate opposing quarterbacks, as Athan Kaliakmanis comes to Seattle. The Scarlet Knights rely heavily on their senior QB to take advantage of one-on-one matchups. Kaliakmanis has thrown for 1,399 yards, is completing 67.3% of his passes, and has nine touchdowns and two interceptions this season.
The Huskies’ defense also needs to stop the Scarlet Knights’ star running back
Rutgers likes to incorporate RPOs into their offense, touting one of the conference’s best running backs in Antwan Raymond. The Scarlet Knight’s running back has 471 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns through five games. UW will be looking for another big performance from linebacker Jacob Manu to slow Raymond down. Manu has filled in nicely for injured linebacker Taariq “Buddah” Al-Uqdah. He had six solo tackles and was named “Dawg of the Week” by head coach Jedd Fisch for his performance against Maryland. Manu has also done a great job as the defense’s new quarterback and will be relied on to communicate when Rutgers uses RPOs with Raymond in the backfield.
What UW must do to avenge last year’s loss to Rutgers
The Huskies’ defense is better suited to stop the Scarlet Knights’ ground game as they tout the nation’s eighth-best run defense (allowing just 78 rushing yards a game). Rutgers ran for 184 yards, as they beat UW 21-18 in 2024. In addition to stopping the run, the Huskies’ defense needs to force the Scarlet Knights to turn the ball over in this game, which they were unable to do last year. They also had just one sack against Rutgers QB Athan Kaliakmanis, which means generating pressure will be important.
The Huskies’ offense needs to be better at scoring in the red zone.
Last week, UW’s offense showed improvement at scoring touchdowns when it had the ball inside its opponent’s 20-yard line. After failing to score a touchdown in three red zone trips against Ohio State, the Huskies scored two touchdowns in their three opportunities against Maryland. Against Rutgers last year, they scored just one touchdown in five red zone chances. UW’s offense needs to be more efficient when they have those opportunities on Friday.
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