The Washington Huskies (1-0) kicked off their 2026 season with a hard-fought 24-10 victory over the Washington State Cougars (0-1) Sunday afternoon at Husky Stadium. Although the score seemed convincing, the game was anything but a walk in the park for the Huskies, who had plenty of first-game jitters. While pleased with the outcome, Husky head coach Jedd Fisch was disappointed with his team’s level of play.
“I thought Washington State had a really good plan, played really hard, did a nice job to make it a challenging week one ,” said Fisch. “It felt like we didn’t play at the level that we would like to play at but we’re also very happy with the victory.”
Defense Comes In Strong
The Huskies’ defense’s resilient effort drove the win. The speed and quickness were on display all day, as they completely neutralized Washington State’s offense. Linebacker Jacob Manu set the early tone for the Husky defense. His punishing, aggressive style was evident early in the game. Manu finished the game with seven total tackles and a sack. He is looking to be a defensive force and replicate his 2023 season, when he registered 105 total tackles and 5 sacks
Manu’s herculean effort was contagious. Defensive backs Emmanuel Karnley and Dy n Robinson benefited from Manu’s aggressive play. The duo played sticky pass defense, stepped up to the line of scrimmage, and stuffed the run. Safety Alex McLaughlin was the biggest beneficiary of Manu’s run-stuffing efforts. McLaughlin finished the game with six tackles and recorded the game-sealing interception. In addition to Manu, Isaiah Ward and Ramzek Fruean had impactful games. Ward had a forced fumble and recovery, three tackles, two of which were solo. Fruean finished with three tackles, a career high for the freshman.
“Yeah, I felt good, just coming out you know… it’s just a blessing being with my team and playing football again,” said Manu. “Yeah, I feel like as a leader, you got to show up in the big moments like that, you know when stuff’s not going right, you have to be the one that steps up so I try to do that when that comes upon us.”
Offense Makes The Necessary Plays
While the Husky defense was locked in from the start, the offense was the exact opposite. There were too many self-inflicted wounds that resulted in a lack of execution. The one constant on the offense was Mondi Williams Jr., who used his legs and arms to move the offense down the field. Despite the early struggles, Williams kept his belief in his players.
This was evident in some of the crucial plays of the game. Wide receiver Chris Lawson led the team with five receptions and 87 yards, and Rashid Williams hauled in three passes and scored his first touchdown at Husky Stadium. The two-headed monster at running back with Quaid Carr and Jayden Limar also made an impact and helped the offense stay in rhythm. Carr averaged 5.6 yards a carry and rushed for 28 yards, as Limar averaged 3.9 yards a carry and scored on a touchdown to help ice the game. Williams was 24-35 for 268 yards and one touchdown. He completed 6 percent of his passes and scored a second touchdown with his legs.
Plays like these overshadowed the team’s struggles, including miscommunications and self-inflicted mistakes that routinely caused dysfunction and disrupted the rhythm. He spoke about those struggles, what he saw during the game, and what he hopes to see in the next match against Utah State.
“Yeah, I don’t think we started the way we wanted to for sure, but it really about going back to the drawing board and understanding our preparation, when we need it the most… to respond on back-to-back drives and understanding that I think speaks volumes about our team,” said Williams.” “I felt like it just our mentality… I brought all the guys up and told them, we can’t just keep having the same penalties, we can’t keep running into the same mistakes, especially offensively…we shoot ourselves in the foot a lot including myself, so we got to clean those things up but I’m just glad we got the win.
POST GAME NOTES
Boeing Apple Cup: Washington vs. Washington State
Husky Stadium, Sunday, September 6, 2026
UW Postgame Notes
Washington’s defense did not allow an third-down conversion today, as the Cougars were 0-for-11 on third down (WSU did convert its lone fourth-down conversion attempt.
The last time that Washington kept a team from converting a single third-down attempt came in the Huskies’ historic 16-13 win over USC in 2009, the game won on a last-second field goal from Erik Folk at Husky Stadium. The Trojans were 0-for-10 on third down that day and, incidentally, 0-for-1 on fourth-down attempts.
UW quarterback Demond Williams surpassed 5,000 career yards of total offense and finished the game with 5,231 yards. He needs just 17 more yards to reach the UW’s career top-10 list. He also currently has 954 career rushing yards, just 46 shy of 1,000. Only two Husky QBs have rushed for 1,000 career yards: Jake Locker (1,939) and Marques Tuiasosopo (1,495).
Three first-year players started on defense for the Huskies: edge Ramzak Fruean, defensive tackle Derek Colman-Brusa and nickelback Jeron Jones. UW also had a first-year starter on offense as Kodi Greene made his debut as the left tackle.
Another 16 (so, 20 in total, counting the four freshman starters) saw their first action as Huskies: Emmanuel Karney, Christian Moss, Jordan Clay, Logan George, Trez Davis, Jayden Limar, Kai McClendon, Gavin Day, Trey Cooley, Julian McMahan, Darin Conley, Hunter McKee, Kolt Dieterich, DeSean Watts, Hunter Green, and Tyler Robles.
Hunter Green’s 64-yard punt in the third quarter was the longest by a Husky since 2021. Green averaged 50.8 yards per punt, on four attempts. Washington won its 11th straight non-conference home game today. Overall, Washington has won 26 of its last 28 home games (both conference and non-conference)
Today’s game was the first-ever UW-WSU football game that was played as a season opener. Washington now boasts a record of 78-34-6 vs. the Cougars, in a series that dates back to 1900.
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