UW Huskies vs. UC Davis: Keys to the game, how to watch and prediction
By Andy Yamashita Seattle Times staff reporter
UC Davis (1-0) at Washington (1-0)
Kickoff: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Husky Stadium
TV: Big Ten Network
Radio: SportsRadio 93.3-FM KJR
Series: First meeting between Washington and UC Davis
UW key players
QB Demond Williams Jr.: 75% completions, 226 pass yards, 18 completions, 24 attempts, 1 pass TD, 13 carries, 68 rush yards
RB Adam Mohammed: 7 carries, 25 rush yards, 1 rush TD, 2 catches, 38 yards receiving
S Makell Esteen: 9 tackles, 1 INT
CB Tacario Davis: 1 tackle, 2 PBU
UC Davis key players
QB Caden Pinnick: 67.7% completions, 253 pass yards, 21 completions, 31 attempts, 3 pass TD, 1 INT, 14 carries, 14 rush yards
RB Jordan Fisher: 16 carries, 105 rush yards, 1 rush TD
S Rex Conners: 15 tackles, 1 PBU
LB Nate Rutchena: 6 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 INT, 1 forced fumble
Finishing offensive drives
Washington pulled away from Colorado State in the second half by finishing its opportunities on offense. The Huskies entered halftime tied 14-14 with the Rams because they didn’t take advantage of their opportunities in the first half.
All five of UW’s complete first-half drives reached beyond CSU’s 40-yard line. Three of them, however, resulted in no points.
Washington’s second drive was set back by a third-down false start by junior right tackle Drew Azzopardi before sophomore quarterback Demond Williams Jr. took a sack, forcing UW to punt. Its fourth drive ended in a punt, too after Washington stalled out on the CSU 39-yard line and another sack taken by Williams took the Huskies out of field-goal range. UW’s final complete drive of the half ended when miscommunication on the snap between Williams and center Landen Hatchett resulted in a fumble recovered by CSU.
“We can’t have that,” coach Jedd Fisch said Thursday. “We can’t allow that to happen.”
Allowing the Aggies and coach Tim Plough to hang around will be dangerous. UC Davis beat fellow FCS program Utah Tech 31-24 during its most recent outing despite trailing by 17 points at one point.
Situational defense
Fisch also pointed to situational defense as an area where he’d like to see the Huskies improve.
Washington’s defense forced Colorado State into five three-and-outs during its season-opening victory. However, those stops didn’t come in complementary spots during the first half. UW’s defense surrendered its first touchdown immediately after the offense took a 7-0 lead. The defense allowed CSU to score another touchdown on its first drive of the second half, tying the game 21-21.
And, of course, the Huskies gave up a touchdown with 11 seconds remaining to tie the game 14-14 entering halftime. Fisch previously stated the offense and special teams units put the defense in some poor situations, but said Thursday he’d like to see the Huskies ratchet up their defensive intensity on drives immediately following a UW score. More turnovers — Fisch said he’d like to see more than one against UC Davis — will also help the situational defense improve.
“We want to be able to counter punch,” Fisch said. “Each time the offense scores, we don’t want to let them also score.”
Kickoff coverage
Washington’s kickoff coverage was undoubtedly poor against Colorado State. The Rams and returner Lloyd Avant returned three kicks for 95 total yards, averaging 32 yards per return. Avant’s best return of the game went 50 yards.
All of Avant’s yardage doesn’t include UW kickoff specialist Ethan Moczulski sending one kick out of bounds and senior kicker Grady Gross’ failed squib kickoff attempt that Colorado State recovered at its own 43-yard line.
The Huskies struggled with kickoff coverage during the entire 2024 season. UW’s kickoff defense ranked 90th nationally, allowing 796 return yards on 37 kickoff return attempts. Opponents averaged 21.51 yards per return against Washington a season ago.
UC Davis attempted just one kickoff return during its victory against Utah Tech, a 23-yard return by wide receiver Samuel Gbatu Jr.
“If we can clean those three areas up in all three phases,” Fisch said, “then we’ll have a much better day on Saturday.”
Andy Yamashita’s prediction
The memories of UW’s 13-7 defeat against Montana, another FCS opponent from the Big Sky Conference, in 2021 might never truly fade.
After handling Colorado State, Washington won’t be expected to have many problems against UC Davis. The Aggies are a good FCS program — projected to finish second in the Big Sky — but the Huskies will have a larger talent advantage than they did against the Rams. For some context, UW beat Weber State, which finished seventh in the Big Sky, 35-3 during the 2024 season.
Prediction: Huskies 42, Aggies 14
Andy Yamashita: ayamashita@seattletimes .com. Andy Yamashita is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times, primarily covering Washington Huskies football.