Washington Huskies officially selected to play Boise State in LA Bowl
Washington players take the field before a college football game against Rutgers in October. (Nick Wagner / The Seattle Times)
By Andy Yamashita Seattle Times staff reporter
For the second time in less than a month, coach Jedd Fisch and the Huskies will make the trip south to Southern California.
On Nov. 22, Washington obliterated an outmatched UCLA team at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., to pick up its eighth win of the season. This time, the Huskies will try to return to Seattle with win No. 9.
“It’s a huge opportunity,” Fisch said, “for us to play one more game and see how good we can get.”
Washington was officially selected Sunday afternoon to play in the LA Bowl, where it will face Mountain West champion Boise State for a 5 p.m. kickoff Saturday at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. It will be UW’s first time playing in the LA Bowl, which hosted its inaugural game in 2021.
The 2025 LA Bowl is a rematch of the 2019 Las Vegas Bowl, a 38-7 Washington win and the final game of Chris Petersen’s coaching career. UW has a 4-2 record against Boise State, most recently beating the Broncos 56-19 on Sept. 2, 2023, behind a 450-yard, five-touchdown performance by quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
“The LA Bowl championship is something we want to have,” Fisch said Sunday. “As long as they’re hoisting a trophy. As long as they’re keeping score, we would do everything we can to participate. And I think our players believe this, and feel the same way.”
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The Huskies (8-4) will be making their 44th bowl appearance in program history and their second under Fisch after he led a depleted roster to the Sun Bowl during the 2024 season, his first on Montlake. Fisch is currently 1-1 in bowl games as a coach dating back to his time at Arizona.
Washington picked up its sixth win to reach bowl eligibility by beating Illinois 42-25 on Oct. 18 at Husky Stadium, equaling its total from the 2024 season with four games remaining. However, UW was upset on the road against Wisconsin a week later and fell against No. 5 Oregon to finish the season.
Fisch said the Huskies will get seven practices during the build up to the LA Bowl, counting some of the sessions they held during the past week. The UW coach also noted he was excited to play in Southern California, a key recruiting hotbed and the home of several players on the Husky roster.
“It’s a chance,” Fisch said, “to go back and have a lot of family members that maybe can’t fly to places all across the country and are going to be able to get in their cars and drive to watch their nephew play, their grandson play, their cousin play, their buddies play.”
Boise State coach Spencer Danielson, who has won three consecutive Mountain West titles, called Washington “one of the best teams in the country” and praised Fisch and the Huskies for the steps they took this season. Danielson, a former defensive coordinator, called UW sophomore quarterback Demond Williams Jr. an “electric football player” and complimented the UW defense’s versatility.
“They can stop the run, they can play the spread, they can play heavy sets,” Danielson said. “They can line up against everything, which is hats off to their defense.”
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The Broncos (9-4) won their sixth conference championship Friday evening, when Boise State defeated UNLV 38-21 at Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho. It suffered nonconference losses against South Florida and No. 11 Notre Dame this season, and dropped two of its final four games of the regular season — against Fresno State and San Diego State.
Danielson’s squad made the Mountain West championship game because four teams — Boise State, UNLV, San Diego State and New Mexico — finished the season 6-2 in conference play. Computer rankings selected the Broncos and Rebels, and Boise State got a boost because of junior quarterback Maddux Madsen’s return from injury.
The Lehi, Utah, native, who missed Boise State’s final three games of the regular season, was 17-for-31 passing for 289 yards and three touchdowns in the championship game to claim the title for the Broncos, who will join the reformed Pac-12 in 2026. Madsen was named the Mountain West championship game’s offensive most valuable player.
“They’re a complete football team,” Fisch said about Boise State. “You can see — defensively, offensively, special teams — there’s not many mistakes. Everything’s very clean. They take care of the football. Obviously, with their starting quarterback, you can see what a leader he is. What a champion he is for their cause.”
The Mountain West is 3-1 in the LA Bowl, which matches the conference’s champion against a Pac-12 legacy program. The Pac-12 legacy schools’ only win came in 2023, when a UCLA team coached by Chip Kelly defeated Boise State 35-22.
It was Danielson’s first official game as the coach after the Broncos removed his interim tag on Dec. 3, a day after he led Boise State to win the 2023 Mountain West championship game. Danielson was named the interim coach on Nov. 12, 2021, following the midseason firing of Andy Avalos. Danielson led Boise State to the College Football Playoff in 2024, losing the Fiesta Bowl 31-14 against Penn State. The 37-year-old Danielson is still searching for his first bowl win as Bronco head coach.
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“I’m not sure I can give much advice to Coach Danielson,” Fisch said. “He’s played in the College Football Playoffs last year. Won the conference both full years as the head coach. I think he’s got it figured out pretty good right now.”
Fisch and Danielson also both stated they never considered declining to participate in the LA Bowl. Iowa State, Kansas State and Notre Dame opted out of their bowl invites Sunday in the aftermath of the College Football Playoff’s bracket reveal. The Cyclones and Wildcats, who both went 6-6, declined because they are going through coaching changes. They were each fined $500,000 by the Big 12 for dropping out.
Notre Dame, however, did not give a reason for opting out after being the first team left out of the CFP bracket. They were reportedly offered a spot in the Pop Tart Bowl against No. 12 BYU. Several 5-7 programs also declined bowl invitations because their teams had already been dismissed on the assumption their season was over.
Danielson said playing in a bowl game is a good way to send off many of his veteran players, especially the seniors who don’t have a professional football career waiting for them at the next level. Danielson added he recruits players who love football, so he’d never want to take away a chance to play. Fisch agreed, and said there was zero chance UW was going to opt out of any bowl opportunities.
“The best way to get good at football is playing football,” Fisch said. “Certainly for us, we would not ever put ourselves in a position where we would opt out of playing football. Our guys love it. We love it.”
Andy Yamashita: ayamashita@seattletimes .com. Andy Yamashita is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times, primarily covering Washington Huskies football.