Gophers-Washington preview: Nonconference resumes, injury uncertainty and everything else to know

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After Saturday’s 41-7 win over Akron, the Gophers will carry a 2-1 nonconference record into their Big Ten opener on Saturday night at Washington. It’s easy to poke holes in the Huskies’ 3-0 start, but betting odds favor them by 10 points against Minnesota. Here’s everything you need to know.

From the practice field: what we’re hearing

In perfect P.J. Fleck fashion, he has been very complimentary of head coach Jedd Fisch, quarterback Demond Williams, and the Washington Huskies all week, and he seems to be very pleased with his team’s performance against Akron.

“Jedd Fisch has done a really good job; I’ve known him for a very long time. [My wife] Heather and his wife are friends. Just a ton of respect for what he does and how he does it. He’s a great playcaller, an offensive mind. Coach Walters on the other side; he was the head coach at Purdue, coordinator at Illinois. So we have a lot of familiarity with him,” Fleck said.

He also doesn’t want to make the travel and 10 p.m. CT start time a big deal, but he has referenced the challenges of the situation multiple times. “The preparation is the preparation, and we’re focusing on the preparation. We’re big people, we’re adults, and these are student-athletes who are treated like adults, and we’ll handle that and look forward to the trip,” he said.

The matchup-specific stat that matters

The Gophers carry a five-game losing streak on the road into Saturday’s showdown, and they lost their West Coast road games by a combined score of 69-27 against Cal and Oregon last season. Washington is 29-4 at Husky Stadium since 2022, and there are probably a dozen more stats that would favor the Huskies in this matchup.

One stat that stands out to me is strength of schedule. According to ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI), Washington has played the 136th-toughest, or third-easiest, schedule in the entire FBS through three weeks. Minnesota isn’t that much better at No. 89, but the Huskies’ toughest opponent, Washington State, ranks No. 97 in that metric. The Gophers tested themselves against Mississippi State, which is 22nd on that list, and we’ll see if that pays off for them.

Injury/availability report

Teams are now required to release injury/availability reports for Big Ten games on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and two hours before kickoff of conference games. The Gophers head to Washington banged up, as Darius Taylor, Aidan Gousby and Matt Kingsbury all missed last week’s game against Akron. Those will be the top Minnesota players to monitor for this game.

One of the Huskies’ best receivers, Christian Moss, was ruled out for 2-3 months after Week 2, and they will have their own fair share of injuries ahead of Saturday night’s clash.

Head-to-head history and recent trends

Saturday will be Minnesota’s first meeting with Washington as conference-mates since they joined the Big Ten in 2024. The two historic college football brands famously squared off in the 1960 Rose Bowl, which Washington won. This week will be their first meeting since a home-and-home series in 1976 and 1977. The Gophers lead the all-time series 10-7.

Washington has had spurts of dominance in the 2000s. Head coach Chris Petersen led them to three straight double-digit win seasons from 2016 to 2018, but Jimmy Lake struggled as his replacement. Kalen DeBoer had 25 wins in two seasons, and Fisch is now looking to help the program find its footing in the new Big Ten.

X-factor: Dezmen Roebuck

Williams is the most important player on Washington’s roster, and his performance will have the biggest impact on the outcome of the game, but talking about quarterbacks gets redundant after a while. Without Moss, Roebuck has become Washington’s undisputed No. 1 receiver, and their passing attack goes through him.

Despite being an underrated three-star prospect, Roebuck had a big role as a true freshman in 2025. He had 42 catches for 560 yards and seven touchdowns. The 5-foot-11 Arizona native leads Washington with 22 catches for 221 yards through three weeks this season. He does most of his work in the slot, so Minnesota’s nickel corners will be tested.

Coaching tendencies

Fisch was notably the Gophers’ offensive coordinator for one season in 2009 under Tim Brewster. After bouncing around to numerous stops and numerous levels, he became the head coach at Arizona in 2021. He turned that program around in three seasons, and this is his third season at Washington.

After an uncharacteristically poor 2024 with the 104th-ranked scoring offense in the country, Washington had the 17th-highest-scoring offense last fall. Fisch is an offensive coach and he brought in former Purdue head coach and Illinois defensive coordinator Ryan Walters as the Huskies’ defensive coordinator last season to replace Steve Belichick, who followed his father to North Carolina.

Minnesota connections

Outside of Fisch’s connection to the Gophers, one of Washington’s best defensive linemen is a product of Moorhead High School. Elinneus Davis nearly opted to stay home and play for the Gophers in the 2023 high school recruiting class, but he has put together a productive career with the Huskies. After redshirting in 2023, he played 169 defensive snaps in 2024, and he became a full-time starter last fall. He has 44 total tackles, 12 QB pressures and 1.5 sacks in his college career.

Weather forecast

It looks like the Gophers will get a traditional weekend of Seattle weather. The high is expected to be 65 degrees on Saturday, with a low of 51. The forecast calls for intervals of clouds and sunshine, and a slight chance of rain. Overall, it sounds like great football weather.

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This story was originally published by Bring Me The Sports on Sep 23, 2026, where it first appeared in the MN Gophers section. Add Bring Me The Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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