Washington Huskies Embarrassed in Blowout Loss to No. 20 Iowa Hawkeyes

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SEATTLE — The Washington Huskies football team looked outclassed in every facet of the game in a 41-24 loss to the No. 20 Iowa Hawkeyes on Friday at Husky Stadium.

The Huskies (3-3, 0-3 Big Ten play) fell behind 27-0 in the first half after backup/junior quarterback Jeremy Hecklinski found wide receiver DJ Vonnahme for a 24-yard touchdown. It was Vonnahmen's second touchdown of the night. At the time, Iowa's points scored (27) almost doubled Washington's total yardage (14 yards).

Hecklisnki became the first Hawkeyes quarterback since 2017 to have three touchdown passes in their team debut. He finished the game 14-for-19 for 202 yards and three touchdowns.

Iowa running back Kamari Moulton added to the team's uncharacteristically explosive offense. He ran for 208 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries, including a 56-yard run on the first play of a drive that made it 13-0 Hawkeyes with 10 seconds left in the first quarter.

Moulton became the first Iowa running back in two years to have over 200 yards rushing.

"They were certainly exceptionally physical," UW head coach Jedd Fisch said in a postgame news conference Friday. "They were able to win at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Both running the football and stopping the run. There was nowhere for us to run the football and there was no stopping them when they were running."

The first half could already be chalked up to one of the worst in recent history for Washington, but it quickly went from bad to worse.

On the Huskies' second-to-last drive of the first half, the team advanced to the Hawkeyes red-zone before being stopped on third down. Tyler Robles connected on a 30-yard field goal that made it 27-3 Iowa, which was the score going into halftime.

The third-down stop made by the Hawkeyes came on a run from third-year Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. He was in noticeable discomfort following the tackle and exited the game before the end of the first half.

At the time of Williams' exit, he completed 6-for-11 of his pass attempts for 69 yards and ran for -8 yards on 11 carries due to being sacked four times.

Third-year quarterback Elijah Brown, who transferred from the Stanford Cardinal this offseason, entered the game in Williams' stead.

Brown had an effective night for the Huskies. His first drive of the game was the final of the first half and he marched the offense into Iowa territory, but was unable to complete a last-second Hail Mary to end the half.

Brown continued to be efficient. The former Cardinal did not have a running game to support him. The team finished with -3 rushing yards on 25 carries. Sixth-year running back Trey Cooley and first-year back Brian Bonner combined for 19 yards on 12 totes.

Brown still finished the game 28-for-39 for 251 yards and three touchdowns. With the Huntington Beach, Calif., native at the helm, Washington outscored the Hawkeyes 21-14 in the second half.

The former Stanford signal-caller's three scores were comprised of a 10-yard touchdown pass to second-year wide receiver Chris Lawson, a 2-yard connection to second-year slot receiver Dezmen Roebuck and a three-yard completion to freshman Mason James. He also completed a pass to Lawson for the two-point conversation following Roebuck's touchdown.

The touchdown to James came as time expired and resulted in the eventual final of 41-24.

"When Demond went down, (I just) went in there and — do what I can do," Brown said after the game. "Stay within the system, trusting coach Fisch play-calling. Trust in the preparation I had throughout the week. I don't get many reps, but just being right there and seeing coach Fisch's and Demond's conversations and just taking any mental notes I can."

Even with Iowa scoring less in the second half, the UW defense was unable to get the necessary stops to award Brown's hat trick with a comeback win.

The nature of which the Huskies lost, especially given their performance in the first 30 minutes, likely eliminates any chance of a College Football Playoff berth for UW this season.

As to who the quarterback will be going forward, Fisch still has to hear back from medical professionals, but was adamant that, if he's able to go, Williams will remain the starting quarterback.

"I think that Demond is the starting quarterback," Fisch said. "And he's been our starting quarterback and we expect him to be our starting quarterback. We expect him to continue to improve and get healthy and play well and play better and keep getting better. But, at this point in time, I got to see where he's at health-wise and I got to make sure that he's good to go before we declare any starter for this week."

Washington will have two road games before returning home to Husky Stadium. The first will be against the Purdue Boilermakers at 5 p.m. PT on Oct. 16 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind.

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