After falling in national title game, overhauled Washington faces new challenges in Big Ten

SEATTLE — The players who took Washington to the cusp of a national championship last season are gone.

Michael Penix Jr., Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan, Ja’Lynn Polk, Troy Fautanu are all in the NFL. Kalen DeBoer is now the head coach at Alabama. Ryan Grubb is an offensive coordinator in the NFL.

“We certainly are bringing a different team this year than years past,” new Washington coach Jedd Fisch said. “I made the comment that … it’s almost the first time ever that you would have 46 to 48 new players on a roster, along with 30 new staff members coming off a 14-1 season.”

There’s also a new conference following the Huskies’ move to the Big Ten. New opponents. New travel. New challenges.

It all makes last year’s national runners up one of the great unknowns going into this season. Can a team that brought in nearly 50 new players and almost an entirely new coaching staff in one offseason rebuild itself once again into a high-level program?

Fisch did something similar in his previous stop at Arizona, where he inherited a disheveled Wildcats program that went 1-11 in his first season and two years later won 10 games.

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PHOTOS: After falling in national title game, overhauled Washington faces new challenges in Big Ten

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“I do believe we have a lot of good players on this team. I do believe we have a lot of talent on this team. We have a lot of young players on this team,” Fisch said.

Before ever taking a snap at Washington, Will Rogers has already thrown nearly 2,000 passes in his college career. Had he stayed at Mississippi State, he likely would have posted a number never to be approached in the SEC record book.

But Rogers saw an opportunity at Washington - initially under DeBoer and later with Fisch – to play in an offense that provided the best chance at getting him ready for the NFL.

“I don’t have two or three years to kind of learn the offense, develop relationships,” Rogers said. “I have one year to kind of get this thing right. So it’s kind of a weird situation.”

Rogers is expected to start but freshman Demond Williams Jr. could push for some snaps. Williams initially committed to Arizona before following Fisch to Washington and could be the Huskies’ quarterback of the future.

For all the questions Washington has on offense – wide receiver and offensive line specifically - the depth at running back is significant. Jonah Coleman, another Arizona transfer, is the likely starter after rushing for 871 yards last season. Beyond Coleman, the Huskies have a load of experience with Cam Davis, Daniyel Ngata, plus exciting freshman Adam Mohammed.

Washington got a boost at wide receiver when Jeremiah Hunter transferred from Cal after catching 63 passes and seven TDs last season. Denzel Boston and Giles Jackson are returners who are likely to be key contributors.

While there is a decent amount of uncertainty on offense, it’s surpassed by that surrounding Washington’s defense.

Only one full-time starter returns in cornerback Elijah Jackson, who made perhaps the biggest defensive play of the season with his pass breakup on the final play against Texas. Linebackers Alphonzo Tupatala and Carson Bruener are two more key contributors from last season that return.

But the rest of the defense is almost entirely new and will be led by Steve Belichick, who has never coached in college until this year.

“I want to try and teach the guys and give them the tools and freedom to go out there and make plays,” Belichick said. “I’m not going to make any plays this season. Those guys are going to be the ones making plays.”

The Big Ten did give the Huskies a manageable start in their new conference. Washington opens Aug. 31 with Weber State and won’t leave Seattle during nonconference play with a neutral site Apple Cup matchup with Washington State on Sept. 14 highlighting the early schedule. The Huskies open Big Ten play on Sept. 21 against Northwestern before a short-week trip to Rutgers.

That’s when the schedule ramps up. The Huskies have a reasonable chance of being 5-0 when No. 9 Michigan visits on Oct. 5. That’s followed by road trips to No. 25 Iowa and Indiana, and a final stretch of No. 23 USC and UCLA at home, and No. 8 Penn State and No. 3 Oregon on the road.