The 2018 Washington Huskies football team represented the University of Washington during the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Chris Petersen led the team in his fifth season as head coach. Washington competed as a member of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference and played their home games on campus at Husky Stadium in Seattle.
The Huskies began the year ranked sixth in the preseason AP Poll and were the preseason favorites to win the Pac-12. In their first game of the year, Washington lost to then-No. 9 Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game played in Atlanta. The team rebounded and won the following five games before losing on the road to rival Oregon in overtime, and again two weeks later against California. With the Pac-12 North Division title on the line, Washington defeated in-state rival and seventh-ranked Washington State on the road in the 111th Apple Cup. The Huskies won their second Pac-12 title in three years by defeating Utah in the 2018 Pac-12 Football Championship Game. The team was invited to the Rose Bowl, where they were defeated by Ohio State to end the year at 10–4, 7–2 in conference play.
Washington was led offensively by senior quarterback Jake Browning, who threw for 3,192 yards and 16 touchdowns, and senior running back Myles Gaskin, who rushed for 1,268 yards and 12 touchdowns. Browning became the school's all-time passing leader on September 29 in the team's game against BYU, while Gaskin added to his all-time career rushing records that he set in 2017. The Husky defense was led by senior linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven, who led the Pac-12 in tackles and was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. Burr-Kirven was named a first-team All-American by several selectors including the Associated Press.
Preseason
Recruiting The Huskies signed a total of 20 recruits.
Transfers The Huskies added 1 player and lost 7 players due to transfers.
2018 Transfers Name Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Transferred from Jacob Eason QB 6'5 235 Junior Lake Stevens, WA Georgia Name Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Transferred to Daniel Bridge-Gadd QB 6'2 211 Junior Phoenix, AZ Northern Arizona K. J. Carta-Samuels QB 6'2 225 Senior Saratoga, CA Colorado State Brayden Dickey WR 6'5 230 Senior North Vancouver, B.C. New Mexico Jomon Dotson DB 5'10 181 Senior American Canyon, CA Nevada Milo Eifler OLB 6'1 225 Sophomore Oakland, CA Illinois Ricky McCoy DT 6'2 301 Junior Fresno, CA Fresno State Bryce Sterk LB 6'4 234 Junior Lynden, WA Montana State
Award watch lists Listed in the order that they were released Lott TrophyBen Burr-KirvenLBSRTaylor RappSJRRimington TrophyNick HarrisCJRChuck Bednarik AwardGreg GainesDTSRTaylor RappSJRMaxwell AwardJake BrowningQBSRMyles GaskinRBSRDavey O'Brien AwardJake BrowningQBSRDoak Walker AwardMyles GaskinRBSRJohn Mackey AwardDrew SampleTESRButkus AwardTevis BartlettLBSRJim Thorpe AwardByron MurphyDBSOTaylor RappSJRBronko Nagurski TrophyBen Burr-KirvenLBSRGreg GainesDTSRTaylor RappSJROutland TrophyTrey AdamsOLSRGreg GainesDTSRKaleb McGaryOLSRWuerffel TrophyTevis BartlettLBSRWalter Camp AwardJake BrowningQBSRMyles GaskinRBSRJohnny Unitas Golden Arm AwardJake BrowningQBSRManning AwardJake BrowningQBSREarl Campbell Tyler Rose AwardAaron FullerWRJR
Pac-12 Media Day The 2018 Pac-12 media day took place on July 25, 2018, in Hollywood, California. Chris Petersen (HC), Jake Browning (QB) & Jojo McIntosh (DB) at Pac-12 Media Day. The Pac-12 media poll was released with the Huskies predicted to win the Pac-12 North division title and Pac-12 overall.
Schedule
Rankings
Personnel
Coaching staff
Chris Petersen Head coach UC Davis (1988) Bush Hamdan Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Boise State (2008) Will Harris Assistant defensive backs coach USC (2009) Keith Bhonapha Recruiting coordinator/running backs coach Hawai'i (2003) Bob Gregory Assistant head coach/inside linebackers coach/special teams coordinator Washington State (1987) Scott Huff Offensive line coach/Run game coordinator Arizona State (2002) Pete Kwiatkowski Co-defensive coordinator/Outside linebackers coach Boise State (1990) Jimmy Lake Defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach Eastern Washington (2000) Matt Lubick Co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Western Montana (1994) Ikaika Malloe Defensive line coach Washington (1997) Jordan Paopao Tight ends coach San Diego (2006) Tim Socha Strength & conditioning coach Minnesota (1999)
Roster 2018 Washington Huskies football rosterQuarterback 3 Jake Browning – senior (6'2, 210) 7 Colson Yankoff – freshman (6'4, 209) 10 Jacob Eason – junior (6'6, 227) 11 Jacob Sirmon – freshman (6'5, 221) 13 Jake Haener – freshman (6'0, 196)
Tailback 9 Myles Gaskin – senior (5'10, 193) 22 Richard Newton – freshman (6'0, 195) 24 Kamari Pleasant – sophomore (6'0, 204) 25 Sean McGrew – sophomore (5'7, 174) 26 Salvon Ahmed – sophomore (5'11, 195) 35 Jamyn Patu – freshman (5'11, 203) 36 Malik Braxton – junior (5'10, 197)
Wide receiver 2 Aaron Fuller – junior (5'10, 186) 5 Andre Baccellia – junior (5'10, 173) 6 Chico McClatcher – senior (5'8, 181) 8 Marquis Spiker – freshman (6'3, 191) 12 Trey Lowe – freshman (5'8, 184) 15 Alex Cook – freshman (6'1, 193) 18 Austin Osborne – freshman (6'2, 194) 20 Ty Jones – sophomore (6'4, 209) 21 Quinten Pounds – junior (6'0, 180) 28 Terrell Bynum – freshman (6'1, 194) 29 Josh Rasmussen – junior (5'11, 184) 30 David Pritchard – freshman (6'2, 175) 47 Ian Biddle – senior (6'0, 187) 80 Max Richmond – senior (5'10, 178) 82 Jordan Chin – sophomore (6'0, 171) 85 Fatu Sua-Godinet – junior (6'0, 186) 89 John Gardner – senior (6'3, 193)
Tight end 1 Hunter Bryant – sophomore (6'2, 224) 23 Deshon Williams – senior (6'2, 230) 37 Jack Westover – freshman (6'4, 229) 45 Jusstis Warren – junior (6'2, 249) 83 Devin Culp – freshman (6'3, 232) 84 Michael Neal – junior (6'4, 245) 86 Jacob Kizer – sophomore (6'4, 264) 87 Cade Otton – freshman (6'5, 249) 88 Drew Sample – senior (6'5, 251) Offensive line 51 Jaxson Kirkland – freshman (6'7, 315) 56 Nick Harris – junior (6'1, 300) 58 Kaleb McGary – senior (6'8, 324) 59 Henry Roberts – junior (6'6, 303) 62 Noah Hellyer – freshman (6'3, 260) 63 Cole Norgaard – freshman (6'4, 300) 64 A.J. Kneip – sophomore (6'2, 295) 66 Henry Bainivalu – freshman (6'5, 321) 67 Chase Skuza – freshman (6'6, 306) 68 M.J. Ale – freshman (6'5, 362) 69 Will Pliska – freshman (6'5, 288) 70 Jared Hilbers – junior (6'7, 313) 71 Matt James – senior (6'5, 300) 72 Trey Adams – senior (6'8, 316) 73 Gage Harty – freshman (6'4, 245) 75 Jesse Sosebee – senior (6'5, 327) 76 Luke Wattenberg – sophomore (6'5, 307) 77 Devin Burleson – junior (6'8, 333) 78 Matteo Mele – freshman (6'5, 286) 79 Victor Curne – freshman (6'3, 319)
Defensive line 56 Jared Pulu – junior (6'4, 281) 57 John Clark – junior (6'4, 275) 59 Draco Bynum – freshman (6'3, 257) 90 Josiah Bronson – junior (6'3, 280) 91 Tuli Letuligasenoa – freshman (6'1, 336) 92 Jaylen Johnson – senior (6'3, 286) 93 Jarryn Bush – freshman (6'1, 252) 94 Sam Taimani – freshman (6'2, 318) 95 Levi Onwuzurike – sophomore (6'3, 282) 96 Shane Bowman – senior (6'4, 291) 97 Jason Scrempos – junior (6'6, 292) 98 Mosiah Nasili-Liu – freshman (6'2, 291) 99 Greg Gaines – senior (6'2, 316)
Long snapper 49 A.J. Carty – junior (6'2, 239) 78 Luke Lane – sophomore (6'0, 207)
Placekicker 42 Van Soderberg – sophomore (6'0, 195) 45 Dylan Williams – freshman (5'9, 150) 47 Peyton Henry – freshman (5'11, 195) Punter 32 Joel Whitford – junior (6'3, 212) 46 Race Porter – sophomore (6'2, 185)
Inside linebacker 13 Brandon Wellington – junior (6'0, 222) 15 D.J. Beavers – junior (6'1, 219) 17 Tevis Bartlett – senior (6'2, 233) 25 Ben Burr-Kirven – senior (6'0, 221) 30 Kyler Manu – junior (6'1, 238) 35 Ben Hines – freshman (6'0, 228) 43 Jackson Sirmon – freshman (6'2, 229) 48 Edefuan Ulofoshio – freshman (6'1, 226) 50 M.J. Tafisi – freshman (6'2, 221) 53 Jake Wambaugh – senior (6'2, 224) 54 Matt Preston – senior (6'2, 218)
Outside linebacker 8 Benning Potoa'e – junior (6'3, 277) 9 Joe Tryon-Shoyinka – freshman (6'5, 267) 16 Amandre Williams – sophomore (6'2, 241) 41 Myles Rice – sophomore (6'3, 243) 52 Ariel Ngata – freshman (6'2, 217) 55 Ryan Bowman – sophomore (6'0, 263) 58 Zion Tupuola-Fetui – freshman (6'3, 253)
Defensive back 1 Byron Murphy – sophomore (5'11, 182) 3 Elijah Molden – sophomore (5'10, 190) 4 Austin Joyner – junior (5'10, 200) 5 Myles Bryant – junior (5'8, 182) 7 Taylor Rapp – junior (6'0, 200) 11 Brandon McKinney – sophomore (6'0, 201) 14 JoJo McIntosh – senior (6'1, 205) 18 Isaiah Gilchrist – sophomore (5'11, 202) 19 Kyler Gordon – freshman (5'11, 189) 21 Dominique Hampton – freshman (6'2, 200) 23 Jordan Miller – senior (6'1, 181) 27 Keith Taylor – sophomore (6'2, 200) 28 Angelo Sarchi – freshman (5'11, 195) 29 Julius Irvin – freshman (6'1, 183) 36 Dustin Bush – junior (5'9, 180) 38 Zechariah Brown – sophomore (5'10, 184) 39 Sean Vergara – senior (6'2, 182) 2018 Washington Huskies roster
Game summaries
vs Auburn
North Dakota
At Utah
Arizona State
BYU
At UCLA
At Oregon
Colorado
At California
Stanford
Oregon State
At Washington State
Pac-12 Championship Game vs Utah
2019 Rose Bowl vs Ohio State
Awards and honors
Pac-12 Player of the Week WeekPlayerOpponentPositionRef3Ben Burr-Kirven UtahDefense4Ben Burr-Kirven Arizona StateDefense13Myles Gaskin Washington StateOffense
Reveal Suits National Team of the Week Weekend of November 24
Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week WeekCoachOpponentRef13Chris PetersenWashington State
Pac-12 Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year: Ben Burr-Kirven Pac-12.com. Retrieved 2018-Dec-27.
Postseason
NFL Scouting Combine
Nine members of the 2018 team were invited to participate in drills at the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine held between February 26 and March 4, 2019, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
QB01 QB 6'2" 211 " 9" 4.74 – 29" 112" 7.19 4.44 – Jake Browning Combine profile LB08 LB 6'0" 230 " " 4.56 21 reps 34.5" 121" 6.85 4.09 11.43 Ben Burr-Kirven Combine profile DL04 Greg Gaines DL 6'1" 312 " " 5.16 30 reps 31" 109" – – – Greg Gaines Combine profile RB05 Myles Gaskin RB 5'9" 205 " " 4.58 24 reps 35.5" 118" 7.19 4.27 11.77 Myles Gaskin Combine profile OL38 Kaleb McGary T 6'7" 317 " " 5.05 23 reps 33.5" 111" 7.66 4.58 – Kaleb McGary Combine profile DB24 Jordan Miller CB 6'1" 186 " " 4.49 6 reps 37" 125" – – – Jordan Miller Combine profile DB26 Byron Murphy CB 5'11" 190 " " 4.45 14 reps 36.5" 120" – – – Byron Murphy Combine profile DB54 Taylor Rapp S 6'0" 208 " 9" – 17 reps 35" 115" 6.82 3.99 11.33 Taylor Rapp Combine profile TE14 Drew Sample TE 6'5" 255 " " 4.71 – 33.5" 115" 7.15 4.31 11.85 Drew Sample Combine profile Top position performer
NFL draft
The following Washington players were either selected or signed as undrafted free agents following the draft. Kaleb McGaryOT131Atlanta FalconsByron MurphyCB233Arizona CardinalsDrew SampleTE252Cincinnati BengalsTaylor RappS261Los Angeles RamsGreg GainesDT4134Los Angeles RamsBen Burr-KirvenLB5142Seattle SeahawksJordan MillerCB5172Atlanta FalconsMyles GaskinRB7234Miami DolphinsShane BowmanDLUDFAJacksonville JaguarsJake BrowningQBMinnesota VikingsJaylen JohnsonDLDenver BroncosJoJo McIntoshSWashington Redskins
References