UW Football is struggling with a difficult start amid high expectations and new challenges

SEATTLE- When it comes to a program with the prestige and history of Washington Football, no one is going to be happy with a 4-3 start to the season, including a lopsided loss at Iowa and, of course, an Apple Cup loss to WSU.

That's not okay with a rightfully proud fan base like the Dawgs.

It's good to have expectations. It is better to have a program of the quality that always leads you to expect outstanding results. But sometimes expectations and reality are not on the same wavelength.

The reality is that those high expectations weren't on track for the type of team UW would field this year.

Think about it, you're essentially in a completely new program, with new players and coaches everywhere. And not just any players, right? They lose first-round NFL draft picks like Michael Penix, Jr., Rome Odunze and Troy Fautanu, not to mention guys who are already making an impact in the NFL like Ja'Lynn Polk, Jalen McMillan and Roger, among others Rose garden.

That doesn't even include the many stars who transferred from the program when Kalen DeBoer left, like Parker Brailsford and Germie Bernard, who followed DeBoer to Alabama, or Nate Kalepo, who left his hometown team to go to Ole Miss. Local star Meesh Powell played for another top-10 team in Miami, where he has three interceptions for the Hurricanes.

That's a lot to lose!

They're asking a new coaching staff to fill a roster — which Jedd Fisch has done admirably — but no one can replace the strong 2023 team that made it to the national title game.

Not to mention trying to lay that foundation with another gargantuan task: joining the Big Ten.

The opponents are one thing, the journey is another.

It's a lot to ask a team to basically play at 9 a.m. Pacific time, let alone really good teams like Iowa. A late-season East Coast road trip to Penn State also sounds pretty daunting. There are no layups included in this conference schedule.

This isn't about excuses, fish will be the first to tell you that. I tell Huskies fans that they have to hold on for a while until expectations and reality come into alignment.

It may not be this season, but the thought that the Dawgs would have to replace all but two starters on defense and replace an offense that has more than half of the 2023 starters on NFL rosters (or another Top 10 college team) are active this year just isn't particularly sensible.

Now there's every reason to expect a good team, and we've already seen that with the impressive win over a top 10 team in Michigan. But you have to give this program a hot minute to regroup and be able to accomplish the things that Husky fans thrive on.

Yes, DeBoer came right away and was successful. To be fair, while he deserves all the credit in the world for bringing Penix Jr. to Seattle, there was even more talent on that team when he took over. Not to mention there was no move to a Bears conference like the Big Ten.

2024 could be a bumpy ride, as the Dawgs have another 9 a.m. road game against a ranked team in Indiana at the other end of bye week.

There's a lot to train for, but as the weeks go by you're looking for a team that can get through the tough days and find ways to better adapt to this wild new reality. Time will tell if they succeed, but six games into a new “everything” is a tall order indeed.

It may get a lot harder before it gets better (or maybe not), but in a world that demands instant results, Husky fans should wait just a moment.

The hottest fire makes the strongest steel and let's see how UW can emerge from the tough first six games of this brand new era.