Breaking Down the 2023 UW Football Schedule, Game by Game

The Huskies have seven home games, an extra-tough November.

The University of Washington 2023 football schedule is official. Seven home games, five on the road. A-hang-on-tight November. No Friday night lights. Lots of familiar faces.

Kalen DeBoer's second set of Huskies will have to make substantial improvement if they are to exceed their recently completed 11-2 season.

Yet people already are expecting big things from these guys, ranking them in the Top 10 in the early polls coming out. Michael Penix Jr. and all of the other major players are back. 

We break down each game for significance, success rate and crossover personnel.

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2023 UW SCHEDULE

Sept. 2,  Boise State at Husky Stadium 

The last time these teams met was in the 2019 Las Vegas Bowl, when Chris Petersen and Bryan Harsin were the respective coaches and the Huskies won big, 38-7. Andy Avalos' team comes off a 10-4 season, capped by a 35-32 victory over North Texas in the Frisco Bowl. His coaching staff includes former UW offensive coordinator in newly hired Bush Hamden and ex-Husky running-backs coach Keith Bhonapha, both holding down the same roles, and former UW quarterback Keith Price, who's a graduate assistant coach.

Sept. 9, Tulsa at Husky Stadium

Steve Largent's alma mater and the Huskies meet for the first time. Tulsa has a new coach in Kevin Wilson, the former Ohio State offensive coordinator and Indiana head coach. The Hurricanes come off a 5-7 season that ended with a pair of wins, 48-42 over South Florida and 37-30 over Houston. Tacoma's Jayden and Julien Simon, a defensive tackle and linebacker, are on the roster as transfers from Colorado and USC.

Sept. 16, at Michigan State

The Huskies travel to East Lansing for the second time in program history after opening the 1969 season and losing there 27-11. This will be the third of three home games for the Spartans to begin the season. Michigan State comes off a disappointing 5-7 showing that begin to come apart with a 39-28 loss to the UW in Seattle and ended with a 39-31 two-overtime defeat to Indiana and a 35-16 setback to Penn State. Spartans quarterbacks Katin Houser from St. John Bosco High in Los Angeles and Sam Leavitt from West Linn in Portland were aggressively pursued by the Huskies. UW receiver Germie Bernard will face his old teammates. 

Sept. 23, California at Husky Stadium

This game will represent the UW's conference opener and linebacker Jackson Sirmon's return to Husky Stadium. He spent four seasons and started two with the UW. He comes off a first-team All-Pac-12 season at Cal. The Bears are trying to bounce back from a 4-8 season that included a 28-21 loss to the Huskies in Berkeley and ended with a 35-28 defeat to UCLA. Cal coach Justin Wilcox, the former UW defensive coordinator, needs to start winning if he's to hang on to this job.

Sept. 30, at Arizona

The Wildcats, making big strides under coach Jedd Fisch, will host the Huskies in the UW's first conference road game. They come off a 5-7 season that ended with a 35-32 victory over Arizona State. The UA coaching staff counts former Husky assistants in tight-ends coach Jordan Paopao, quarterbacks coach Jimmie Dougherty and defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen. Ex-UW linebacker Daniel Heimuli has transferred in. 

The Pac-12 Conference is full of big games 🤩🗓

Which of these are you most excited to watch? pic.twitter.com/25AxzXU5Sh

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) January 18, 2023

Oct. 7, bye

Both the UW and Oregon football teams take the week off before meeting in Seattle in the 115th game of the rivalry.

Oct. 14, Oregon at Husky Stadium

The Huskies enter this game with a 61-48-5 series advantage after beating the Ducks 37-34 in Eugene, which stands as DeBoer's signature program win. Oregon comes off a 10-3 season that ended with a 28-27 victory over North Carolina in the Holiday Bowl. The UW hasn't beaten Oregon in Seattle since 2017, when it prevailed 38-3. 

Oct. 21, Arizona State at Husky Stadium

The Sun Devils have a new coach in former Oregon offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham, who will try to rebuild a 3-9 team that lost its final four games of 2022. One of those wins was a 45-38 upset of the Huskies. Dillingham's big coaching hire was offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin, the former head coach for Cal Poly, Eastern Washington and Central Washington, with Baldwin winning a FCS national championship for Eastern in 2010.

Oct. 28, at Stanford 

On consecutive weekends, the Huskies will face new Pac-12 coaches, with Stanford trotting out Troy Taylor, the former Cal quarterback. Taylor is best known at the UW for coaching QB Jake Browning at Folsom High School and sending him to Seattle as a finished product. The new guy's staff includes former Husky defensive coordinator Bob Gregory as safeties and special-teams coach. The Cardinal come off a 3-9 season, that included a 40-22 loss to the UW and ended with five consecutive defeats.

Nov. 4, at USC

In what might be the Huskies' toughest game on the schedule, the UW and USC meet in Los Angeles for the last time as Pac-12 teams. Coach Lincoln Riley comes off an 11-3 debut season that was considered somewhat disappointing because it ended with consecutive losses, 47-24 to Utah in the Pac-12 championship game and 46-45 to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl. Former Husky cornerback Jacobe Covington is on the roster. Luke Huard, brother to Damon and Brock and uncle to Sam, is SC's wide-receivers coach. The Huskies have twice had superlative seasons, 10-1 in 1959 and 11-1 in 1984, that were marred only by losses to the Trojans in Los Angeles. USC holds a 30-52-4 series edge.

Nov. 11, Utah at Husky Stadium

The UW and the Utes meet for the first time in three seasons since the pandemic was raging and Jimmy Lake's team overcame a 21-0 halftime deficit and pulled out a last-second 24-21 victory at Husky Stadium. Utah since has won consecutive Pac-12 championships. The Utes come off a 10-4 season that ended with a 35-21 loss to Penn State in the Rose Bowl. Former UW linebacker Josh Calvert remains on the roster though he's played in just two Utah games in two seasons. 

Nov. 18, at Oregon State

This might be the most worrisome game on the schedule. Jonathan Smith quietly has built the Beavers into a force, coming off a 10-3 season that ended with a resounding 30-3 win over Florida in the Las Vegas Bowl. OSU finished up with a four-game winning streak after losing to the Huskies 24-21 in Seattle on a last-second field goal. Smith, of course, is a former UW offensive coordinator. He has former Husky wide receiver Trey Lowe on the roster, but uses him as a running back. The Reser Stadium remodel will be complete. 

Nov. 25, WSU at Husky Stadium

The last time the Huskies and Cougars met in Montlake, Bob Gregory was the acting UW coach and Sam Huard was the starting quarterback, and WSU took a 40-13 victory, its largest winning margin in the series. How times have changed. The Cougs come off a 7-6 season that ended with a 51-33 Apple Cup loss to the UW and a 29-6 defeat to Fresno State in the LA Bowl. WSU has a few familiar faces in defensive-line coach Pete Kaligis, an offensive guard for the Huskies' 1991 national-title team, plus a pair of walk-on defensive backs in Leon Neal Jr., son of the former UW running back of the same name, and Kasen Kinchen, who spent two seasons in Montlake. The Huskies hold a 74-33-6 advantage in the rivalry. 

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