Bruener Listed As Questionable for UCLA Game

The UW linebacker has dealt with an injured shoulder for seven games.

Carson Bruener warmed up Penn State shirtless, with his shoulder brace visible. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Coach Jedd Fish opened the week by stating that University of Washington senior linebacker Carson Bruener, playing with a badly injured shoulder and showing some distress during the Penn State game, would be available for Friday night's game against UCLA.

Bruener suffered a left shoulder strain against Washington State in the Apple Cup in mid-September and has played in pain every since.

"It's a pretty bad AC sprain," Fisch said of the acromioclavicular joint. "He's tough as nails all year long."

So two hours before Friday nigiht's kickoff, it was a bit of a surprise to see Bruener listed as questionable on the Big Ten's availability list, which is a first for him since the injury.

The 6-foot-2, 226-pound Bruener leads the Huskies with 78 tackles and has 2 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions, 5 pass break-ups and a forced fumble.

He led all UW tacklers with 11 in the 35-6 loss at Penn State, in a game in which he came out for warm-ups without a shirt on, exposing his left shoulder brace, got into the face of a Nittany Lions quarterback Drew Allar apparently after he was taunted and caused a fumble to begin the second half.

Bruener was joined in the questionable category by the following teammates: junior edge rusher Zach Durfee, redshirt freshman defensive tackle Elinneus Davis, junior nickelback Dyson McCutcheon and junior cornerback Elijah Jackson.

UW linebacker Carson Bruener gets into it with Penn State quarterback Drew Allar while an official tries to intervene. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Durfee has missed 5 games, Jackson 3, and McCutcheon and Davis one each.

Ruled out of the game were a pair of Husky tight ends in senior Quentin Moore and sophomore Ryan Otton, who have played in just one game and missed the entire season, respectively.

Also, prior to the game 25 Huskies were scheduled to take part in the graduating senior ceremonies and the only players who did so with football eligibility remaining were starting junior offensive guard Gaard Memmelaar and reserve junior edge rusher Maurice Heims.

Memmelaar, a nine-game starter this season, has indicated to the coaching staff he'll return for the 2025 season, while Heims, who has appeared in nine games but as a special-teams player only after being rotated in and out of the defense of Kalen DeBoer's staff, is a bit of a surprise.

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