Inside The Huskies

Fisch Changes Up Schedule to Get Huskies Ready for Iowa Game

Saturday's kickoff in Iowa City will come at 9 a.m. Seattle time.

Dan Raley

The Huskies will take part in morning practices to get ready for a 9 a.m. PT kickoff in Iowa.
The Huskies will take part in morning practices to get ready for a 9 a.m. PT kickoff in Iowa. / Skylar Lin Visuals

With a trip to Iowa this week, Jedd Fisch is doing whatever he can to prepare his University of Washington football team for all of the elements of America's Heartland.

No, the Husky coach isn't insisting his players are corn-fed at every meal this week, rather he'll have them practice twice at 9 a.m. PT to match the opening kickoff time that's coming at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday in Iowa City.

On Thursday, Fisch will send his UW team through an early morning workout in Montlake and then herd everyone to its charter flight at 12:30 p.m. to leave a day early for the Midwest.

Once on the scene, the Huskies will go through a Friday walk-through, again at 9 a.m. Seattle time, or 11 a.m. locally, to match the weekend kickoff once more.

"We'll try to get ourselves the best acclimated we can," Fisch said.

Unlike his players, Fisch has participated in two games at Iowa, calling it "a fantastic environment."

In 2009, he was the offensive coordinator for a Minnesota team that played and lost to Iowa 12-0 before a capaity crowd of 70,585. The Hawkeyes finished 11-2 that season, Minnesota 6-7.

In 2016, Fisch returned to Iowa as the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach for Michigan, which lost 14-13, again in front of 70,585 people. His Wolverines finished 10-3 that season, while the Hawkeyes went 8-5 while proving howg difficult they can be on their home turf.

"We've got to be ready for loud," Fisch said. "We've got to be ready for energy. We've got to be ready for incredible fan support and obviously a team that is built on toughness."

While Washington and Iowa have split six outings, meeting three times in bowl games, they Huskies have played only once in Iowa City. In 1964, the Hawkeyes took a 28-18 victory over a Jim Owens-coached football team.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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