The Huskies just took a gut punch, falling to No. 20 Iowa 41-24 right here in Seattle. This wasn’t some nail-biter, folks; Iowa jumped out to an early four-touchdown lead, stunning our guys on their home turf. It’s a tough pill to swallow for any Seattle fan watching our college team get handled like that, especially when the Hawkeyes were coming off a physically taxing Week 5 loss to Ohio State and traveling two time zones on short rest.
Hecklinski Carves Up the Dawgs
What made this even crazier? Iowa’s starting quarterback, Hank Brown, was out with a shoulder injury. So, their backup, Jeremy Hecklinski, stepped in and absolutely shredded our defense. Hecklinski completed 14 of 19 passes for 202 yards and threw three touchdowns. The guy looked like a seasoned vet, not a backup on short notice. Iowa’s offense racked up 465 total yards, and Kamari Moulton even broke loose for a massive 56-yard touchdown run up the middle. We saw them get reinserted into the College Football Playoff hunt right before our eyes, and honestly, it felt like our Huskies were the ones clearing their path.
Iowa’s Unbelievable Path to the Playoff
Now, thanks to this win over Washington, No. 20 Iowa sits at 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten, and they’ve got a shockingly clear path to the College Football Playoff. Get this: every single team left on their schedule is unranked. Seriously. They’ve got Minnesota, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Purdue, Illinois, and Nebraska still to play. For those of us who remember the pre-realignment Big Ten, that’s literally the old Big Ten West slate. The CBS Sports College Football Forecaster gives Iowa anywhere from a 44% to a 79% chance of winning each of those remaining games. They could finish 10-2 or even 11-1 if they run the table. A 10-2 Iowa team would have roughly a 60% shot at reaching the CFP, which is insane considering they’ve never made an appearance before. And with Hecklinski’s performance, Iowa might even have a full-blown quarterback controversy on their hands going into their bye week.
For our Huskies, this loss is a brutal reminder of how quickly things can turn. We gotta figure out what went wrong and quickly, because that kind of performance isn’t going to cut it.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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