You’d think after a shaky first year in the Big Ten, Washington’s head coach Jedd Fisch would be playing it cool, just trying to figure out how to make his team click in a whole new world. Nah, man. Fisch came out swinging, throwing some heat right at the Big Ten’s scheduling mess, and he ain’t wrong. It’s one thing to lose to powerhouse squads like James Franklin‘s Penn State and Dan Lanning‘s Oregon, but when you’re practically set up to fail before the whistle even blows? That’s another story.
Jedd Fisch jumped on the ‘Until Saturday’ podcast on March 14th and got real about the Huskies’ brutal introduction to Big Ten life. No sugarcoating, no excuses. He gave respect where it was due, admitting, “So I think, personally, we lost to Penn State and Oregon on the road because they were better than we were, right? That’s why we lost to them.” Fair play. No need to dance around the fact Washington got dusted by Dan Lanning’s Oregon squad 49-21 and got humbled 35-6 by James Franklin’s Penn State on November 9th, 2024. No excuses, no dodging—it was what it was. But then, he flipped the script and pointed at something that’s been messing with Big Ten teams on both coasts: that brutal scheduling and those killer time-zone jumps.
Look, it’s no secret that moving from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten was like jumping into the deep end with no floaties. Fisch broke it down, saying that while Oregon and Penn State flat-out outplayed them, other losses came down to something else: “The other games, I think we really put ourselves in a bad spot, or time put us in a bad spot,” Fisch explained. “And I definitely feel as if the Big Ten or the TV partners need to really consider, if you’re playing from the West Coast to the East Coast, and you’re going three time zones, you know, you should not kick off before noon, your body clock, so three o’clock east coast. And then I think if you’re going the other way, you should not kick off after 5 pm which would be 8 pm east coast, body time.”
He’s got a point. The Big Ten isn’t just a new conference for Washington; it’s a brutal adjustment to a system built for Midwest and East Coast teams. And it’s not just the early kicks messing things up. The late-night games are just as nasty in the other direction. Fisch called out Rutgers’ game at USC last season, which kicked off at 8:30 p.m. Pacific—11:30 p.m. for Rutgers players. That game ended at 2:35 a.m. Eastern. Imagine finishing a game, hopping on a plane, and touching down back home when the sun’s already up. That ain’t just exhausting; it’s straight-up unfair.
“I mean, you’re getting home at seven in the morning. I don’t know how that makes sense for anybody,” Fisch continued. “We gotta fix it. It’s gotta be fair both ways.” The solution? Fisch is pushing for a scheduling change that keeps teams within a reasonable body clock range. He’s proposing no West-to-East games before 3 p.m. Eastern (noon Pacific) and no East-to-West games after 8 p.m. Eastern (5 p.m. Pacific). It’s a small tweak, but one that could be the difference between dragging through a season and actually competing at full strength. The Huskies already got a taste of this time zone beatdown in 2024.
Fisch isn’t just throwing a pity party—he’s spitting facts. Washington’s 2024 season wasn’t a disaster at home; they went undefeated with a 6-0 record when playing on their own turf. But on the road? It was like trying to win a marathon with your shoes tied together—zero wins in five tries, plus two ugly neutral-site losses. Fisch said his piece, but he ain’t just barking into the void.
He admitted, “Yeah, we brought it up. I think it’s something we’re going to discuss again in our league meetings in May.” Seems simple, right? Well, now it’s up to the Big Ten brass to see if they’re gonna make that call. While the time zone debate is heating up, let’s not pretend that’s the only reason Washington struggled last season.
Jedd Fisch and Washington’s 2025: diabolical time-zone repeat?
The Huskies’ 2024 debut in the Big Ten was rough. A 6-7 record, 4-5 in conference play, and a brutal 0-5 mark on the road told the whole story. They were untouchable at home (6-0), but once they left Seattle? Different team. Fisch knows it, and he didn’t sugarcoat it. Aside from those top-tier matchups, the Huskies just couldn’t find consistency. The offense was solid, averaging 23.4 points per game, but the defense was leaky, giving up 23.8 per contest. Their pass defense got shredded too many times, and while the passing attack kept them competitive, it wasn’t enough to cover up their weaknesses. The season ended in heartbreak with a 35-34 loss to Louisville in the Sun Bowl. One point short. That one hurt.
Despite the growing pains of 2024, Washington is looking to turn things around for 2025. The Huskies brought in a solid recruiting class ranked 23rd nationally. They locked down key defensive pieces like four-star linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale and safety Rylon Dillard-Allen, which should patch up that leaky defense. And let’s not forget the transfer portal game—picking up wide receiver Omari Evans from Penn State and quarterback Kai Horton from Tulane.
Their 2025 schedule kicks off with non-conference battles against Colorado State and UC Davis before diving into the B1G grinder. And, of course, everyone’s got that Washington State rivalry circled on the calendar. But Fisch’s complaints about travel and scheduling still hang over the Huskies like a dark cloud. Can Washington make it work in their second Big Ten year? Or will the travel nightmare and ruthless competition keep them buried in mediocrity? One thing’s for sure—Jedd Fisch is making noise, and the Big Ten better start listening.
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