Jedd Fisch wasn’t able to send the Washington Huskies’ seniors off with a victory, as his team fell 26-14 to the No. 5 Oregon Ducks on Saturday afternoon.

As sophomore quarterback Demond Williams Jr. struggled, completing just 50 percent of his passes for 129 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, the Huskies dropped to 8-4 on the season and 1-3 against ranked opponents.

Among the 23 players who walked on senior day that were hoping to go out with a victory were running back Jonah Coleman, wide receiver Denzel Boston, offensive linemen Carver Willis and Geirean Hatchett, defensive linemen Ta’ita’i Uiagalelei and Anterio Thompson, and cornerbacks Tacario Davis and Ephesians Prysock. After the game, Fisch took some time to acknowledge what all the seniors have meant to his program.

“Couldn’t be prouder of them, the way they’ve handled themselves,” Fisch said. “A lot of them have been with me and our staff for four years, from the time we recruited in high school at a different school. 2022, were a part of changing an entire culture, and really changed it twice.”

“I want to appreciate the guys that stayed here when we arrived and bought into what we were trying to get done, and have become team leaders and captains. I appreciate the guys that just transferred in this year and were a part of a good season, proud of those guys and appreciate those guys as well.”

Since his arrival, Fisch has done an impressive job upgrading the talent on Montlake after Kalen DeBoer’s departure for Alabama left the cupboards bare. While some of those promising building blocks were apparent in the loss, like running back Adam Mohammed, wide receiver Dezmen Roebuck, offensive lineman John Mills, linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, and cornerback Dylan Robinson, Saturday’s game also showed that the Huskies still have some maturing to do before they can compete with the top teams in the Big Ten.

“That’s kind of the way it works…you lose big, then you lose small, then you win small, then you win big,” Fisch said. “That’s kind of the progression of how these turnarounds occur, or how these builds occur. I think we had some interesting ‘win bigs’ throughout the year, but these types of games, against the top ten teams, they’re challenging, and they’re going to be like this.”