Iowa travels to Washington for a conference game on Friday evening (8:00 p.m. CT, FOX or FS1). 

That would've been an unthinkable sentence to type five years ago, but that's just the reality in college athletics these days. 

Realignment aside, this game between the No. 20 Hawkeyes (4-1, 1-1) and Huskies (3-2, 0-2) is shaping up to be a fantastic football game. There's a well-known Rose Bowl history between both squads, and it's really a must-win game for both sides. 

Iowa needs a bounce-back win after being humbled by Ohio State at Kinnick Stadium last weekend, while Washington is desperate to take the first step towards salvaging its season after a brutal start. 

We'll have plenty of preview content to come here on HawkeyeRoundtable.com, but before we get to that, it's time for our Monday staple. 

Here are my three and a half thoughts ahead of Friday's clash in Seattle: 

Demond Williams Jr. broke out as one of the most-talented quarterbacks in the country last year, but things went south long before the 2026 season even began. Williams entered the transfer portal in early January, but Washington managed to get him back after taking some legal action. 

Some wondered if the near-transfer would cause a rift in the Huskies' locker room, and though there's still a lot of season left, this Washington team just hasn't looked connected  this year, especially on offense. Head coach Jedd Fisch is supposed to be a brilliant offensive mind, but the Huskies have posted just the 16th-best scoring offense in the Big Ten and barely moved the football against bad Utah State and Washington State teams. 

Washington showed progress last weekend against USC, but the Huskies blew an 11-point second half lead and lost. UW is going to be desperate heading into this Iowa game, but if you're a Hawkeye fan, don't overlook the impact that Williams could have on this game. 

The accuracy hasn't really been there this year (57.7 comp% against USC), but it's what he can do with his legs that makes him very dangerous in this game. Williams tallied 611 rushing yards and six touchdowns a year ago, and it feels like the Huskies may rely on those legs to generate offense in a must-win home game. 

If Williams has a big game on Friday, you heard it here first. 

Iowa's struggles on the West Coast are well documented (we'll talk about that later on Monday), but it might have something in its back pocket to help prepare for the long trip on a short week. We'll hope to hear more from Kirk Ferentz about this during his weekly press conference on Tuesday, but the Hawkeyes have recent experience playing a Friday road game out West. 

Two years ago, a 6-3 Iowa team traveled to Los Angeles for a matchup against a struggling 3-5 UCLA team. The Hawkeyes were heavy favorites in that game, but ultimately came out flat on offense and lost, 20-17. Did Iowa's coaching staff learn anything from the preparation for that game that can help them for this Washington game? 

There's been a lot of Hawkeye fans begging for a quarterback change after Hank Brown struggled against Ohio State, but the truth of the matter is that this is going to be Brown's team until further notice. There's a chance Jeremy Hecklinski could be QB1 against the Huskies because of Brown suffering an injury last weekend (Brown remains QB1 on the UW depth chart), but there's just simply no way Ferentz and Co. are going to switch things up after one bad game against a superior opponent. 

Ferentz does have confidence in Hecklinski should he need to come into the game, but Hawkeye fans need to let things play out before jumping to conclusions. Besides, Hecklinski's touchdown drive against the Buckeyes came in garbage time (it was 31-6 when he entered the game), so that's not enough evidence to switch gears. 

Husky Stadium is undoubtedly one of the most picturesque settings in sports, and there's probably going to be a lot of Hawkeye fans making the trip to the Emerald City to witness this football game and enjoy the rare tradition of sailgating - where fans tailgate on the docked boats on Puget Sound. 

This will be Iowa's first trip to Seattle since 1963, and it's safe to say Husky Stadium looks a lot cooler now than it did back then. You would almost prefer to see this game be played in the late afternoon to see the sun glistening on Puget Sound, but regardless, it's going to be a cool atmosphere on Friday evening.

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HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at [email protected]