The Mariners, fresh off clinching their first division championship in 24 years, will sound the siren for the Huskies ahead of their game against the No. 1 Buckeyes
The Washington football program is set for its first real test of the season and will face No. 1 Ohio State at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Husky Stadium in Seattle.
Both teams will enter the game undefeated. The Huskies are 3-0 coming off a 59-24 trouncing of its in-state rivals, Washington State, in the Apple Cup.
The Buckeyes, the defending College Football Playoff national champions, will take the field Saturday with a 3-0 record, with its most recent win being a 37-9 result against Ohio.
Ohio State will be looking to affirm its status atop the Big Ten and Power Four landscape with a win. Washington will be looking to get recognition and momentum for the rest of in-conference play after not receiving a vote in the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 poll to this point in the season.
The Huskies will have a local team on its own wave of momentum kick off the festivities Saturday.
The Seattle Mariners, fresh off clinching their first American League West championship since 2001, will sound the siren for Washington before the showdown against the Buckeyes.
Catcher Cal Raleigh, outfielder Julio Rodriguez, starting pitcher Bryan Woo and reliever Emerson Hancock will be the players representing the Mariners at the game.
The Mariners, alongside the Huskies and Seattle Seahawks, helped put together one of the best weekends for Seattle-based sports teams in recent memory (Sept. 20-21). That weekend, the M's swept the Houston Astros — who had won the division seven times since 2017; Washington won the Apple Cup on Sept. 20; and the Seahawks blew out the New Orleans Saints 44-13 on Sept. 21 at Lumen Field in Seattle.
The Huskies will enter Saturday with one of the most potent offenses in the Big Ten. The Huskies have averaged 536 yards a game this season (third in the conference) and 55.7 points per game (first in the conference).
Washington has also had a player win Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors each week it's played.
Senior running back Jonah Coleman won the honor in Weeks 1 and 2 for performances against Colorado State and UC Davis, respectively. Sophomore quarterback Demond Williams Jr. won the award for his showing in the Apple Cup in Week 4 (the Huskies received a bye in Week 3).
Coleman has ran the ball 51 times this season for 347 yards (6.8 yards a carry) and nine touchdowns. He's also caught eight passes for 150 yards and a touchdown.
Williams has completed 73.5% of his passes (50-for-68) for 778 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions. He's rushed 34 times for 220 yards and two touchdowns.
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