3 takeaways from Washington Huskies’ close call against Utah State

Washington escaped with a 16-14 victory against Utah State on Saturday at Husky Stadium, as another strong defensive performance rescued coach Jedd Fisch’s team from an unexpected upset. 

Here are three things we learned from UW’s win against Utah State:

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1. Jeron Jones’ learning experience

After a strong start to his collegiate career — highlighted by an interception in the Apple Cup — freshman defensive back Jeron Jones had a more mixed performance in his second college game. 

The 5-foot-11, 180-pound cornerback made four tackles against Utah State including 0.5 for a loss. He nearly intercepted Aggie quarterback Grady Brosterhous with 5:59 remaining, jumping underneath a route run by Utah State wide receiver Anthony Garcia and getting both hands on the ball with a diving effort, though he was unable to make the catch. 

But Jones had some difficult moments, too. He was flagged for defensive pass interference on the sixth play of the game, running into Utah State wide receiver Demick Starling along the left sideline without making a play on the ball. Jones was also in coverage against Aggie receiver Eli Wood with 1:56 remaining when the fifth-year wideout caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from Brosterhous to make it a two-point game. 

Jones’ most notable moment, however, came with 11:37 remaining in the first half. Lined up at nickel, he allowed USU slot receiver Javon Robinson too much separation on a long-developing run-pass option play. Robinson then skipped out of Jones’ tackle attempt and took the pass 78 yards to the end zone for Utah State’s first points of the game. 

It was a teaching moment for Jones, who teammates and coaches praised throughout fall camp for his ability to move past mistakes. And the Huskies needed him to refocus quickly. Senior cornerback Emmanuel Karnley pulled up limping while chasing Robinson down the sideline, and exited the game. He emerged from the halftime break in street clothes. Fisch had no updates on Karnley’s status after the game.

So Jones played almost every defensive snap of the second half as the primary boundary cornerback opposite sophomore Dylan Robinson while junior Rahshawn Clark was deployed at nickel. Senior safety Alex McLaughlin heaped praise on the freshman defensive back, and said he’ll only continue to improve going forward. 

“He’s always super sticky in coverage,” McLaughlin said. “I love how, even when he gets beaten on the play, it doesn’t affect him on the next play. That’s something that’s hard to teach young guys, but he’s super businesslike on the field and we need him out there.” 

2. Kicker questions

Without a doubt, Washington does not beat Utah State without fifth-year kicker Tyler Robles. The Texas State transfer accounted for 10 of UW’s 16 points Saturday after going 3-for-4 on field goals and converting his lone extra point. Robles converted a 30-yard field goal in the second quarter, a 26-yard attempt in the fourth quarter and the go-ahead 43-yard kick with 6:28 remaining in the game.

But Robles hasn’t been flawless. He missed a 48-yard attempt wide right as time expired in the first half, his second miss in two games. Robles pulled a 29-yard kick from the right hash wide left during the second quarter against Washington State in the Apple Cup, too, making him 4-for-6 this season. 

Robles only missed two field goals during his entire 2025 campaign in San Marcos, Texas. He was 21-for-23 on field goals and converted all but one of his 54 extra-point attempts for the Bobcats. Robles, who started his college career at USC, made multiple 50-yard attempts at Texas State. 

“Kicking-wise, we were 3-for-4 today,” Fisch said. “Would love to be 4-for-4 in that area.” 

Perhaps Robles’ clutch kicks late against the Aggies can help him rediscover the consistency that earned him second-team All-Sun Belt honors in 2025. 

3. A curious coaching call

It certainly wasn’t a play call many people saw coming. 

After successfully fielding Utah State’s onside kick, Washington took over possession of the ball on the USU 43-yard line with 1:49 remaining. Instead of running the ball and winding down the clock, Fisch called a play-action pass on first down. 

Demond Williams Jr. faked a handoff to sixth-year tailback Trey Cooley before rolling out to his right. UW got the defensive look it was hoping to see. All alone near the right sideline, sophomore wide receiver Dezmen Roebuck was wide open after running a quick out route. But instead of making the catch and turning upfield for the first down to seal the win, Roebuck had the ball bounce off his hands for an incomplete pass. 

Four seconds had elapsed. And after UW fruitlessly ran the ball on its next two possessions, and Utah State took its final timeout, 54 seconds remained. By the time the Aggies fair caught Husky punter Hunter Green’s 31-yard punt on their own 15-yard line, 47 seconds remained.

“I felt pretty confident that we were going to have what we wanted,” Fisch said. “I felt very confident that, based upon what they showed us in four-minute offense, that we were going to be able to hit (Roebuck).” 

Utah State failed to make Washington pay for allowing it to have so much time on the clock when Brosterhous’ Hail Mary effort was intercepted by Clark. And Fisch explained his logic for the first-down call during his postgame availability, noting he believed there was going to be around 28 seconds remaining if they’d chosen to run the ball on all three downs considering the Aggies still had a timeout. 

How much time USU might’ve gotten back is debatable, but UW certainly might’ve been able to run off significantly more clock by keeping it running, regardless of how the run game performed. 

Fisch said Williams had the option to simply roll out and run if Roebuck was covered, and didn’t believe it was a play that was going to stop the clock. The UW coach added his confidence in Roebuck remains high, and said no one was more disappointed about the drop than the Marana, Ariz., native. 

“That was just a fluke day with weird things that happened,” Fisch said. “It just didn’t go his way in terms of some of the balls. I hurt for him, because he’s so prideful. He wants to do everything right. He always feels as if he wants to put all of the burden on his shoulders. The fact it didn’t work out for him the way it could have, I think he’s taking it hard. The bottom line is this. Dez is an amazing human. An amazing teammate. … I will ride with Dez all day, every day.”