By Robert Wilson
It is safe to say no one in the world did what Wyatt Rogers did this weekend.
The Brandon High offensive coordinator helped coach his team to a 60-34 victory over Picayune Friday night in Picayune, and afterward spent the night on the coast.
After sleeping for three hours (1 to 4 a.m.), Rogers got up, drove to New Orleans and boarded a plane at 7 a.m. from the New Orleans airport for Seattle and arrived there around lunch time.
He watched his son – former Brandon High and Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers – make his debut for the 2023 national runner-up Washington Huskies late last night, celebrated the victory into the night, got up this morning and flew back to New Orleans, then drove back to Jackson.
Said Wyatt Rogers: “I’ve very blessed.”
Yes, he is. So is his son.
Will Rogers, who set dozens of passing records in his four seasons at MSU, has a new home in the Great Northwest and had an impressive performance in his debut for the Huskies.
The 6-foot-2, 216-pound Rogers completed 20 of 26 passes for 250 yards and one touchdown without an interception and led Washington to a 35-3 victory over Weber State in the Huskies’ debut as a Big 10 Conference team.
“Will is having fun and he’s in a first-class organization, which at the end of the day is all you could hope for,” Wyatt Rogers said. “I thought he played really well, especially once they settled in. It’s very apparent to me that (first-year Washington coach) Jedd Fisch is high quality and first class through and through.”
The last time Rogers – who ranks first in SEC history in with 1,301 completions and second in SEC history with 12,315 passing yards – played in a game he was wearing an MSU uniform playing against Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl. He played four years for the Bulldogs, the first three under the late Mike Leach in his famous Air Raid offense, and had great success, but last season was difficult.
Zach Arnett was promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach and decided to run a pro-style offense. Rogers passed for only 1,626 yards and 12 touchdowns in eight games and missed several games due to a shoulder injury. MSU finished 5-7 and Arnett was not retained.
Rogers entered the transfer portal after the Egg Bowl and looked at many schools and decided on Washington and Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, who guided Washington to the nation’s top passing team (343.8 yards per game) this season. Even though it was 2,500 miles from home, it seemed to be a perfect fit for Rogers, not exactly Leach’s Air Raid, but close to it.
But Alabama coach Nick Saban retired, and DeBoer and Grubb went to Alabama, and Rogers re-entered the transfer portal in January. He looked at many schools again – Alabama, Miami, South Carolina, Western Kentucky, national champion Michigan, Iowa, and Northwestern among them. But then Washington hired Fisch from Arizona and he had a meeting with Rogers. Fisch happened to play Rogers last year when MSU beat Arizona in overtime, and he liked what he saw. Fisch thought Rogers would be a good fit for his offense and Rogers decided to stay. It has all worked out, and Saturday night, Rogers made his debut.
Rogers has some big shoes to fill. He is replacing NFL first round draft choice Michael Penix (No. 8 overall by the Atlanta Falcons), who has led Washington to its undefeated season, the Pac-12 championship and the College Football Playoff and finished second for the Heisman Trophy. He led the nation in passing yards per game.
“It’s obviously going to be pretty tough to do what Mike did last year, he was really successful and really talented,” Rogers said. “I’m notMichael Penix or anything like that, I’m not going to be able to make some of the throws and the plays that he made. But I’m my own self, with that being said. That’s just a confidence within myself that a lot of quarterbacks have. When it’s between the white lines, I like myself. With that being said, it’s going to be really hard to follow up what Mike did last year and how successful he was. I look forward to the challenge, but yeah, it’s going to be a challenge to follow up such a good football player here at UW the past two years.”
Rogers is the only quarterback in SEC history to complete more than 1,000 passes (1,301) and started 40 games at MSU. If he has another great season like he did as a junior in Starkville, Rogers could climb into the top five passers in college history. He holds 29 school records at MSU.
This is Rogers’ last season to play college football.
“I know I have one more crack at it,” Rogers. “I know I have to do what I have to do — win as many games as possible.”
Fisch was pleased with Rogers’ first game.
“He was 20 of 26, close to 80 percent, and no turnovers,” Fisch said. “I thought he played real well. He probably would want one throw back, there was some miscommunication, but other than that he did fine.”
Rogers was named one of the six captains. The offensive line from last year’s national championship runner-up team is gone. Two entered the NFL Draft, two transferred to Ole Miss, and one transferred to Alabama.
There are no returning starters on offense from last year, but there are guys who have started at other schools, like Rogers.
Washington isn’t ranked in the AP Top 25 and was picked in the middle of the pack among the 16 teams in the Big 10 in the preseason polls. The Huskies have the nation’s 13th toughest schedule, according to ESPN. They play five Big 10 teams in the current AP Top 25 – road games at No. 3 Oregon and No. 8 Penn State and home games with No. 9 Michigan, No. 23 Southern Cal, and No. 25 Iowa.
But Rogers believes this team can win.
“The thing I’m most excited for is to start this new journey,” Rogers said. “My mission as the quarterback, as the leader, just for this program, this new team, to run their own race. We’re not last year’s team, we’re not Arizona’s team from last year. It’s a bunch of different guys from a bunch of different places, but we all for the University of Washington. That’s been the coolest thing for me and that’s the biggest thing I’ve been trying to preach to the team is that the 2024 season is what we make of it. Let’s run our own race and aim high.”
Rogers feels confident about his team, his talent to play quarterback and ability to be a team leader.
“Obviously, throwing the football is probably one of my best strengths,” Rogers said. “Throwing the football and then I think I do a pretty good job of talking to the guys in the locker room. I think I have a pretty good capability to really connect with a lot of different guys from different backgrounds and things like that in the locker room. I’m just trying to be the best version of myself every day and trying to lead those guys every day and at the end of the day, win some football games.”
Washington has four consecutive home games to open the season, with games against Weber State, Eastern Michigan, the Apple Cup game with Washington State, and its first Big 10 Conference game with Northwestern.
Rogers is thankful to have another season to play.
“It’s crazy how the Lord works,” Rogers said. “I went through a lot with the passing of Coach Leach and then last year’s difficult season. Last year was not much fun playing football. When I got there, the coach left when I got here, but I’m blessed to be here, and thankful I’m here to be with Coach Fisch.”
Wyatt Rogers, Will’s sister Anna Grace, Will’s uncle and Wyatt’s brother, Griff, and Will’s grandparents and Wyatt’s parents, Bill and Daneie Rogers, were at the game Saturday. Will’s mom, Judy, went to watch Will’s brother, Luke, play for Southern Miss at Kentucky Saturday. Wyatt and Judy alternate watching their two sons play. Judy is going to Seattle for the next two weeks and Wyatt will be watching Luke.
“It was a special time for us as a family to be there with Will in his first game at Washington,” Wyatt Rogers said. “My hope for him this year is I want him to find the growth and development he came here for and have fun. They are going to be successful.”
Will Rogers and his new team got off to a great start Saturday night.
