Rosengarten Came to UW for Big Games and the Huskies Are Delivering

Roger Rosengarten came to the University of Washington to play in the college football spotlight, on New Year's Day, in the playoffs.

A Colorado native, the 6-foot-6, 300-pound offensive tackle welcomed the recruiting advances of Chris Petersen's Husky coaching staff, which had done all of the above.

Now after a couple of UW coaching changes, a pandemic and a sudden program downturn, Rosengarten, who hails from the Denver suburbs and shadows of the Rocky Mountains, is back on track to fulfill those high-level football desires before he turns his attention to a certain NFL career.

"Going through high school, Washington was the big-time program," he said. "The 2016 CFP run, the Fiesta Bowl and the Rose Bowl. They were playing in those big New Year's 6 games. That was definitely one of my dreams — to play in those big games."

As the UW (11-0 overall, 8-0 conference) moves up and embraces the No. 4 position in the College Football Playoff rankings, Rosengarten and his teammates take their 18-game win streak and turn their attention to the 115th Apple Cup and Washington State (5-6, 2-6). 

Still a sophomore though in his fourth UW season because of pandemic eligibility freebies, Rosengarten acknowledges he could be near the end of his college career and headed for the next NFL draft.

"If the opportunity presents itself, that's been my dream since I've been a little kid," he said. "Right now, I'm focused on putting the best film out there and helping this team win games."

As a UW right tackle, Rosengarten is singled out for having good feet, a certain feistiness about him and he's been a reliable backside pocket protector for left-handed quarterback Michael Penix Jr. 

The mock draft consensus is he's probably a mid- to late-round selection, but worthy of a pick, which hasn't been the case for a lot of UW offensive lineman in recent seasons.

Rosengarten became a Husky to play in the biggest college football games out there and now he has a chance to make that all come true. 

Coming up is the Apple Cup, the Pac-12 championship game and possibly a CFP game or games, at the very least a New Year's Day bowl game of some sort, meeting everything the big lineman had in mind when he joined the UW program.

"Every week is going to get better and better with the competition, especially this week with two good [WSU] edge guys," Rosengarten said. "I'm excited for each match-up."