Dawgs Set To Face Utah In Third Game Of 2020 Season

Gameday Central | Full UW Game Notes

THE GAME: The Washington football team (2-0 Pac-12, 2-0 overall) plays its third straight home game as Utah (0-1, 0-1) travels to Seattle for a 4:30 p.m. PT (NEW GAMETIME!) game Saturday night. The game, which will air on ABC, was arranged after the two teams' originally scheduled games were called off – UW's Friday at Washington State and Utah's Saturday at Arizona State – due to COVID-19 concerns. Following the Utah game, the Huskies are scheduled to remain home to face Stanford on Dec. 5, before traveling to Eugene to face Oregon on Dec. 12.
 
QUICK HITTERS: Washington went five quarters (last two of OSU game and first three of Arizona game) without allowing a point ... UW is the only team in the nation that has played a game this year and not committed any turnovers ... the Huskies have allowed just one sack, which was a one-yard loss on a run out of bounds ... 10 true freshmen have played this season:  OL Roger Rosengarten; TB Javon Forward; DB Makell Esteen; LS Jaden Green; TE Mark Redman; OLBs Cooper McDonald and Sav'ell Smalls; and WRs Jalen McMillan, Sawyer Racanelli, and Rome Odunze ... UW RS-freshman Dylan Morris started at QB in the opener vs. OSU, joining Jake Locker (RS-freshman in 2007) and Jake Browning (true freshman in 2015) to start a season opener as a freshman, in the modern era ... of the 110 players on the UW football roster, just under half (54) are freshmen or redshirt freshmen, and an additional 33 are sophomores, meaning that 85 players have two or more years of eligibility remaining (not even taking into account this season's paused eligibility) ... the UW roster includes 11 juniors, 11 seniors and one graduate student ... UW has earned a bowl berth 10 years in a row, the longest such streak in the Pac-12, with the Huskies playing in nine different bowl games over that span ... the UW has gone 73 games in a row without allowing an opponent to score more than 35 points, the longest such streak in the nation.
 
TELEVISION: The UW-Utah game will air on ABC, with Beth Mowins (play by play), Kirk Morrison (analyst) and Stormy Buonantony (reporter) calling the action. Fans can also watch via various ESPN platforms, including espn.com/watch.
 
RADIO:  Radio coverage of the 2020 Husky Football team along the Washington Sports Network from Learfield IMG College is already underway. The Jimmy Lake Show is a one-hour weekly show featuring the Huskies' head coach, airing live on Wednesday nights from 6-7 p.m. PT. On game day, live coverage begins four hours before kickoff with Husky Gameday hosted by Dave 'Softy' Mahler, Dick Baird and others. Castricone, Huard and Elise Woodward will call the play-by-play of the games. All shows are available live on flagship station SportsRadio 950 KJR, the Washington Sports Network, and the Huskies Gameday mobile app, as well as available on demand on the GoHuskies Podcast.The UW broadcast of the game will also air on SiriusXM satellite radio.
 
HUSKIES vs. UTES HISTORY:  Owing to the fact that Utah was new to the Pac-12 Conference in 2011, the Huskies and Utes have a limited history against one another. In fact, Washington has played Utah only 14 times (12-2), winning the first eight before taking a loss in 2015, with each meeting prior to the 2011 conference matchup in Salt Lake City coming in Seattle.
 
Last season, the Utes beat the Huskies, 33-28, on Nov. 2 in Seattle. The No. 9-ranked Utes were led by quarterback Tyler Huntley, who passed for one touchdown and ran for another, and by DB Jaylon Johnson, who had a 39-yard interception return for a score.
 
In 2018, the Huskies faced the Utes twice: once in the regular season and again in the Pac-12 Championship Game. Sept. 15 in Salt Lake City, the Huskies beat the Utes, 21-7, in the Huskies' Pac-12 opener. Myles Gaskin rushed for 143 yards and one touchdown while Jake Browning was 14-for-24 for 155 yards and a TD. The Husky defense held the Utes to 261 yards of total offense. The Pac-12 title game was a defensive struggle that the Huskies won, 10-3. The game's only TD was a 66-yard interception return from Husky cornerback Byron Murphy. UW out-gained Utah, 306 yards to 188.
 
The 2016 UW-Utah game was only the second ever in Salt Lake City. In that one, a year after having their eight-game win streak in the series broken, the No. 4 Huskies won a thriller, 31-24, over the 17th-ranked Utes. With the score tied 24-24 with about 3:30 left in the fourth quarter, Dante Pettis returned a punt 58 yards for a touchdown. The Utes managed to get to the UW 35 on the ensuing drive before failing to convert a 4th-and-15 attempt.
 
The first game ever between the two came Sept. 26, 1931, as Washington edged the visitors, 7-6, in the opening game of the year. The Utes returned for another season opener in 1949, when the UW outgained Utah, 388-114, in a 14-7 victory. 
 
Washington scored another seven-point win in 1953 with a 21-14 decision and then posted another 7-6 victory the following year in yet another opener. In 1959, a Husky team that ended the year 10-1 with a Rose Bowl win, beat the Utes, 51-6. 
 
More recently, on Sept. 15, 1979, 14th-ranked Washington beat Utah, 41-7, on the way to a 10-2 season that was capped by a Sun Bowl win over Texas. The UW had an interception return for a TD from Bruce Harrell, and Kyle Stevens returned a kickoff 95 yards for a score in that game.
 
In 2011 in Salt Lake City in the Utes' first-ever home Pac-12 game, the Huskies picked up a 31-14 win. The Huskies got a quick start when Jamaal Kearse recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff and returned it for a touchdown. Keith Price then threw three touchdowns and Chris Polk rushed for 189 yards as the Dawgs led nearly throughout. In 2012, at CenturyLink Field, Washington maintained its perfect record against Utah with a 34-15 win. Down 8-0 thanks to a John White 46-yard run, the Huskies scored two touchdowns in the second quarter (a Price pass to Kasen Williams and a Price run) and then to open the third (Price to DiAndre Campbell) to pull in front for good.  Sankey rushed for 156 yards while the UW defense held the Utes to just 188 yards of total offense (despite 142 rushing yards from White). 
 
Utah earned its first victory in the series in 2015 in Seattle as a 24-point outburst in the second quarter led to a 34-23 victory. In 2017 in Seattle, Washington tied the game with 1:05 to go and then kicked a field goal on the final play to win, 33-30. Jake Browing went 26-for-35 for 354 yards and two TDs.
 
OPPONENTS 35-AND-UNDER: Washington hasn't allowed an opponent to score more than 35 points in a game since a 44-30 loss at UCLA in 2014. That's a streak of 73 games in a row that the Huskies' opponent has failed to score more than 35. In that 73-game stretch, Husky foes have scored 30 or more just 11 times (of those 11, five were exactly 30 points) and have been held to 14 or fewer points 31 times. In that same span of 73 games, the UW has scored more than 35 points on 30 occasions. No other team in the FBS has a current streak longer than 50 games.
 
RETURNING STARTERS: While the official number of "returning starters" this year for Washington includes just five defensive and two offensive players, a deeper look at the numbers reveals a lot more experience. In fact, not counting specialists (UW returns its starting placekicker and  holder), Washington has 13 current players who have started at least one game on offense, and 11 who have started on defense – though obviously most of those were not the primary starter at any one position last season. Those 24 individuals had started 208 career games, collectively, at the start of the 2020 season.
 
YOUTH: Washington's roster remains on the young side. Of the 110 current active players, one less than half – 54 – are freshmen or redshirt freshmen. Washington's roster includes one graduate student, 11 seniors, 11 juniors, 33 sophomores, 21 redshirt freshmen and 33 true freshmen.
 
DEFENSE vs. BIG PLAYS: The UW allowed just seven scrimmage plays of 40 or more yards all of last season, the eighth-lowest total (tied) in the nation. The median for 40-plus yard plays was 14. The Huskies allowed just two plays over 50 yards, the third-lowest (tied) total (the median was seven). The year before, the Huskies gave up just ONE scrimmage play of 40 or more yards all  season. No other FBS team allowed fewer than four and 102 teams allowed 10 or more that year. In 2017, the UW also led the nation with fewest 40-yard scrimmage plays allowed (3) and were second in fewest 30-yard plays (14). They were tied for 5th and 2nd, respectively, in 2016. In the UW opener vs. Oregon State, the longest OSU scrimmage play was 17 yards. Against Arizona, the UW allowed three plays of more than 20 yards and none more than 30.
 
HUSKY STADIUM RENOVATION: Husky Stadium underwent a major renovation over from Nov., 2011, through Aug., 2013, as the entire lower bowl and south upper deck were demolished and replaced. The new facility features a new, state-of-the-art football operations center (weight room, training room, locker room, meeting rooms, coaches' offices) in the west end, much more premium seating options and a new playing surface. Husky Stadium had featured a track up until 2011, so seats that were once far from the field, particularly in the west end, are much closer to the action. UW is 40-11 at home since the re-opening of Husky Stadium.
 
ALASKA AIRLINES FIELD AT HUSKY STADIUM: The Oregon game on Nov. 5, 2011, marked the final game in Husky Stadium prior to major renovations that were completed in summer, 2013. The Huskies re-opened their home field with a 38-6 win over then-No. 19 Boise State on Aug. 31, 2013. The 2018 season marks the 99th season of play in Husky Stadium. Original construction on the facility was completed in 1920 when Washington played one game in the new campus facility. UW's all-time record in Husky Stadium stands at 396-180-21 (.681).