Dawgs & Cats Set For Day Game In The Desert
November 10, 2014 | Football
Quick Slants: Washington leads the nation with seven defensive touchdowns (four by Shaq Thompson, two from John Timu, one from Travis Feeney) ... Temple has scored six, Western Kentucky has five and 10 other teams have four ... Washington ranks second (tied) in the nation with 38 sacks... senior Hau'oli Kikaha, who has broken both the UW season and career sacks records, leads the nation with 16.5 sacks ... no one else has more than 13.0 ... Kikaha also leads the nation in tackles for loss (22.5), 2.0 more than the next-most ... with 20 takeaways and 10 turnovers, the Huskies' turnover margin of plus-10 is eighth in the nation ... the Huskies' 13 fumble recoveries are fourth-most in the nation ... with a 142.3 rating, Husky QB Cyler Miles ranks No. 33 in the nation in pass efficiency, two spots behind WSU's Connor Halliday, seven spots higher than Stanford's Kevin Hogan, 14 spots in front of Arizona's Anu Salomon and 25 places ahead of OSU's Sean Mannion ... UW opponents have just 43 punt returns yards while UW punt returner Dante Pettis has 276 by himself ... Pettis scored on an 87-yard punt return at Colorado, the first punt return for a TD by a Husky since 2003 ... Danny Shelton shares the national lead (with three others) for fumble recoveries, with four ... Thompson is tied for fifth with three ... Thompson has scored four defensive touchdowns this season (plus two more on offense) ... Thompson's 100-yard fumble return at Cal is one of just five 100-yard plays in UW history ... John Ross has two of those five with his 100-yard kick return last season vs. BYU and last Saturday vs. UCLA ... Ross' six touchdowns this season have had an average length of 71.2 yards ... UW has had eight true freshmen play this year: DB Budda Baker, DL Will Dissly, DB Darren Gardenhire, DB Naijiel Hale, DB Sidney Jones, WR Brayden Lenius, WR Pettis and PK Tristan Vizcaino ... Baker, Jones, Hale, Pettis and Lenius have started.
Television: The Washington-Arizona game will air live to a national audience on the FOX television with Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Charles Davis (color) and Molly McGrath providing the commentary.
Radio: The Washington IMG College Network, with its flagship station KOMO AM-1000 and FM-97.7, will carry the live broadcast of every football game on 18 Northwest radio stations. Longtime play-by-play man Bob Rondeau and color analyst Damon Huard are joined by sideline reporter Elise Woodward. The Arizona broadcast of the game will also air on Sirius (84) and XM (84) satellite radio.
Huskies vs. Wildcats History: Washington holds an 19-10-1 edge in the series against Arizona, with the Huskies taking 12 of the last 19. Last year in a late-September rainstorm at Husky Stadium, the Huskies pulled away from an 11-6 halftime advantage to win, 31-13. Bishop Sankey ran for 160 yards on a school-record 40 carries to lead the way for the Dawgs. In 2013 in Tucson, the Wildcats rolled to a 52-17 win over the Huskies, with Ka'deem Carey rushing for 172 yards. In 2011, the UW beat Arizona, 42-31, as Chris Polk scored five TDs, rushed for 144 yards and caught four passes for 100 yards. In 2010 in Tucson, Wildcats backup QB Matt Scott led his team to a 44-14 win, completing 18-of-22 passes for 233 yards and two TDs. Five seasons ago in Seattle resulted in a stunning Husky win as linebacker Mason Foster intercepted a Nick Foles pass that deflected off the foot of an Arizona receiver and returend it 37 yards for a score with only 2:37 left. Washington won, 36-33, as the 'Cats' final drive was cut short by a Desmond Trufant interception. In 2008 in Tucson, Arizona TE Rob Gronkowski tied a school record with three touchdown receptions as the Wildcats won, 49-19. In 2007 in Seattle, the Wildcats, behind quarterback Willie Tuitama, completed an impressive comeback and beat the UW 48-41 despite Jake Locker rushing for 157 yards and passing for 336. In 2006 in Tucson, the Huskies took a 21-3 lead in the second quarter and won, 21-10. In 2005, also in Tucson, Isaiah Stanback's dramatic, 69-yard bomb on the last play of the first half and 200 rushing yards from James Sims led the Huskies to a 38-14 win. In recent years, the series has frequently been marked by very close games. In fact, the six UW-Arizona games prior to 2005 were decided by a total of 31 points, with the most lopsided result (a 31-21 Arizona win) coming in 2004. That year, the Wildcats overcame a 13-9 halftime deficit, out-scoring the Huskies, 14-0, in the second half for the win. In 2003, Arizona snapped a string of 13 straight home losses in conference play by pulling out a late, 27-22 victory. In 2002, it was the Huskies who rallied late when Reggie Williams scored on an 80-yard reception with only 2:03 remaining in the game. In 2001, Cody Pickett ran in from three yards out with 13 seconds left to cap an amazing day. Only two weeks after separating his right (throwing) vs. USC, Pickett broke the UW record with 455 passing yards as the Huskies won, 31-28. Also included in the close contests are Washington's come-from-behind, 35-32 win in 2000 in Seattle (Marques Tuiasosopo scored with 1:10 left for the win a week after Curtis Williams was injured at Stanford), and the 1998 31-28 'Cats win, which may be the most memorable game in the series' history. Trailing 28-24 to Washington with under a minute to play, Arizona quarterback Ortege Jenkins flipped head over heels over three Husky defenders, landing on his feet in the end zone for the winning score.
Washington-Arizona Ties: The Washington and Arizona coaching staffs share only one real connection via UA offensive line coach Jim Michalczik, who was briefly on the 2009 UW staff. UW linebackers coach Bob Gregory and UW director of football operations Mike McHugh and Michalczik also spent a number of years together on Jeff Tedford's coaching staff at Cal. Michalczik is married to former UW volleyball player Jennifer Streatfeild. As for players, the UW's current roster includes three players from Arizona: Ryan Masel (Phoenix/Desert Vista), Taelon Parson (Gilbert/Perry) and Kendyl Taylor (Chandler/Hamilton). There are no Wildcats players from any of those three schools. The Wildcats have three players from the state of Washington on their roster: Marcus Griffin (Bellevue), Sir Thomas Jackson (O'Dea) and Alexei Oro (O'Dea). Huskies Luke Hutchison and Ben Riva went to O'Dea, while the UW roster also includes eight Bellevue grads: Budda Baker, Shane Bowman, Sean Constantine, Jake Eldrenkamp, Michael Kneip, Morgan Richey, Max Richmond and Mitch Johnson. Other Huskies and Wildcats from the same high schools: UW's Coleman Shelton, Colin Tanigawa and John Turner and UA's Jared Baker (Loyola); UW's Jermaine Kelly and UA's Marquis Ware and Rodney and Jamandre Carr (Salesian); UW's K.J. Carta-Samuels and UA's Elijah Marshall (Bellarmine Prep (Calif.)).
