UW Closes Out Regular Season With 117th Game Vs. Oregon

Saturday, November 30

Eugene, Ore.

4:30 PM

University of Washington

Oregon

Photo by: Scott Eklund / Red Box Pictures

November 25, 2024 | Football

UW Game Notes (PDF)

THE GAME: The Washington football team (6-5 overall, 4-4 Big Ten) closes out the regular season with a trip to Eugene, Ore., where the Dawgs will take on longtime rival and current No. 1-ranked Oregon (11-0, 8-0), in the 116th meeting before the old, Pacific Northwest foes. Kickoff is slated for 4:30 p.m., and the game will air on NBC television. It will mark the fifth straight time that UW has faced the Ducks as a top-10 opponent, with UW having won the last three in a row. Oregon has already clinched a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game. Following the Oregon game, the UW will wait until Dec. 8 to learn its bowl-game fate.

QUICK HITTERS: Washington has won 20 consecutive home games, the longest home win streak in modern school history (the longest-ever home winning streak, 45 games, was from 1908-1917, part of UW's NCAA-record 64-game unbeaten streak) ... Washington ranks No. 5 in FBS in passing yards allowed, No. 7 in pass efficiency defense, No. 19 in total defense, and No. 27 in scoring defense ... UW opponents are averaging 5.41 yards per pass attempt and 4.88 per play, No. 3 and No. 18 in FBS, respectively ... among active FBS players, UW QB Will Rogers III ranks No. 1 in career attempts (2,187) and completions (1,521); No. 2 in passing yards (14,773) and TDs (108); and No. 3 in completion percentage (.696) ... Rogers ranks ninth in FBS history in career passing yards ... UW RB Jonah Coleman is No. 11 in FBS with 36 rushing plays of 10 yards or longer, and also 15th with 44 scrimmage plays of 10-plus yards ... WR Denzel Boston is tied for the Big Ten lead and is No. 1 (tied) in FBS with nine touchdown receptions ... nine receiving TDs is tied for 8th-most in UW single-season history ... 34 players made their Husky debut in the Weber State game, including nine true freshmen ... four more players saw their first UW action vs. EMU  ... not counting the four-game 2020 season, the Huskies have won 10 or more games in five of the last seven seasons ...  the current UW roster includes players who list hometowns from 19 different states, as well as in Germany and Canada ... UW's 109-man roster entering the year includes 25 true freshmen, 20 redshirt freshmen, 16 sophomores, 27 juniors, and 21 seniors ... the Husky roster includes five players in their sixth season at UW: DL Jacob Bandes, RB Cameron Davis, S Kamren Fabiculanan, LB Drew Fowler, and LB Alphonzo Tuputala ... those five are playing for their fourth different head coach in 2024.

TELEVISION: The Washington-Oregon game will air on NBC, with Noah Eagle, Todd Blackledge & Kathryn Tappen calling the action. For more information on how to watch online, go to www.nbcsports.com/watch.

RADIO:  All Washington football games will air on the Washington Sports Network from Learfield, with Tony Castricone (play by play), former Husky tight end Cameron Cleeland (analyst) and former UW basketball player Elise Woodward (sidelines) on the call. Radio coverage begins four hours before kickoff on the network's flagship station – Seattle's SportsRadio KJR 93.3 FM – with "Husky Gameday" live from The Zone for Husky home games. Statewide coverage on the 16-station Washington Sports Network begins two hours before kickoff. The entire broadcast is available worldwide on the Huskies Gameday mobile app and the Varsity app. The UW broadcast of this game will also air on Sirius/XM channel 158 or 197). Additionally, the Husky Football Coach's Show airs each Monday during the season at 6:00 p.m. PT.

B1G TIME: As has been well documented over the last year-plus, Washington has officially joined the Big Ten Conference ahead of the 2024-25 school year, effective on Aug. 2, 2024. The Huskies are joined be fellow former Pac-12 programs Oregon, UCLA and USC in making the move to the B1G, which now includes 18 schools. Washington was one of four founding members of the Pacific Coast Conference (along with Cal, Oregon and Oregon State), and, along with Cal, was one of just two teams that were a part of that league (which changed names to the AAWU, Pac-8, Pac-10 and Pac-12) for the entirety of its full-fledged existence from 1915 to 2024.

FUTURE SCHEDULES: Last October, the Big Ten revealed 18 football teams' home and away, conference opponents for the next for the next five seasons (2024-28). Here are the UW's home and road, Big Ten games, for the coming four years:
2025: home – Illinois, Ohio State, Oregon, Purdue, Rutgers; road – Maryland, Michigan, UCLA, Wisconsin
2026: home – Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Penn State; road – Michigan State, Nebraska, Oregon, Purdue, USC
2027: home – Maryland, Michigan State, Nebraska, Oregon, USC; road – Minnesota, Northwestern, Penn State, Rutgers
2028: home – Michigan, Northwestern, UCLA, Wisconsin; road – Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio State, Oregon

HUSKIES vs. DUCKS HISTORY:  Washington leads the all-time series against the Ducks with 63 wins, 48 losses and five ties.

In games played in Seattle, the Huskies are 33-23-4 against their cross-border rivals, while in games played in Eugene, the Ducks enjoy an 18-14 edge all-time (Oregon's home games vs. the UW were played in Portland for many years). The Ducks have had the edge of late, winning 20 of the last 29. However, UW has won five of the last eight and three in a row.

In 2023 UW beat Oregon twice, both by three points. In the regular season, in an absolute classic, the Huskies came out on top, 36-33, scoring the go-ahead TD (an 18-yard pass from Michael Penix Jr. to Rome Odunze) with 1:36 left. Penix threw for 305 yards and four TDs while Dillon Johnson rushed for 100 yards and a score. Later, in the Pac-12 Championship Game, UW won, 34-31, behind 319 passing yards from Penix, along with 152 rushing yards, and two TDs, from Johnson, who also threw a TD pass.

The 2022 game in Eugene was a memorable one as UW emerged from a back-and-forth affair with a 37-34 win, thanks to a last-minute field goal from Peyton Henry, along with late, long TD catches from Ja'Lynn Polk and Taj Davis. In 2021 in Seattle, Oregon overcame an early, 9-3 deficit to win, 26-16, holding UW to just seven first downs and 166 yards of total offense. The teams did not play during the 2020 season (UW played only four games that year). In 2019 in Seattle, Oregon scored with 5:10 remaining in the game to win 35-31.  Washington could only reach the Ducks' 35-yard line on the ensuing drive before failing to convert a fourth down. Salvon Ahmed rushed for 140 yards and Jacob Eason passed for 289 and three TDs for the Dawgs.

In 2018 in Eugene, the Ducks edged the Huskies, 30-27, in overtime. Washington got a field goal in the opening overtime period, but the Ducks scored a touchdown in their possession to win the game.

In 2017  in Seattle, UW's Dante Pettis broke the NCAA record with his ninth career punt return for a TD and the UW held Oregon to just 31 passing yards in a 38-3 UW win. In 2016, the Dawgs broke the Ducks' long win streak in the series with a 70-21 win in Eugene. Jake Browning was 22-for-28 for 304 yards and a school-record six TD passes (plus two rushing TDs) while Myles Gaskin rushed for 197 yards on just 16 carries.

In 2015 in Seattle, Oregon won, 26-20, as a third-quarter, 72-yard run from Myles Gaskin and a three-yard pass from  Browning to Jaydon Mickens in the fourth brought the UW to within six points. The Ducks, however, intercepted a last-minute pass to preserve the win. In 2014 in Eugene, a 21-point output from Oregon in the second quarter was the major difference in a 45-20 Ducks win.  In 2013 at Husky Stadium, the Ducks stretched a seven-point lead heading into the fourth quarter into a 45-24 victory. Marcus Mariota passed for 366 yards and three TDs rushed for 88 and one while the Huskies got 167 rushing yards from Bishop Sankey. In 2012 in Eugene, second-ranked Oregon beat No. 23 Washington, 52-21.

In 2011, in the final game at the old Husky Stadium, the Ducks beat the UW, 34-17. In 2010 in Eugene, UW QB Keith Price made his first college start in a 53-16 Husky loss. Oregon led 18-16 in the third quarter before pulling away. In 2009 at Husky Stadium, Oregon won, 43-19. In 2008 in Eugene in the season-opener for both teams, Jeremiah Masoli came off the bench and led the Ducks to a 44-10 win. In 2007 in Seattle, the Huskies and Ducks were tied at 31-31 after three quarters before Oregon pulled away in the final period for a 55-34 win.

The Huskies' last win over Oregon prior to 2016 was in 2003, when Shelton Sampson and Kenny James both rushed for over 100 yards in a 42-10 Husky victory. Washington and Oregon first met on the football field in 1900, a 43-0 Oregon win in Eugene. The Huskies got their first win in the series in the next meeting, a 6-5 victory in 1903. From 1974 to 1993, Washington won 17 of 20 meetings. The series also features one of the biggest year-to-year turnarounds in college football history as the Ducks beat the Huskies, 58-0, in 1973 and then lost at the UW, 66-0, the following year.

UW vs. AP NO. 1: Since 1936, the first year that the Associated Press produced a top-20 (later top-25) ranking, Washington has faced the No. 1-ranked team (by the AP) 14 times, as they'll do this Saturday. Notably, Washington was ranked in just four of those meetings – the 1960 Rose Bowl, 1972 at USC, the 2001 Miami game, and the 2016 Peach Bowl. Here's a list of those 14 games:
Nov. 6, 1937 – at California – T, 0-0
Dec. 2, 1939 – at USC – L, 9-7
Jan. 2, 1960 – vs. Minnesota (Rose Bowl) – W, 17-7
Oct. 21, 1967 – home vs. USC – L, 23-6
Oct. 29, 1968 – at USC – L, 14-7
Oct. 4, 1969 – home vs. Ohio State – L, 41-14
Oct. 21, 1972 – at USC – L, 34-7
Nov. 24, 2001 – at Miami (Fla.) – L, 65-7
Oct. 23, 2004 – at USC – L, 38-0
Oct. 22, 2005 – home vs. USC – L, 51-24
Sept. 29, 2007 – home vs. USC – L, 24-27
Nov. 7, 2010 – at Oregon – L, 53-16
Dec. 31, 2016 – vs. Alabama (Peach Bowl/CFP) – L, 24-7
Jan. 8, 2024 – vs. Michigan (CFP Championship Game) – L, 34-13

ROSTER TURNOVER: One main storyline for the 2024 UW football team has been about the amount of change that has occurred since the end of the 2023 season. In fact, UW has just two returning, regular starters back from '23 (LB Alphonzo Tuputala and CB Elijah Jackson), and the Huskies lost 41 letterwinners off of last year's team, while adding 59 new players to the roster since the end of last season. On the depth chart for the season-opener in 2023, 44 players were listed on offense and defense. Just 11 of those 44 are still on the Husky roster (and just two of those 11 are on offense). In the season-opener vs. Weber State, a total of 34 players saw their first action in a Washington uniform. Nine of those 34 were true freshman.

GRADUATES: A total of 21 Huskies head into the 2024 season already having earned their undergraduate degree. Here's the list: RB Sam Adams II, S Cameron Broussard, DL Jacob Bandes, LB Carson Bruener, TE Owen Coutts, RB Cameron Davis, S Makell Esteen, S Kamren Fabiculanan, LB Drew Fowler, S Justin Harrington, WR Jeremiah Hunter, WR Giles Jackson, DL Deshawn Lynch, OL Gaard Memmelaar, TE Quentin Moore, QB Will Rogers, DL Logan Sagapolu, WR Camden Sirmon, OL D'Angalo Titialii, LB Alphonzo Tuputala, OL Enokk Vimahi.

NFL CONNECTIONS: Much has been made of the UW coaching staff's NFL connections, including that coordinators Steve Belichick (Bill) and Brennan Carroll (Pete), as well as analyst Luke Del Rio (Jack) and GA Jake Lynch (John), are all sons of prominent NFL coaches and GMs. Three other staff members – Scottie Graham, Vinnie Sunseri and quality control analyst Caleb Wilson – played in the NFL. Also, graduate assistant Dom Caldwell's uncle, David, is a longtime NFL executive, having served as the Jaguars general manager, among other roles. UW's player roster also includes a number of sons of former NFL players: Sam Adams II (Sam), Carson Bruener (Mark), Roice Cleeland (Cam), Quentin Moore (Mark), Russell Davis II (Russell), Dyson McCutcheon (Daylon; plus grandfather, Lawrence), and Justice Williams (Roland). Lastly, Daniyel Ngata (Joseph), Ryan Otton (Cade), and Keleki Latu (Laiatu) each have older brothers who are active NFL players.