Dawgs Host Utes Saturday Night At Husky Stadium

Saturday, November 18

Seattle, WA

7:30 PM

University of Washington

Utah

Buy Tickets

November 13, 2017 | Football

Full UW Game Notes w/Depth UW-Utah Flip Card UW-Utah Tickets

THE GAME: The Washington football team (8-2 overall, 5-2 Pac-12) plays the first of two end-of-season home games this Saturday night as Utah (5-5, 2-5) visits Husky Stadium. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. PT and the game will air on ESPN TV. The Huskies, following a loss last Friday at Stanford, dropped to No. 16 in the latest AP top 25 and No. 15 in the coaches' poll. The Dawgs still have a shot at the Pac-12 Championship game, but likely need to win out and need for Cal to beat Stanford. The UW wraps up the regular season the following Saturday with the 110th Apple Cup vs. Washington State.

QUICK SLANTS: The UW is 23-4 over its last 27 games ... the UW hasn't allowed more than 30 points in a game since the 2015 Heart of Dallas Bowl (a 44-31 win over Southern Miss), a span of 24 games ... Washington is No. 4 in the nation in total defense (257.4 ypg) and is No. 2 in scoring defense (13.0 ppg), No. 3 in pass defense (155.9 ypg) and No. 4 in rush defense (101.5) ... UW's Dante Pettis broke the NCAA career record for punt return TDs with his ninth, a 64-yarder vs. Oregon ... it was also his fourth of the season and, on that return, he became the Pac-12's all-time leader in punt return yardage ... Pettis is one of only eight FBS players with multiple punt return TDs this year and the only one with more than two ... he leads the nation in punt returns with a 21.7-yard average ... 10 games into his junior season, Jake Browning has tied the UW career record with his 75th touchdown pass ... he's also third in UW history in passing yards (8,482) and completions (651) ... Myles Gaskin has joined Napoleon Kaufman and Chris Polk as the only players in UW history to rush for 1,000 yards or more in three seasons ... Gaskin has also tied the UW career record for rushing TDs, with 37, matching Bishop Sankey's standard ... UW entered the year with 32 players on the roster who had started at least one game ... since then, eight more (LB Ben Burr-Kirven; DBs Jordan Miller, Myles Bryant, Byron Murphy and Austin Joyner; WR Jordan Chin; TE Hunter Bryant and OL Luke Wattenberg) have started a game for the Dawgs, meaning that 40 different current Huskies have started a game ... Washington's defense has allowed 11 touchdowns in 10 games (UW opponents have also scored three defensive TDs) ... the Huskies haven't allowed a rush of over 35 yards or a pass longer than 39 this year ... the UW is the only FBS team in the nation that hasn't allowed a 40-yard play while the Huskies have nine such plays on offense (plus five more on kick & punt returns) ... the UW's three non-conference opponents this season are 4-6 (Rutgers), 7-3 (Montana) and 7-3 (Fresno State), for a combined record of 18-12.

TELEVISION: The UW-Utah game will air live to a national audience on ESPN with Mark Jones (play-by-play), Rod Gilmore (analyst) and Quint Kessenich (sidelines) on the call.

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 17 Northwest radio stations. Longtime play-by-play man Bob Rondeau and color analyst Damon Huard are joined by sideline reporter Elise Woodward. The home broadcast of the game will also air on Sirius (81) and XM (81) 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 10 times, 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 year's 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 last season in Seattle as a 24-point outburst in the second quarter led to a 34-23 victory. Two touchdown runs, a field goal and a fumble return for a score made for those 24 points and, despite the Huskies eventually narrowing the gap to 24-23, the Utes scored the final 10 points of the game.

THE PAC-12: Prior to the 2011 season, the Pac-10 Conference added Utah and Colorado to expand to the Pac-12. Washington, which along with California is one of two schools who have been in the conference since its founding in 1915, plays in the Pac-12 North, along with the other three Northwest schools (Oregon, OSU, WSU) and Stanford and California. Under current plans, each school will play all five division rivals, plus four of six teams in the other division each season. The first two seasons, the Huskies did not face UCLA or Arizona State. In 2013 and 14, the Huskies didn't face Utah or USC. In 2015 in 2016, neither UCLA nor Colorado are on the UW schedule, while the Huskies don't face USC and Arizona this year and next.

THE 100-YARD FACTOR: Since the 1947 season, Washington is 211-66-3 (.759) when a Husky player rushes for 100 yards in a game. The Huskies were 8-0 in such games last year, and are 4-1 in 2017.

HISTORY LESSON: Successfully rushing the football and winning go hand-in-hand for the Huskies. Since 1990, UW has rushed for 200 yards in a game 112 times. The Huskies' record stands at 96-16-1 (.854) in those contests. Since 1995, UW is 71-13-1 (.841) when rushing for 200 yards.

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 26-8 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 have now been completed. The Huskies re-opened their home field with a 38-6 win over then-No. 19 Boise State on Aug. 31, 2013. The 2017 season marks the 97th 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 382-177-21 (.677).