Saturday, November 23
Boulder, CO
7:00 PM
University of Washington
at
Colorado
Photo by: Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports
UW Wraps Road Schedule With Trip To Colorado
November 18, 2019 | Football
THE GAME: The Washington football team (6-4 overall, 3-4 Pac-12) plays its final road game of the season this Saturday night as the Huskies take on Colorado (4-6, 2-5) in Boulder. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. MT/7:00 p.m. PT and the game will air on ESPN. Both teams enter the game after a bye week. Following the Colorado game, the Huskies wrap up the regular season with the 112th Apple Cup vs. Washington State (Friday, Nov. 29, at 1:00 p.m.).
QUICK HITTERS: Through 10 games this season, UW has outscored opponents 107-13 in the first quarter ... in 10 games this season, a total of 10 different players have led the Huskies in tackles (including ties) ... Myles Bryant and Keith Taylor have each led the team twice, while the following eight players have led (or shared) the team in tackles in one game this season: Kyler Gordon, Trent McDuffie, Elijah Molden, Ariel Ngata, Levi Onwuzurike, Joe Tryon, Edefuan Ulofoshio, and Brandon Wellington ... along with UCF, the UW is one of only two FBS teams (and the only Power 5 program) that has not suffered a loss of more than 10 points since the start of the 2017 season ... UW is sixth in the nation in net punting (42.58), having allowed just two touchbacks and only seven punt return yards all year ... Joel Whitford's 44.3-yard average ranks No. 2 in UW single-season history ... UW's defense has led the Pac-12 in both scoring defense and total defense each of the last four years ... of the 105 players on the current UW football roster, more than half (54) are freshmen or redshirt freshmen ... Washington has played 12 true freshmen this season: DL Jacob Bandes, TB Cameron Davis, PK Tim Horn, OLB Laiatu Latu, CB Trent McDuffie, WR Puka Nacua, DL Noa Ngalu, DL Sama Paama, DL Faatui Tuitele, LB Alphonzo Tuputala, DB Asa Turner and DB Cameron Williams ... additionally, 19 redshirt freshmen have played ... senior WR Aaron Fuller enters the week with 146 career receptions for 1,956 yards, good for seventh and eighth, respectively, in UW history ... junior TE Hunter Bryant currently has 74 career catches for 1,216 yards, good for fifth and second in UW history among tight ends ... UW head coach Chris Petersen entered the 2019 season with the highest winning percentage among active NCAA-FBS coaches with five or more years experience ... currently, Petersen has a career record of 145-37, good for a percentage of .797, second in FBS ... in five-plus seasons under Petersen, the Huskies have scored touchdowns on a total of 14 kickoff (4) and punt (10) returns ... in that same period, the UW hasn't allowed a single return for a score.
TELEVISION: The UW-Colorado game will air on ESPN television, with Jason Benetti (play by play), Rod Gilmore (analyst) and Quint Kessenich (sidelines) on the call. You can also watch via WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app.
RADIO: The Washington Sports 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. Play-by-play man Tony Castricone and color analysts Damon Huard and Greg Lewis are joined by sideline reporter Elise Woodward. The CU broadcast of the game will air on Sirius (138) and XM (201) satellite radio, and the UW broadcast is available via TuneIn.com and the TuneIn app.
HUSKIES vs. BUFFALOES HISTORY: Washington and Colorado have squared off 17 times in their history and the Huskies hold the edge with 12 wins, five losses and one tie. Washington has won nine straight games vs. the Buffaloes, a streak that dates back 20 years. Washington is 7-0 vs. Colorado since the Pac-10 Conference expanded to become the Pac-12, including six wins in the regular season and one in the 2016 Pac-12 Championship game.
The series began way back in 1915 when a Gil Dobie-coached UW team wrapped up a 7-0 season with a 46-0 win over the Buffs at Washington's Denny Field. Nearly 40 years later, the Huskies opened the 1953 season with a narrow 21-20 loss at Husky Stadium. Jim Owens' first game as Husky head coach, on Sept. 21, 1957, came against Colorado and that game ended in a 6-6 tie in Seattle. Two seasons later, the Huskies made their first trip to Boulder for yet another season-opener and beat the Buffaloes, 21-12.
The next meeting didn't come until 1976 in Seattle when Colorado beat Don James' second Husky squad, 21-7. The two teams next met in the 1985 Freedom Bowl in Anaheim. The Huskies won, 20-17, behind sophomore QB Chris Chandler.
In 1989, shortly after the untimely death of their former CU quarterback Sal Aunese, the Buffs handed the Huskies a 45-28 loss at Husky Stadium. Colorado rushed for 420 yards despite not having a single back over 100 yards. Colorado made it two wins in as many seasons the following year at Folsom Field, handing a 12th-ranked UW team a 20-14 loss. Eric Bieniemy ran for 143 yards and Darian Hagan scored a pair of TDs in the win. Colorado picked up a third straight win over the Huskies in the 1996 Holiday Bowl, winning 33-21.
In 1999, first-year UW head coach Rick Neuheisel, who'd left Colorado for Seattle during the offseason, got his first win at Washington in week three of the season. Marques Tuiasosopo hit Chris Juergens with a nine-yard TD pass with 3:17 remaining to break a tie and forge a 31-24 win. The following year in Boulder, a Rose Bowl-bound Husky team won, 17-14.
In 2011, in the two teams' first meeting as Pac-12 rivals, the Huskies won 52-24 in Seattle. Keith Price led the way for the UW, completing 21-of-28 passes for 257 yards and four touchdowns. In 2012, Price had another big game in a 38-3 win in Boulder, throwing for a school-record-tying five TDs. Price was 22-for-29 for 248 yards while Bishop Sankey rushed for 139 yards. In 2013 in Seattle, the Huskies won their fifth in a row in the series as the Dawgs rolled up 628 yards of total offense in a 59-7 victory. Price completed 22-of-29 for 312 and two scores while rushing for two more.
In 2014, erstwhile linebacker Shaq Thompson starred on offense for the Huskies, rushing for 174 yards on just 15 carries in 38-23 Husky win. Sefo Liufau passed for 314 yards and two TDs for Colorado. In 2016, the UW and Colorado met in the Pac-12 Championship game in Santa Clara, the first title game for both teams. Washington got 100-yard rushing performances from Myles Gaskin (159 yards) and Lavon Coleman (101) and two key interceptions from game MVP Taylor Rapp, one of which he returned 35 yards for a score on the first play of the second half, as Washington won, 41-10. Jake Browning threw TD passes to Darrell Daniels and John Ross while the UW defense held the Buffaloes to 163 yards and nine first downs.
In 2017 in Boulder, Myles Gaskin rushed for 202 yards and two TDs and the Huskies picked off three passes (Myles Bryant returned one 35 yards for a score) in a 37-10 win. Last year in Seattle, the UW held Colorado scoreless in the second, stretching a 14-13 halftime lead, to a 27-13 win. CU totaled just 86 yards of offense in the second half.
RETURNS ON FIRE: Since the arrival of coach Chris Petersen and his staff prior to the 2014 season, Washington has had four kickoff returns for touchdowns (three by John Ross and one by Keishawn Bierria) and 10 punt returns for TDs (nine by Dante Pettis – good for the NCAA record – and one from Aaron Fuller vs. BYU, 2019). That's a total of 14 kick and punt return TDs. Ross actually had four career TDs, but his first came in the 2013 Fight Hunger Bowl, the last game before the start of the Petersen era. Even if you include that Ross TD, you have to go back 16 prior seasons to count the previous four Husky kick return TDs, and 27 seasons to count the last 10 punt returns. Touré Butler returned a kick for a score in 1998. Then, from 1998 to 2033, the Huskies had four: Ross in 2013, Louis Rankin in 2007, Roc Alexander in 2001, and Paul Arnold in 1999. As for punt returns, Demouy Williams had one in 1987 before Beno Bryant had three punt return TDs in 1990, and another in 1991. Then, over 23 seasons (1991-2013), the Huskies had just six more: Jesse Callier in 2011; Chris Stevens in 2006; Charles Frederick in 2003 and 2001; Joe Jarzynka in 1998; and Dave Janoski in 1996 – and two of those (Callier & Stevens) were on blocked punts, so not "traditional" punt returns. What's more? Since Petersen's arrival in 2014, the Huskies haven't allowed a single punt or kick return for a score.
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 – one of only three games in Chris Petersen's UW tenure that an opponent has scored more than 35 points. That's a streak of 68 games in a row that the Huskies' opponent has failed to score more than 35. In that 68-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 29 times. In that same span of 68 games, the UW has scored more than 35 points on 28 occasions. No other team in the FBS has a streak longer than 50 games, and only one (Clemson, 44) has one longer than 25.
RETURNING STARTERS: While the official number of "returning starters" this year for Washington included just two defensive and seven offensive players, a deeper look at the numbers reveals a lot more experience. In fact, not counting specialists (UW returns its starting placekicker, punter, holder and long snapper), Washington had 20 current players who had started at least one game on offense, and nine who had started on defense prior to the 2019 season – though obviously most of those were not the primary starter at any one position last season.
DEFENSE vs. BIG PLAYS: The UW allowed just ONE scrimmage play of 40 or more yards all last season. No other FBS team allowed fewer than four and 102 teams allowed 10 or more. Washington also allowed just 11 scrimmage plays of 30 or more yards (only Appalachian State, with 10, allowed fewer). The Husky defense also ranked No. 5 in fewest 20-yard plays allowed (34). 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. The Huskies have given up seven scrimmage plays of 40 yards or more through the first 10 games of 2019.
YOUTH: Washington's roster remains on the young side. Of the 106 current players, more than half – 55 – are freshmen or redshirt freshmen, due in large part to the fact that every freshman on last year's team preserved their redshirt season. Washington's roster includes 18 seniors, 20 juniors, 13 sophomores, 25 redshirt freshmen and 30 true freshmen.
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 Cal. Under the current system, each school plays 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 play Utah or USC. In 2015 in 2016, neither UCLA nor Colorado were on the UW schedule, while the Huskies didn't face USC and Arizona in 2017 or 2018. The 2019 season marks the start of a new cycle, moving the rotation back to where it started. Therefore, the Huskies will not play UCLA and Arizona State this season and again in 2020.
THE 100-YARD FACTOR: Since the 1947 season, Washington is 221-69-3 (.759) when a Husky player rushes for 100 yards in a game. The Huskies are 22-3 in such games dating back to the 2016 season, and 4-2 this year.
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 120 times. The Huskies' record stands at 103-16-1 (.863) in those contests.
QUICK HITTERS: Through 10 games this season, UW has outscored opponents 107-13 in the first quarter ... in 10 games this season, a total of 10 different players have led the Huskies in tackles (including ties) ... Myles Bryant and Keith Taylor have each led the team twice, while the following eight players have led (or shared) the team in tackles in one game this season: Kyler Gordon, Trent McDuffie, Elijah Molden, Ariel Ngata, Levi Onwuzurike, Joe Tryon, Edefuan Ulofoshio, and Brandon Wellington ... along with UCF, the UW is one of only two FBS teams (and the only Power 5 program) that has not suffered a loss of more than 10 points since the start of the 2017 season ... UW is sixth in the nation in net punting (42.58), having allowed just two touchbacks and only seven punt return yards all year ... Joel Whitford's 44.3-yard average ranks No. 2 in UW single-season history ... UW's defense has led the Pac-12 in both scoring defense and total defense each of the last four years ... of the 105 players on the current UW football roster, more than half (54) are freshmen or redshirt freshmen ... Washington has played 12 true freshmen this season: DL Jacob Bandes, TB Cameron Davis, PK Tim Horn, OLB Laiatu Latu, CB Trent McDuffie, WR Puka Nacua, DL Noa Ngalu, DL Sama Paama, DL Faatui Tuitele, LB Alphonzo Tuputala, DB Asa Turner and DB Cameron Williams ... additionally, 19 redshirt freshmen have played ... senior WR Aaron Fuller enters the week with 146 career receptions for 1,956 yards, good for seventh and eighth, respectively, in UW history ... junior TE Hunter Bryant currently has 74 career catches for 1,216 yards, good for fifth and second in UW history among tight ends ... UW head coach Chris Petersen entered the 2019 season with the highest winning percentage among active NCAA-FBS coaches with five or more years experience ... currently, Petersen has a career record of 145-37, good for a percentage of .797, second in FBS ... in five-plus seasons under Petersen, the Huskies have scored touchdowns on a total of 14 kickoff (4) and punt (10) returns ... in that same period, the UW hasn't allowed a single return for a score.
TELEVISION: The UW-Colorado game will air on ESPN television, with Jason Benetti (play by play), Rod Gilmore (analyst) and Quint Kessenich (sidelines) on the call. You can also watch via WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app.
RADIO: The Washington Sports 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. Play-by-play man Tony Castricone and color analysts Damon Huard and Greg Lewis are joined by sideline reporter Elise Woodward. The CU broadcast of the game will air on Sirius (138) and XM (201) satellite radio, and the UW broadcast is available via TuneIn.com and the TuneIn app.
HUSKIES vs. BUFFALOES HISTORY: Washington and Colorado have squared off 17 times in their history and the Huskies hold the edge with 12 wins, five losses and one tie. Washington has won nine straight games vs. the Buffaloes, a streak that dates back 20 years. Washington is 7-0 vs. Colorado since the Pac-10 Conference expanded to become the Pac-12, including six wins in the regular season and one in the 2016 Pac-12 Championship game.
The series began way back in 1915 when a Gil Dobie-coached UW team wrapped up a 7-0 season with a 46-0 win over the Buffs at Washington's Denny Field. Nearly 40 years later, the Huskies opened the 1953 season with a narrow 21-20 loss at Husky Stadium. Jim Owens' first game as Husky head coach, on Sept. 21, 1957, came against Colorado and that game ended in a 6-6 tie in Seattle. Two seasons later, the Huskies made their first trip to Boulder for yet another season-opener and beat the Buffaloes, 21-12.
The next meeting didn't come until 1976 in Seattle when Colorado beat Don James' second Husky squad, 21-7. The two teams next met in the 1985 Freedom Bowl in Anaheim. The Huskies won, 20-17, behind sophomore QB Chris Chandler.
In 1989, shortly after the untimely death of their former CU quarterback Sal Aunese, the Buffs handed the Huskies a 45-28 loss at Husky Stadium. Colorado rushed for 420 yards despite not having a single back over 100 yards. Colorado made it two wins in as many seasons the following year at Folsom Field, handing a 12th-ranked UW team a 20-14 loss. Eric Bieniemy ran for 143 yards and Darian Hagan scored a pair of TDs in the win. Colorado picked up a third straight win over the Huskies in the 1996 Holiday Bowl, winning 33-21.
In 1999, first-year UW head coach Rick Neuheisel, who'd left Colorado for Seattle during the offseason, got his first win at Washington in week three of the season. Marques Tuiasosopo hit Chris Juergens with a nine-yard TD pass with 3:17 remaining to break a tie and forge a 31-24 win. The following year in Boulder, a Rose Bowl-bound Husky team won, 17-14.
In 2011, in the two teams' first meeting as Pac-12 rivals, the Huskies won 52-24 in Seattle. Keith Price led the way for the UW, completing 21-of-28 passes for 257 yards and four touchdowns. In 2012, Price had another big game in a 38-3 win in Boulder, throwing for a school-record-tying five TDs. Price was 22-for-29 for 248 yards while Bishop Sankey rushed for 139 yards. In 2013 in Seattle, the Huskies won their fifth in a row in the series as the Dawgs rolled up 628 yards of total offense in a 59-7 victory. Price completed 22-of-29 for 312 and two scores while rushing for two more.
In 2014, erstwhile linebacker Shaq Thompson starred on offense for the Huskies, rushing for 174 yards on just 15 carries in 38-23 Husky win. Sefo Liufau passed for 314 yards and two TDs for Colorado. In 2016, the UW and Colorado met in the Pac-12 Championship game in Santa Clara, the first title game for both teams. Washington got 100-yard rushing performances from Myles Gaskin (159 yards) and Lavon Coleman (101) and two key interceptions from game MVP Taylor Rapp, one of which he returned 35 yards for a score on the first play of the second half, as Washington won, 41-10. Jake Browning threw TD passes to Darrell Daniels and John Ross while the UW defense held the Buffaloes to 163 yards and nine first downs.
In 2017 in Boulder, Myles Gaskin rushed for 202 yards and two TDs and the Huskies picked off three passes (Myles Bryant returned one 35 yards for a score) in a 37-10 win. Last year in Seattle, the UW held Colorado scoreless in the second, stretching a 14-13 halftime lead, to a 27-13 win. CU totaled just 86 yards of offense in the second half.
RETURNS ON FIRE: Since the arrival of coach Chris Petersen and his staff prior to the 2014 season, Washington has had four kickoff returns for touchdowns (three by John Ross and one by Keishawn Bierria) and 10 punt returns for TDs (nine by Dante Pettis – good for the NCAA record – and one from Aaron Fuller vs. BYU, 2019). That's a total of 14 kick and punt return TDs. Ross actually had four career TDs, but his first came in the 2013 Fight Hunger Bowl, the last game before the start of the Petersen era. Even if you include that Ross TD, you have to go back 16 prior seasons to count the previous four Husky kick return TDs, and 27 seasons to count the last 10 punt returns. Touré Butler returned a kick for a score in 1998. Then, from 1998 to 2033, the Huskies had four: Ross in 2013, Louis Rankin in 2007, Roc Alexander in 2001, and Paul Arnold in 1999. As for punt returns, Demouy Williams had one in 1987 before Beno Bryant had three punt return TDs in 1990, and another in 1991. Then, over 23 seasons (1991-2013), the Huskies had just six more: Jesse Callier in 2011; Chris Stevens in 2006; Charles Frederick in 2003 and 2001; Joe Jarzynka in 1998; and Dave Janoski in 1996 – and two of those (Callier & Stevens) were on blocked punts, so not "traditional" punt returns. What's more? Since Petersen's arrival in 2014, the Huskies haven't allowed a single punt or kick return for a score.
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 – one of only three games in Chris Petersen's UW tenure that an opponent has scored more than 35 points. That's a streak of 68 games in a row that the Huskies' opponent has failed to score more than 35. In that 68-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 29 times. In that same span of 68 games, the UW has scored more than 35 points on 28 occasions. No other team in the FBS has a streak longer than 50 games, and only one (Clemson, 44) has one longer than 25.
RETURNING STARTERS: While the official number of "returning starters" this year for Washington included just two defensive and seven offensive players, a deeper look at the numbers reveals a lot more experience. In fact, not counting specialists (UW returns its starting placekicker, punter, holder and long snapper), Washington had 20 current players who had started at least one game on offense, and nine who had started on defense prior to the 2019 season – though obviously most of those were not the primary starter at any one position last season.
DEFENSE vs. BIG PLAYS: The UW allowed just ONE scrimmage play of 40 or more yards all last season. No other FBS team allowed fewer than four and 102 teams allowed 10 or more. Washington also allowed just 11 scrimmage plays of 30 or more yards (only Appalachian State, with 10, allowed fewer). The Husky defense also ranked No. 5 in fewest 20-yard plays allowed (34). 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. The Huskies have given up seven scrimmage plays of 40 yards or more through the first 10 games of 2019.
YOUTH: Washington's roster remains on the young side. Of the 106 current players, more than half – 55 – are freshmen or redshirt freshmen, due in large part to the fact that every freshman on last year's team preserved their redshirt season. Washington's roster includes 18 seniors, 20 juniors, 13 sophomores, 25 redshirt freshmen and 30 true freshmen.
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 Cal. Under the current system, each school plays 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 play Utah or USC. In 2015 in 2016, neither UCLA nor Colorado were on the UW schedule, while the Huskies didn't face USC and Arizona in 2017 or 2018. The 2019 season marks the start of a new cycle, moving the rotation back to where it started. Therefore, the Huskies will not play UCLA and Arizona State this season and again in 2020.
THE 100-YARD FACTOR: Since the 1947 season, Washington is 221-69-3 (.759) when a Husky player rushes for 100 yards in a game. The Huskies are 22-3 in such games dating back to the 2016 season, and 4-2 this year.
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 120 times. The Huskies' record stands at 103-16-1 (.863) in those contests.
Players Mentioned
DL
/ Football
QB
/ Football
TE
/ Football
DB
/ Football
TB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
TB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
OLB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
OLB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
DL
/ Football
DB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
LB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
P
/ Football
DB
/ FootballUW Football Press Conference: October 14, 2025
Tuesday, October 14
Head Coach Jedd Fisch Press Conference: October 13, 2025
Monday, October 13
2025 Husky Hall of Fame | Ray Horton
Monday, October 13
2025 Husky Hall of Fame | Reggie Williams
Monday, October 13
