Top-25 Matchup Up Next As USC Comes To Seattle

Saturday, September 28

Seattle, WA

12:30 PM

University of Washington

USC

September 23, 2019 | Football

UW Game Notes Buy Tickets Gameday Central

THE GAME: The Washington football team (3-1 overall, 0-1 Pac-12), with the non-conference schedule now in the rearview mirror, returns to Husky Stadium this Saturday to take on USC (3-1, 2-0) in a 12:30 p.m. game (FOX television). The Huskies passed their first road test of the season last Saturday, beating BYU, 45-19, in Provo. Last Friday in L.A., the Trojans took out preseason conference favorite Utah, 30-23, making USC the only Pac-12 team with two conference wins. UW is ranked No. 17 in this week's AP Top 25 and also in the coaches poll, while USC is No. 21 and No. 25, respectively. Following the USC game, the Huskies head out on the road for two in a row: Oct. 5 at Stanford at Oct. 12 at Arizona.

QUICK HITTERS: UW's defense has led the Pac-12 in both scoring defense and total defense each of the last four years ... of the 106 players on the current UW football roster, a little over half (55) are freshmen or redshirt freshmen ... Washington has played 11 true freshmen this season: DL Jacob Bandes, 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, 18 redshirt freshmen have played ... PK Peyton Henry enters the week as one of 25 FBS kickers who has made all of his field goal attempts this season, and one of only seven with seven or more attempts ... Jacob Eason made his UW debut as starting quarterback vs. EWU and threw for 349 yards and four TDs ... his 349 yards were the most ever by a Husky QB in his first start ... his 4 TD passes tied for seventh-most in UW history ... 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 ... through four  games this year, Petersen has a career record of 142-34, good for a winning percentage of .807 ... 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-USC game will air on FOX television, with Joe Davis (play by play), Brock Huard (analyst) and Bruce Feldman (sidelines) on the call. You can also watch FOXSportsGo.com and the FOXSportsGo 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 UW broadcast of the game will also air on Sirius (78) and XM (197) satellite radio, and is also available via TuneIn.com and the TuneIn app. Touchdown Radio will also air a national syndicated broadcast.

HUSKIES vs. TROJANS HISTORY: Washington and USC have played one another 85 times since the series began in 1923. The Trojans hold a 52-29-4 series advantage.

Washington won its first-ever meeting against the Trojans, beating USC, 22-0, in Seattle in 1923. When the series re-started in 1927, USC handed the Huskies six straight defeats before Washington reeled off five in a row. The longest streak either way in the series began in 1965, when the Trojans beat Washington for the first time of 10 straight wins.

The UW and USC didn't play the last two seasons, due to the Pac-12's divisions. Their most recent meeting, in Seattle in 2016, was one of the most high-profile games in recent years, with ESPN's College Gameday on campus and the No. 4 Huskies hosting a Trojans squad that had won five in a row. USC won that game, 26-13, holding the Huskies to just 17 rushing yards, perhaps the key stat of the game. The Huskies' lone TD was a 70-yard pass from Jake Browning to John Ross.

The year before in L.A, the Huskies scored a 17-12 win at then-No. 17 USC in a Thursday night game at the Coliseum. Myles Gaskin rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown while Sidney Jones and Darren Gardenhire notched crucial interceptions.

In the most recent meeting prior to 2015 (UW and USC didn't play one another in 2013 and 2014), in 2012 at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, the Trojans won 24-14, thwarting several late chances for the Huskies to make it close by forcing three fourth-quarter turnovers.

A year prior in L.A., the Trojans broke the UW's two-game win streak in the series with a convincing 40-17 victory. In 2010, Washington posted its second straight victory via late field goal as Erik Folk connected from 32 yards to beat USC, 32-31, on the final play of the game. In 2009 in Seattle, Washington handed No. 3 USC a 16-13 loss as  Folk connected on a 22-yard field goal with three seconds left to cap the game-winning drive.

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 60 games in a row that the Huskies' opponent has failed to score more than 35. In that 60-game stretch, Husky foes have scored 30 or more just nine times (of those nine, five were exactly 30 points) and have been held to 14 or fewer points 27 times. In that same span of 60 games, the UW has scored more than 35 points on 27 occasions.

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 did give up one long play, a 64-yard pass, in the 2019 opener vs. Eastern Washington.

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.

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 392-178-21 (.681).