First Trip To Happy Valley: UW Takes On No. 6 Penn State

Saturday, November 9

University Park, Pa.

5:00 PM

University of Washington

Penn State

First Trip To Happy Valley: UW Takes On No. 6 Penn State

November 04, 2024 | Football

Full UW Notes (PDF)

THE GAME: The Washington football team (5-4 overall, 3-3 Big Ten) makes its first-ever trip to Happy Valley this week as the Dawgs take on No. 6-ranked Penn State (7-1, 4-1) Satruday night at Beaver Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT and the game will stream live on Peacock. Washington and Penn State have met just three times, with the Nittany Lions winning all three. Those games were played in Seattle in 1921, at the 1983 Aloha Bowl, and at the 2017 Fiesta Bowl. Following the Penn State game, UW returns home to face UCLA Friday night, Nov. 15, at Husky Stadium. After a week off (Nov. 23), the regular season comes to a close with a trip to Oregon on Nov. 30.

QUICK HITTERS: Washington ranks No. 2 in FBS in passing yards allowed, No. 5 in pass efficiency defense, No. 10 in total defense, and No. 21 in scoring defense ... UW opponents are averaging 5:07 yards per pass attempt and 4.92 per play, No. 3 and No. 9 in FBS, respectively ... among active FBS players, UW QB Will Rogers III ranks No. 1 in career attempts (2,153) and completions (1,498); No. 2 in passing yards (14,599) and TDs (107); and No. 3 in completion percentage (.696) ... Rogers is just the 14th player in FBS history to pass for 14,000-plus yards ... UW RB Jonah Coleman is No. 4 in FBS with 32 rushing plays of 10 yards or longer, and sixth with 39 scrimmage plays of 10-plus yards ... WR Denzel Boston leads the Big Ten and is No. 4 in FBS with nine touchdown receptions ... nine receiving TDs is tied for 8th-most in UW single-season history ... Washington has won 19 consecutive home games, longest in modern school history (the longest, 45 games, was from 1908-1917, part of UW's NCAA-record 64-game unbeaten streak) ... 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-Penn State game will air on Peacock, with Paul Burmeister, Colt McCoy, and Zora Stephenson calling the action. For more information on how to watch Peacock, go to www.peacocktv.com.

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 388 (Penn State broadcast on 113 or 196). 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. NITTANY LIONS HISTORY: Washington and Penn State have met just twice on the gridiron – a 1921 game in Seattle and in the 1983 Aloha Bowl. The Nittany Lions won them both. In the 1921 game, played Dec. 3 at one-year-old Husky Stadium (not yet known by that name), Penn State earned a 21-7 win in front of 13,827 fans. That year was the last year that the University of Washington teams were known as the "Sundodgers," as in 1922, the students voted to change the mascot to "Huskies." It was also the first season of the tenure of coach Enoch Bagshaw, the Welsh-born World War I veteran and former UW player who, despite finishing with just a 3-4-1 record in 1921, would lead the UW to a 63-22-6 mark over his nine seasons in charge.

While, understandably, detailed information on that 1921 game is scarce, it does receive the following (un-edited) write-up in the 1922 edition of the UW's Tyee Yearbook: "Despite the fact that the score shows a defeat, Washington won a moral victory over the highly-touted Penn State eleven. Coach Hugo Bezdek's Nittany Lions came out of the East with an unbroken string of victories against the strongest teams of their section. All the dope pointed to a walk-away for the eastern team. But the dope did not materialize. Penn state had a wonderful team. Killinger, the all-American back, ably aided by his team mates, shone and flashed. They outweighed Washington and presented a smoother running football machine. But in the face of all of this, Washington's plucky skipper, Ray Eckmann, put the ball over for one hard-earned touchdown. He ran past the 50-yard line on the kick-off before he was stopped. Then it was that another all-American back, playing with the weaker team, time after time punctured the heavy Penn State line, and with straight old-time football forced the play."

It would take another 62 years before the UW and Penn State met again, in the 1983 Aloha Bowl in Honolulu. The Nittany Lions earned a 13-10 win over the UW in front of 37,212 at Aloha Stadium on Christmas Day, scoring 10 points in the final quarter to overcome the Dawgs. Both teams had entered the season with higher hopes. Penn State was the defending national champion and opened the season at No. 4, while Washington lost to Washington State in the final game of the regular season to drop out of the top 25 for the first time in two years. After a Penn State field goal in the first quarter, the Huskies took the lead on a 57-yard punt return from Danny Greene. Just before halftime, a Jeff Jaeger field goal made it 10-3. The Nittany Lions' Nick Gancitano kicked a 49-yard field goal early in the fourth and D.J. Dozier scored on a two-yard run to provide his team with the win.

Much more recently, the Huskies and Lions met in the 2017 Fiesta Bowl, the second of three straight New Years Six bowl games for the Huskies. That game, played on Dec. 30, 2017, ran Penn State's all-time record vs. the Huskies to 3-0, as Saquon Barkley and Trace McSorley led the Nittany Lions to a 35-28 win. McSorley hit DaeSean Hamilton with a 48-yard TD pass and Barkley scored on a two-yard run to take a 14-0 lead. UW QB Jake Browning scored a one-yard rushing TD to cut it to 14-7, but a one-yard run from Miles Sanders and a 92-yard sprint from Barkley opened a 28-7 gap in the second quarter. Myles Gaskin's 13-yard run cut it to 28-14 at halftime. In the third quarter, Browning hit Aaron Fuller to with a 28-yard pass, but McSorley and Hamilton connected again to make it 35-21, Penn State. UW got a late rushing TD from Gaskin to close the final gap to 35-28.

SECOND TRIP TO PA: UW has played Penn State just three times in history, and none of those games have come in State College. In fact, only once in the 135-year history of Washington football have the Huskies played a game in the state of Pennsylvania. That game came in week two of the 1963 season, when the Rose Bowl-bound Huskies lost, 13-7, at Pittsburgh. UW opened that season 0-3, but went 4-1 in AAWU (Big 6) play to earn a trip to Pasadena.

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.

MORE LONG PLAYS: Over the last several years, Washington has been one of the top teams in the nation in terms of long scrimmage plays. And, while the players and coaches have largely changed, that's no different in 2024. Through seven games, UW has 151 plays of 10 yards or longer (9th-most in FBS). UW running back Jonah Coleman is tied for fourth in FBS with 32 rushing plays of 10 or more yards, and is tied for sixth in the country with 39scrimmage plays of 10-plus yards.

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.

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 2024 season marks the 104th 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 417-185-21 (.686). Washington is 62-16 in home games since the stadium re-opened in 2013.