Dawgs Welcome Wolverines To Seattle For First Time Since 2001

Saturday, October 5

Husky Stadium

4:30 PM

University of Washington

Michigan

Buy Tickets

jonah coleman and offensive line vs northwestern

Photo by: Scott Eklund / Red Box Pictures

Dawgs Welcome Wolverines To Seattle For First Time Since 2001

September 30, 2024 | Football

UW Game Notes (PDF)

THE GAME: The Washington football team (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) takes on No. 10-ranked Michigan (4-1, 2-0) this Saturday in the Wolverines first trip to Seattle in nearly a quarter century. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and the game will air live on NBC television. The two teams last met eight months ago in the College Football Playoff National Championship game, Jan. 8, in Houston, though both teams have welcomed new head coaches, and experienced significan roster turnover, since. Following the Michigan game, the Dawgs will make their first trip to Iowa since 1964, traveling to Kinnick Stadium on Oct. 12. That game will be followed by the first of two off weeks this season for the Huskies.

QUICK HITTERS: UW is one of eight Power-4 programs that ranks in the top-20 in yards per play (7.22) and yards per play allowed (4.07) ... others: Texas, Alabama, Ohio State, Penn State, Miami, Indiana, Tennessee ... Washington has won 17 consecutive home games, the second-longest current home win streak in the nation, and tied for the second-longest in school history ... the Huskies have not allowed a touchdown in three home games this season ... among active FBS players, UW QB Will Rogers III ranks No. 1 in career attempts (2,023), completions (1,411), and completion percentage (.697); and No. 2 in passing yards (13,669) and TDs (104) ... UW RB Jonah Coleman leads FBS with 27 scrimmage plays of 10 yards or longer, and with 21 rushes of 10-plus yards ... WR Denzel Boston leads the Big Ten and is No. 2 in FBS with seven touchdown receptions ... he needs just two more to make the UW single-season top-10 list ... 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 ... UW has just two turnovers through five games ... only one FBS team with five games played this season has fewer ... not counting the four-game 2020 season, the Huskies have won 10 or more games in five of the last seven seasons ... Washington is 75-28 since the end of the 2015 season, and 28-5 since the end of 2021 ... 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-Michigan game will air on NBC, with Noah Eagle, Todd Blackledge and Kathryn Tappen calling the action. For more information on how to watch, go to 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 85. 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, Michgan 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. WOLVERINES HISTORY: UW and Michigan have played one another 14 times, with the Huskies winning five of those games. Four of those 13 meetings were in the Rose Bowl game, with the two teams splitting those four contest. The two foes first met in 1953 and 1954, with the Wolverines notching shutouts in each: 50-0 in 1953 in Ann Arbor; and 14-0 the following year in Seattle. Michigan won two more against Washington in 1969 (45-7 in Ann Arbor) and 1970 (17-3 in Seattle), but the Huskies have won five of 10 since that 0-4 start to the series.

In Don James' first bowl game as Washington head coach, No. 13 UW won the 1978 Rose Bowl, 27-20, upsetting fourth-ranked Michigan. UW built a 27-7 lead behind two touchdown passes and one run from MVP Warren Moon, and held off a Rick Leach-led Michigan team for the win. Just three years later, No. 5 Michigan earned a 23-6 win over No. 16 Washington on New Year's Day 1981 in Pasadena.

The series returned to the regular season a few years later, with Washington winning a pair of early-season, non-conference meetings, 25-24 at Husky Stadium in 1983, and 20-11 the following season in Ann Arbor. The 1983 game is remembered by Husky fans as one of the great regular-season, non-conference victories in program history, and the UW career highlight of quarterback Steve Pelluer, who finished the game with 14 straight completions, leading UW to a late victory. Pelluer completed eight passes on the game-winning drive, which culminatted with a seven-yard TD pass to Mark Pattison, cutting the UM lead to 24-23. Then, the UW opted to go for two on the conversion, when Pelluer threw a strike to Larry Michael to wrap up the 25-24 win.

After those two mid-1980s meetings, the two program next met at the 1992 Rose Bowl, where No. 2 Washington beat No. 4 Michigan, 34-14, to wrap up a 12-0 season and a share of the national championship. The next year, with UW in tumult, No. 7 Michigan handed the No. 9 Huskies a 38-31 loss in Pasadena.

More recent meetings came in 2001 and 2002. In the first of those, played three days before the 9/11 attacks, 15th-ranked Washington edged Michigan, 23-18, thanks in large part to cornerback Omare Lowe, who blocked a field goal that was returned for a touchdown, then returned an inteception for a score, all in less than one minute in the fourth quarter. The folllowing year at Michigan Stadium, the Wolverines got a last-minute, 44-yard field goal from Philip Brabbs to win, 31-29. The game-winning drive was famously helped along by an illegal participation (12 men on the field) penalty on the Washington defense, which extended the drive.

The Huskies and Wolverines were meant to square off again in 2020 and 2021, but the 2020 game was canceled due to the pandemic (Pac-12 teams did not play any out-of-conference games). In the second game of the 2021 season, the Dawgs traveled to Ann Arbor, where the home team came away with a 31-11 win. Both Blake Corum and Hassan Haskins rushed for more than 150 yards, while UW quarterback Dylan Morris passed for 293 yards.

Finally, of course, the Huskies and Wolverines squared off in the 2024 CFP National Championship Game, with Michigan winning, 34-13. After a pair of long touchdown runs from Donovan Edwards (41 and 46 yards) built a 17-3 lead for Michigan, the Huskies were within a touchdown (20-13) for a long stretch in the second half, but another pair of rushing TDs in the fourth quarter – both from Blake Corum – provided for the final margin.

REMATCH?: While both teams have new head coaches, and a long list of players on both rosters have departed, this week's game between Washington and Michigan is indeed a rematch of last January's College Football Playoff Championship Game. In fact, in the CFP era (i.e., the four-team playoff, 2014-23), there has never before been a rematch in the following regular season. Teams have played one another in the postseason (both conference title games CFP playoff games) the following year, however.

ROSTER TURNOVER: One main storyline for the 2024 UW football team has been about the amount of change that has occured 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 four games, UW has 94 plays of 10 yards or longer (t-4th in FBS), and 28 of 20 or longer (t-21st). UW running back Jonah Coleman is tied for first in FBS with 27 scrimmage plays of 10 or more yards, and is also first in the country with 21 rushes 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 416-185-21 (.686). Washington is 60-16 in home games since the stadium re-opened in 2013.