Inside The Huskies

How 14 Michigan-Washington Games Have Played Out

The Huskies have dropped the past three outings, including the CFP title game.

Dan Raley

Grady Gross gets ready to kick against Michigan in the CFP title game.
Grady Gross gets ready to kick against Michigan in the CFP title game. / Skylar Lin Visuals

The University of Washington football team has never beaten the likes of Notre Dame, Alabama and LSU, never even played Georgia, Tennessee or Florida State.

However among college football's nonpareil, Michigan, while taking its regular pound of flesh from the UW -- as recently as 10 months ago in Texas, in fact -- has been responsible as much as anyone for making the Huskies feel like they belong with the big boys.

On Saturday, this two programs get together for the 15th time, and for the first time as Big Ten members, with both finding themselves in a rebuilding mode after having their way with everyone else last season as the national champion and runner-up.

"First of all, it's two huge brands," UW coach Jedd Fisch.

While the Wolverines typically win two out of every three games with the UW, the Huskies have been highly adept in surprising Michigan when it least expects it and in this weekend's game this could happen again

ALL-TIME UW-MICHIGAN SERIES

1953 -- at Michigan 50, UW 0

Wolverines outgained UW 345-134 in yards

1954 -- Michigan 14, at UW 0

UW 0-4 on fourth down in Michigan end

1969 -- at Michigan 45, UW 7

Glenn Doughty rushed for 191 yards

1970 -- Michigan 17, at UW 3

Wolverines handed Sixkiller his first loss

1978 -- UW 27, Michigan 20 (Rose Bowl)

Warren Moon had 2 TD runs, 1 scoring pass

1981 -- Michigan 23, UW 6 (Rose Bowl)

Huskies had 2 touchdowns waved off

1983 -- ar UW 25, Michigan 24

UW won in the final 34 seconds

1984 -- UW 20, at Michigan 11

Millen-to-Pattison 73-yard TD pass

1992 -- UW 34, Michigan 14 (Rose Bowl)

Huskies cap 12-0 season with national title

1993 -- Michigan 38, UW 31 (Rose Bowl)

Wheatley ran for 88-, 56- and 24-yard TDs

2001 -- at UW 23, Michigan 18

Omari Lowe blocks FG, has pick-6

2002 -- at Michigan 31, UW 29

Philip Brabbs kicks 44-yard FG at 0:00

2021 -- at Michigan 31, UW 10

Blake Corum runs for 171 yards, 3 TDs

2024 -- Michigan 34, UW 13 (CFP)

Edwards ran for 41, 46 TDs and national title

Seventy-one years ago, they met for the first time in Ann Arbor for what would be the most lopsided game of the series, a 50-0 victory for the Maize and Blue. The Huskies, 14.5-point underdogs coming in, couldn't pass midfield until well into the second quarter, lost 3 fumbles and had 3 passes intercepted. The well-oiled Michigan football machine used 10 different people to run the ball for 345 yards, with no one gaining more than 65.

One can break up this intersectional series three ways: Michigan won the first four outings in dominant fashion, collectively outscoring the UW 126-10; Don James teams captured four of the next six, including two in the Rose Bowl and the only UW win in Ann Arbor; and the Wolverines have swung everything back in their favor by claiming the past three games, including the national title takedown this past January.

The most memorable Husky victory over Michigan was the first one in the 1978 Rose Bowl, when a 7-4 UW team took down the 10-1 Wolverines pursuing another national championship. James pulled out all stops, beginning with a fourth-down pass by the punter for a first down as his team rolled out to a 24-0 advantage and held on. Last-minute interceptions by Michael Jackson and Nesby Glasgow preserved things. President Gerald Ford, a former Michigan player, was in attendance, with Secret Service agents shoving people out of the way on the Husky sideline to escort him out in the fourth quarter.

The greatest play in this series had to come in 1983 -- a two-point conversion pass from Steve Pelluer to tight end Larry Michael for the winning points in a 25-24 decision with the clocked stopped at 34 seconds remaining. This completed a stunning UW comeback from a 24-10 deficit early in the fourth quarter that sent a lot of people to the exits.

The biggest stakes for any one game in the series was having the national title on the line 10 months ago at Houston's NRG Stadium, with both teams coming in with 14-0 records. The Huskies trailed just 20-13 entering the fourth quarter before losing 34-13.

As crazy as this series has been at times, the Huskies, with an almost entirely new team with just one starter back from the title game, find themselves listed as 2.5-point favorites by one odds-maker. After all, Michigan hasn't played in Montlake for 23 years. Anything goes when the Wolverines and the UW play each other.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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