Husky History of Facing College Football's No. 1 Team

The UW did OK in the first three games, not so much ever since.

Michael Penix Jr. leaves the field after losing to No. 1 Michigan 34-13. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Not only does the University of Washington football team have to close the regular season at Oregon -- something it hasn't done in 106 seasons -- the Huskies find themselves facing the nation's No. 1 team in the polls.

They know this drill and it usually doesn't end well.

A check of the record book shows the Huskies have taken on college football's top-ranked entry 14 previous times.

They've won once and tied once.

Otherwise, it's been a punishing experience, with seven of the 12 losses to the team residing in the AP Poll penthouse decided by three touchdowns or more, including last January's 34-13 defeat to No. 1 Michigan in the CFP naitonal championship game in Houston.

That's right, the Huskies (6-5 overall, 4-4 Big Ten) will face the college game's No. 1 team for the second time in 11 months, which makes them, yes, a glutton for punishment. As of Sunday, they were 19.5-point underdogs to the unbeaten Ducks (11-0, 8-0).

HUSKIES AGAINST NO. 1
1937 -- UW 0, at No. 1 California 0	Last-play Husky FG by Al Cruver fell short.
1939 -- at No. 1 USC 9, UW 7	Trojans' John Stonebraker caught a 16-yard TD pass with 1:15 left to win it.
1961 -- UW 17, No. 1 Minnesota 7 (Rose Bowl)	Bob Schloredt came back from broken collarbone to run for a TD and pass for one.
1967 -- No. 1 USC 23, at UW 6	O.J. Simpson rushed 235 yards and 2 TDs including an 86-yard scoring dash.
1968 -- at No. 1 USC 14, UW 7	Simpson scored game-winner on 4-yard run with 4:04 left to play.
1969 -- No. 1 Ohio State 41, at UW 14	QB Rex Kern gets the rout going with a 64-yard TD run and finishes with 139 yards and 2 TDs.
1972 -- at No. 1 USC 34, UW 7	QB Sonny Sixkiller was injured, so Denny Fitzpatrick made his college debut and it didn't go well.
2001 -- at No. 1 Miami 65, UW 7	The Huskies gave up their most points in 80 seasons.
2004 -- at No. 1 USC 38, UW 0	One-win Husky team held to 6 first downs and 50 yards rushing.
2005 -- No. 1 USC 51, at UW 24	Reggie Bush broke this one open with 2 TDs, including 84-yard punt return.
2007 -- No. 1 USC 27, at UW 24	David Buehler's 33-yard field goal with 3:01 left gave USC a 10-point lead and the deciding points.
2010 -- at No. 1 Oregon 53, UW 16	The Ducks outscored Steve Sarkisian team 35-3 to close.
2016 -- No. 1 Alabama 24, UW 7 (Peach Bowl/CFP)	The Huskies scored first on Dante Pettis TD catch, but had no offense otherwise.
2024 -- No. 1 Michigan 34, UW 13 (CFP title game)	The Huskies gave up 303 yards rushing, 134 to Blake Corum, 104 to Donovan Edwards.
2024 -- at No. 1 Oregon, TBD	The Ducks are 19.5-point favorites.

The Huskies previously have faced eight different teams when they were ranked No. 1, including Oregon, which held the top spot in 2010 and dished out a 53-16 pummeling in Eugene to a Steve Sarkisian-coached UW team.

Seven, or half of the Huskies' No. 1 encounters, have come against USC, but it's been 17 seasons since the Trojans were so highly regarded while facing a team from Montlake.

In 1967, top-ranked USC came to Seattle with a running back named O.J. Simpson, who rushed 30 times for 235 yards and 2 touchdowns, and threw a fourth-quarter scoring pass, in the Trojans' 23-6 victory. On the third series of that game, Simpson took a handoff on a draw play and broke a breath-taking 86-yard touchdown run.

Beating No. 1 has not been impossible for the Huskies -- just near impossible.

Their only win came 63 years ago when a 9-1 UW team took on the top-ranked 8-1 Minnesota Gophers in the Rose Bowl and emerged with a 17-7 victory needing something akin to a Hollywood storyline to make it all happen.

Bob Schloredt was the returning first-team AP All-America quarterback and a Heisman Trophy candidate in 1960 who broke his collarbone at midseason and missed the Huskies' final five games of the regular-season schedule. At the Rose Bowl, Schloredt made a heroic return by coming off the bench and throwing for a touchdown and running for another against lofty Minnesota, and he received MVP honors for the second consecutive year in Pasadena.

The first time the Huskies faced college football's No. 1 team came 87 years ago against California in Berkley and it might have been the most frustrating of all of these match-ups against the football elite.

In 1937, the UW tied the top-ranked Golden Bears 0-0, but only after the Huskies drove to the opposing 20-yard line and Al Cruver's last-play field-goal attempt came up short.

Short?

Note to Grady Gross: Short just can't happen from chip-shot range against No.1 with the game on the line.

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