The Amazing Story of Penn State Football's Last Game at Washington

The Nittany Lions visited the Huskies (then the Sundodgers) in 1921, when they took a train across the country.

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Matt Campbell looks on from the sideline against the Wisconsin Badgers at Beaver Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Penn State football team leaves Thursday for its cross-country trip to play Washington, its first visit to Seattle in 105 years. The Nittany Lions will fly out of Harrisburg, about 100 miles from State College, two days before the game to acclimate for the 12:30 p.m. local kickoff.

Otherwise, aside from the natural logistical challenges of playing 2,600 miles from home, the trip didn't raise Penn State coach Matt Campbell's pulse at all. "I don’t think it’s a debilitating situation," Campbell said.

Contrast that with the last time Penn State played at Wasington in 1925. The Nittany Lions left on an 8:30 p.m. train from Pittsburgh, immediately after tying Pitt 0-0 on Thanksgiving Day, for a 3½-day trip across the country to play the program's first game on the West Coast.

There, Penn State culminated one of its great early seasons with a 21-7 victory over Washington to complete an undefeated year, albeit with two ties. The Nittany Lions return to Seattle on Saturday attempting to run their record vs. Washington to 5-0. That first game, though, was memorable.

'State gave Washington a lesson in Eastern football'

A general view of Husky Stadium during the second quarter of a game between the Michigan Wolverines and Washington Huskies. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Prior to 1921, the farthest west Penn State had played was Michigan State. But that year, the program scheduled a game at Washington, then known as the "Sundodgers" before students voted on a mascot change to the "Huskies" in 1922.

Penn State brought a 7-0-2 record to Washington but was particularly vexed after its traditional Thanksgiving game against Pitt ended in a second straight scoreless tie. The Nittany Lions had plenty of time to ponder that result on the train trip across America.

According to Lou Prato's Penn State Football Encyclopedia, the Nittany Lions didn't even get a traditional Thanksgiving dinner after tying Pitt. They left from Pittsburgh's Union Station that night, arriving in Seattle more than three days later on Monday morning.

Penn State coach Hugo Bezdek conducted practices in secret that week, according to Prato, because the coach desperately wanted to win the game. Bezdek had been the head coach at Oregon and wanted to prove the authority of Eastern football.

"On the [West] Coast, a team usually has one or two hard games," Bezdek told a Seattle columnist, according to Prato, "while in the East, every game is a tough one."

The day belonged to Penn State. "With another great crowd of 35,000 looking on," Prato wrote, "State gave Washington a lesson in Eastern football."

Quarterback Glenn Killinger, a 1921 All-American who later was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, completed 12 passes, 11 to Stan McCollum. He also kicked three extra points in Penn State's 21-7 victory. Then the Nittany Lions celebrated an undefeated season.

"A promising West Coast industrialist hosted a banquet for State after the game, and the team left later that night for the week-long sightseeing trip back to State College," Prato wrote.

Even Washington remembered the game fondly. According to the 1922 edition of the university yearbook, the pre-game "dope" favored the Nittany Lions. But the Sundodgers acquited themselves well.

This is how the Washington yearbook covered the game, reprinted by the Huskies' communications department.

“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.”

Penn State vs. Washington since 1921

Penn State Nittany Lions running back Saquon Barkley (26) against the Washington Huskies in the 2017 Fiesta Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Penn State has beaten Washington three times since 1921, notably in a pair of bowl games. In the 1983 Aloha Bowl, a young D.J. Dozier rushed for Penn State's lone touchdown in a 13-10 victory over the Huskies.

Saquon Barkley ran for 137 yards and two touchdowns, one from 92 yards, in the Nittany Lions' 35-28 victory over Washington in the 2017 Fiesta Bowl. Barkley took a farewell lap around University of Phoenix Stadium before declaring for the NFL draft the following day.

In 2024, the Nittany Lions welcomed Washington to the Big Ten with a 35-6 victory at Beaver Stadium. Quarterback Drew Allar completed 20 of 28 passes for 220 yards and a touchdown, and tight end Tyler Warren scored a pair of rushing touchdowns on his way to winning the Mackey Award.

Penn State puts its 4-0 record against Washington on the line Saturday at Husky Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

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