Inside The Huskies

Huskies Put The Streak Up Against The Ohio State

The UW will put its 22 consecutive home wins up against the Buckeyes.
Dan Raley|
From left, the UW's Paki Finau, Geirean and Landen Hatchett, John Mills, Drew Azzopardi, Soane Faasolo, Quentin Moore and Kade Eldridge celebrate an Apple Cup win.
From left, the UW's Paki Finau, Geirean and Landen Hatchett, John Mills, Drew Azzopardi, Soane Faasolo, Quentin Moore and Kade Eldridge celebrate an Apple Cup win. | Dave Sizer photo

Following two of the worst and most agonizing home defeats in University of Washington football history that came in 2021, the Huskies have evened things out in the best manner possible -- by not losing again in Montlake since those disasters.

The tally is now 22 consecutive victories at Husky Stadium covering four seasons and marking 1,119 days once the UW waves No. 1-ranked and defending national champion Ohio State inside on Saturday afternoon, with the powerful Buckeyes thinking they can blow this thing up without much trouble.

The Streak.

It started following the coaching change from Jimmy Lake to Kalen DeBoer and withstood the program handoff from DeBoer to Jedd Fisch.

The streak even includes a 49-39 victory over Fisch and his Arizona team in 2022, which gave the UW its fifth win in a row.

"I didn't even know that," Fisch said. "It is what it is. We had a great game."

Jonah Coleman (1) shows off his Apple Cup dance moves with Dezmen Roebuck (81), Jordan Washington (4) and Denzel Boston (12).
Jonah Coleman (1) shows off some Apple Cup dance moves with Dezmen Roebuck (81), Jordan Washington (4) and Denzel Boston (12). | Dave Sizer photo

While the Huskies have won these 22 outings on the average of 20.6 points per game, they've had four close calls.

To preserve perfection, they turned to Grady Gross field goals to beat Oregon State and Washington State each by 24-21 with eight seconds and no time left, respectively.

They rescued a 15-7 win over Arizona State spurred on by an 89-yard interception return for a touchdown from defensive back Mishael Powell.

And they watched as Oregon's Camden Lewis pushed a potentially tying 43-yard field goal wide right as time ran out in their 36-33 victory.

This weekend, the Huskies will come looking for victory No. 23 against the toughest opponent imaginable.

It's The Streak against The Ohio State University.

The Huskies' good fortune ranks only behind Georgia, which has to beat Alabama and DeBoer on Saturday afternoon in Athens to extend its home streak to 34 consecutive wins.

The UW couldn't have been any lower after opening the 2021 season with a shocking 13-7 loss to FCS to Montana and closing it out with its most lopsided Apple Cup setback ever, a 40-13 beatdown from the Cougars.

The Streak began with DeBoer's first Husky game, a 45-20 drubbing of Kent State, which was once responsible for sending Don James to the UW to become its most legendary football coach.

Along the way, countless crowds have rushed the field, beginning with a 39-28 beatdown of then No. 11 Michigan State in DeBoer's third UW game, with the Spartans one of four ranked opponents that have lost during the streak.

Sixteen of the 22 wins have been settled by double-figure margins.

There's been just one stretch of close games, with the Huskies winning their last four home games of 2023 by 3, 8, 7 and 3.

Jedd Fisch reacts with a hip swivel to an Apple Cup play.
Jedd Fisch reacts with a hip swivel to an Apple Cup play. | Dave Sizer photo

Building momentum for the Buckeyes, the UW comes off its 70-10 home drubbing of UC Davis, its most lopsided victory in 51 years since beating Oregon 66-0 in 1974 at Husky Stadium and most lopsided game of the streak.

Twenty-two in a row at home is the Huskies' longest victory streak in modern history, exceeded by Gil Dobie's UW teams that captured 45 consecutive home games in 1908-17, a successrul run ending three seasons before Husky Stadium opened.

On Saturday, the UW will put the streak on the line against another Ohio State juggernaut on the edge or Lake Washington with likely an overflow crowd squeezing into Husky Stadium.

It's a win-win situation.

UW'S 22-GAME HOME WIN STREAK

1. Kent State, 45-20 (Sept. 3, 2022)

Don James' previous coaching stop prior to the UW was the first victim.

2. Portland State, 52-6 (Sept. 10, 2022)

The first of three Big Sky wins in the streak.

3. No. 11 Michigan State, 39-28 (Sept. 17, 2022)

The first crowd rushing the field moment of the streak.

4. Stanford, 40-22 (Sept. 24, 2022)

Peyton Henry converted field goals from 26, 33, 35 and 47 yards

5. Arizona, 49-39 (Oct. 15, 2022)

Jedd Fisch as the Arizona coach did his part to extend the streak.

6. Oregon State, 24-21 (Nov. 4, 2022)

Henry's 22-yard field goal with eight seconds left decided this one.

7. Colorado, 54-7 (Nov. 19, 2922)

Wayne Taulapapa and Cam Davis each had two rushing TDs.

8. Boise State, 56-19 (Sept. 2, 2023)

Jalen McMillan scored three touchdowns on two catches and a 19-yard run.

9. Tulsa, 43-10 (Sept. 9, 2023)

Rome Odunze caught two touchdown passes to help the Huskies pull away.

10. California, 59-32 (Sept. 23, 2023)

Odunze had two TD catches and an 83-yard punt return for a score.

11. No. 8 Oregon, 36-33 (Oct. 14, 2023)

Wide right. Camden Lewis' 43-yard field-goal try to tie missed with no time left.

12. Arizona State, 15-7 (Oct. 21, 2023)

Mishael Powell's 89-yard interception return for a TD helped rescue this one.

13. No. 13 Utah, 35-28 (Nov. 11, 2023)

Odunze's 33-yard TD catch put the UW ahead for good in the third quarter.

14. Washington St., 24-21 (Nov. 25, 2023)

Grady Gross' 42-yard field goal with no time left settled this one.

15. Weber State, 35-3 (Aug. 31, 2024)

Jonah Coleman's three TD runs got a new season off to a positive start.

16. Eastern Michigan, 30-9 (Sept. 7, 2024)

Denzel Boston caught two TD passes to keep the Big Sky team in a catch-up mode.

17. Northwestern, 24-5 (Sept. 21, 2024)

Boston had scoring catches of 46 and 13 yards to help the UW pull away.

18. No. 10 Michigan, 27-17 (Oct. 5, 2024)

Coleman's 1-yard TD run with 6:22 left broke a 17-17 tie.

19. USC, 26-21 (Nov. 2, 2024)

Keith Reynolds' 4-yard TD on a fly sweep put the UW ahead in the fourth quarter.

20. UCLA, 31-19 (Nov. 15, 2024)

Defense helped settle this with Russell Davis II coming up with 3 sacks.

21. Colorado State, 38-21 (Aug. 30, 2025)

Coleman had the first and last TDs of the game.

22. UC Davis, 70-10 (Sept. 6, 2025)

Coleman had TD runs of 1, 5, 7, 9, and 15 yards in the biggest win of the streak.

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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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