Inside The Huskies

National Champion Buckeyes Due in Montlake in Seven Months

Ohio State has won nine of 12 games against the Huskies.
Dan Raley|
Ohio State corner Shaun Wade (24) and safety Jordan Fuller bring down Huskies wide receiver Aaron Fuller in the 2019 Rose Bowl.
Ohio State corner Shaun Wade (24) and safety Jordan Fuller bring down Huskies wide receiver Aaron Fuller in the 2019 Rose Bowl. | Joshua A. Bickel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Two hundred and forty nine days.

That's how long it will take before the ever hopeful University of Washington football team and newly christened national champion Ohio State meet on what should be a glorious fall afternoon in Husky Stadium.

It's become tradition for the UW these days to host the reigning college kingpin, this after meeting and beating Michigan 27-17 this past October in Montlake.

Ohio State will show up as a fourth consecutive home game on next season's schedule for Jedd Fisch's second Husky team that is looking to improve on a 6-7 record, capped with a Sun Bowl loss to Louisville.

The quarterback match-up that day could be an interesting one in Demond Williams Jr. against Lincoln Kienholz -- the heir to the UW throne against someone committed to the Huskies for six months before flipping at the last minute to take a Buckeyes scholarship.

Losing 13 senior starters, Ohio State will be tasked to show what kind of a football team new money can buy, with this Big Ten powerhouse extremely well funded in purchasing necessary talent to be an elite program.

A Buckeyes roster once full of Seattle-area players in wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, edge rusher JT Tuimoloau and tight end Gee Scott Jr. won't have any local connections next fall, with each of them scattered in pursuing pro football careers.

The crossover will come with former Ohio State running back and team captain Scottie Graham (1988-91) coaching the UW rushers against his old team.

The Huskies haven't defeated Ohio State in more than three decades, since taking a 25-16 victory at Husky Stadium in 1994, with the late Jim Lambright as coach.

The last time these teams met was in the 2019 Rose Bowl, with the Buckeyes holding the upper hand throughout before settling on a 28-23 win.

These teams have played for 68 years, beginning with Ohio State's 35-7 bruising of a Jim Owens' team in Seattle.

They've met a dozen times, with the Buckeyes claiming nine victories, and four of six at Husky Stadium.

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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