Inside The Huskies

Some UW Coaches, Players Have Back History with Michigan State

The Huskies have a collection of individuals with Big Ten backgrounds.
Dan Raley|
Some UW Coaches, Players Have Back History with Michigan State
Some UW Coaches, Players Have Back History with Michigan State

In this story:

Washington Huskies

Michigan State comes to Husky Stadium on Saturday, significantly increasing the competition level for the University of Washington football team following a couple of warm-up acts.

These aren't your San Jose State Spartans this weekend; this is the real deal.

Big Ten bullies.

East Lansing earth movers.

Mean Green.

Under normal circumstances, the Huskies might be a little wary of what they're getting into with a powerhouse program from the Midwest sporting mascot logos on its helmets that resemble Gerard Butler in the film "300." 

Plus the UW hasn't taken the field against Michigan State for a quarter century, since beating the Spartans 51-23 in the 1997 Aloha Bowl.

Ah, but some of the coaching and playing talent now in Montlake has been face to face with Michigan State in more recent times.

Intimidated?

Hardly. Nine people in Kalen DeBoer's Husky program, including DeBoer himself, have gone to battle as Big Ten opponents with the Spartans powerhouse that has produced the likes of the great Bubba Smith, George Webster, Joe DeLamielleure and Duffy Daugherty.

Hey, even former UW coach Tyrone Willingham was a Michigan State quarterback and wide receiver once.

"You know this is a program that has got a lot of pride and got high expectations just like we do," DeBoer said. "It's a game that's important to for us."

Inoke Breckterfield, now the no-nonsense UW defensive-line coach, spent six seasons in the Big Ten coaching at Wisconsin and he holds the most success on the home staff against Michigan State. He faced the Spartans twice and  won big each time, 30-6 in 2016 on the road and 38-0 in 2019 at home.

The Huskies' Indiana connection is responsible for four individuals with a previous Michigan State encounter: DeBoer, co-defensive coordinator William Inge, tight-ends coach Nick Sheridan and quarterback Michael Penix Jr.

Their personal records against the Sparties go like this: DeBoer (0-1), Inge (1-6), Sheridan (1-4) and Penix (1-3, or 1-1 as the starter).

Inge, then a linebackers coach, was on the winning side of Indiana's 24-21 overtime victory in Bloomington in 2016. 

Sheridan called the plays from the booth as offensive coordinator, with Penix barking signals on the field, during the Hoosiers' 24-0 win in East Lansing in 2020.

As for DeBoer, he had one just one game against the Spartans in his lone season at Indiana and got saddled with a tough 40-31 loss in East Lansing in 2019. 

Husky wide receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard came face to face with Michigan State just twice in his four seasons at Purdue, splitting the games after sharing in a 40-29 victory a year ago in West Lafayette, Indiana, and losing 23-13 on the road in 2018.

Husky wide receiver/kick returner Giles Jackson has two previous rivalry encounters with Michigan State while he played for Michigan. He won 44-10 in 2019 and lost 27-24 in 2020, both times in Ann Arbor.

Penix split two games against the Spartans in which he started, losing 40-31 in 2019 and winning 24-0 in 2020, both in East Lansing. He nearly broke a Big Ten record with 20 consecutive completions in the first outing, falling two shy. He also watched a 35-21 defeat to Michigan State in 2018 and a 20-15 loss in 2021 while injured. 

Husky linebacker Cam Bright closed out his Pittsburgh career with a Peach Bowl appearance against Michigan State last December that brought him mixed results in Atlanta. He scored on a 26-yard fumble return, but came up short on the scoreboard, 31-24.

Finally, UW running back Will Nixon was a member of a Nebraska football team that lost 23-20 in overtime to Michigan State last season. 

Collectively, that's a 7-18 record against the Spartans for these Husky imports. It's a start. At least they know what they're getting into on Saturday.

WIN-LOSS RECORDS VS. SPARTANS

Inoke Breckterfield, 2-0

Giles Jackson, 1-1

JaMarcus Shephard, 1-1

Michael Penix Jr., 1-3

Nick Sheridan, 1-4

William Inge, 1-6

Kalen DeBoer, 0-1

Cam Bright, 0-1

Will Nixon, 0-1

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published.

Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com

Follow Dan Raley of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @UWFanNation

Published
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.

Home/Football