The Day the Big Sky Made Husky Stadium Stand Still

Some people called it the worst loss in University of Washington football history. Rock bottom. Lower than low.

The shocking setback was an image thing, something akin to the varsity losing to the junior varsity.

Montana 13, UW 7.

While others had begun to put the COVID pandemic behind them, four years ago the Huskies were rushed to the emergency room on life support.

The outcome was enough to get a coach fired -- and, in fact, this one did.

Two months later, Jimmy Lake was out of a job for multiple Montlake missteps, none more grievous than being the only UW football coach to ever lose to a Big Sky team.

Then Huskies coach Jimmy Lake walks the sideline during the 2021 UW-Montana game. | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

On Saturday night, the Huskies will host yet another entry from this courageous yet lower-level FCS conference, UC Davis, a solid program but one that shouldn't come any closer than three touchdowns to Jedd Fisch's team.

The UW holds a 21-1 record against the Big Sky.

There's that solitary setback to Montana and games otherwise won by the Huskies on the average of 27.7 points per outing.

The UW has scored 50 points or more on seven occasions against Big Sky opposition, piling up a series-high 63 points -- against a far less opportunistic Montana team in 2017 -- which means these games are rarely close.

Now Montana and Idaho were once considered equals to the UW, with everyone members of the Pacific Coast Conference, but the Grizzlies withdrew in 1950 and the Vandals dropped out in 1959, lowering their football profiles.

Lake made everyone forget just about anything positive he ever did for the Huskies over nearly a decade by having his team nowhere near ready to play the gimme game on the 2021 schedule.

The offense, as devised by the forgettable John Donovan, was a total abomination. The UW scored on its first drive of the day five minutes in and then went 0-for-the-next-55 minutes on the clock.

Quarterback Dylan Morris threw three interceptions, twice to safety Gavin Robertson, now a secondary coach at a college level lower than Montana.

Montana quarterback Camron Humphrey dives for extra yardage as the UW's Tuli Letuligasenoa comes in to make a tackle. | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Equally disturbing was Lake's somewhat blase postgame reaction after losing to Montana. He should have been pounding the table and making stern promises of redemption.

Instead, he sort of shrugged, especially when pegged for his emotional response after losing to a team directed by Bobby Hauck, a former Husky assistant coach.

"I don't know if the word is shocked," he said that night. "I wouldn't say I'm shocked. Again, we have a lot of respect for coach Hauck and his team. We told our team all week long this is a formidable opponent. It's always one of the the top opponents in the FCS division. I wouldn't say it was shock."

For everyone else, it was incredibly embarrassing, an ashen-faced, low-pulse response to an incredible fall from grace.

Just one Husky player remains today who played in that game, senior safety Makell Esteen. Only four others are still around from the roster back then in senior tight end Quentin Moore, senior linebacker Anthony Ward, senior edge rusher Milton Hopkins Jr. and senior offensive guard Geirean Hatchett, none of whom saw any action.

It was a wild week, for sure. Leading up to the game, this SI website published a story stating several reasons why a UW-Montana game shouldn't be played anymore, mainly because the Grizzlies hadn't beaten the Huskies in 101 years.

Montanans in large droves got wind of the story and responded indignantly. Every well-meaning fan from Billings to Bozeman weighed in. People felt greatly disrespected.

After the game, the response increased ten-fold. Montana fans left gloating messages, dark threats, an unending flurry of insults. They found every last forgotten email address and Instagram page belonging to the story author and unloaded their feelings.

Imagine an entire state mad at you and determined to be heard.

Montana celebrate their 13-7 upset of the UW in 2021. | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Full disclosure, the web traffic was so high that week and the resulting payoff so generous we could only thank those outraged Montana football fans for their persistent outrage.

A year ago, the Huskies faced the Big Sky's Weber State, this after they met fellow conference member Portland State in 2022, and both visitors lost badly.

So here they go again, with the UW taking on one of the best teams the Big Sky has to offer but no reason whatsoever to think Jedd Fisch's team won't put in a three-hour workout and move on with another convincing win.

The Big Sky will never beat the Huskies again. Not in 100 years. Right?

UW VS. BIG SKY TEAMS
1965 -- Washington 14, Idaho 9 (1-0)
1966 -- Washington 19, Idaho 7 (2-0)
1968 -- Washington 37, Idaho 7 (3-0)
1973 -- Washington 41, Idaho 14 (4-0)
2000 -- Washington 44, Idaho 20 (5-0)
2001 -- Washington 53, Idaho 3 (6-0)
2002 -- Washington 41, Idaho 27 (7-0)
2003 -- Washington 45, Idaho 14 (8-0)
2005 -- Washington 34, Idaho 6 (9-0)
2009 -- Washington 42, Idaho 23 (10-0)
2011 -- Washington 30, Eastern Washington 27 (11-0)
2012 -- Washington 52, Portland State 13 (12-0)
2013 -- Washington 56, Idaho State 0 (13-0)
2014 -- Washington 59, Eastern Washington 52 (14-0)
2015 -- Washington 49, Sacramento State 0 (15-0)
2016 -- Washington 59, Idaho 14 (16-0)
2016 -- Washington 41, Portland State 3 (17-0)
2017 -- Washington 63, Montana 7 (18-0)
2019 -- Washington 47, Eastern Washington 14 (19-0)
2021 -- Montana 13, Washington 7 (19-1)
2022 -- Washington 52, Portland State 6 (20-1)
2024 -- Washington 35, Weber State 3 (21-1)
Note: The Big Sky Conference was formed in 1963 and has gone through several iterations. Eastern Washington is on the UW schedule in 2026 and 2028.

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