UW's 3 Best Wins and 3 Worst Losses Against Arizona

Such is the transient state of college football these days, the University of Washington needs to beat both Arizona and Washington State to properly respond to last season's Apple Cup loss, its worst ever.

That's because former Cougars quarterback Jayden de Laura, the overly efficient architect of the 40-13 defeat, now plays for the Wildcats.

De Laura almost couldn't miss when throwing the football that November day, completing 27 of 32 attempts for 245 yards, and he got free on three carries for 31 yards. He was a handful in everything he did.

The WSU playmaker next put an exclamation mark on the resounding outcome by planting a Cougars flag into the field at Husky Stadium while UW players stood off to the side and simmered.

"We're making sure guys who were not on the team know what's going to happen on Saturday," Husky senior safety Alex Cook told Mike Vorel of the Seattle Times. "And I'm not talking about dirty shots or anything like that; I'm talking about there's going to be a different vibe."

For Arizona, de Laura, a 6-foot, 205-pound sophomore from Honolulu, Hawaii, remains a dual-threat concern. He's completed 149 of 241 passes for 1,868 yards and 15 touchdowns, with 7 interceptions, and he's run 25 times for 24 yards and another score.

He played for the Cougars and now suits up for the Wildcats. It was going to be a cat fight no matter what.

3 BEST HUSKY WINS

2009, at UW 36, UA 33 — The Huskies pulled out an improbable victory by scoring two touchdowns in 18 seconds, the last coming on Mason Foster's 37-yard interception return on a ball that deflected off the foot of an Arizona player. With a crowd of 61,621 on hand, the UW trailed 33-21 on Alex Zendejas' fourth field goal with 4:22 left to play. After the UW's Jake Locker and Kavario Middleton hooked up for a 25-yard touchdown pass to narrow the deficit, Foster grabbed a Nick Foles pass that ricocheted off the Wildcats' Delashaun Dean and scored the game-winner with 2:32 remaining.

2016, UW 35, at UA 28 (OT) — The ninth-ranked Huskies destroyed six of their first seven opponents on the way to a College Football Playoff berth with only one close call. Arizona was the exception, tying this game with 17 seconds remaining to force overtime. The Huskies finally prevailed on Jake Browning's 4-yard touchdown pass to Dante Pettis and then held on the ensuing series. Lavon Coleman ran 11 times for 181 yards, including a go-ahead, 55-yard score with 3:25 left that obviously didn't prevent the extra session.

1991, at UW 54, UA 0 — The third-ranked and eventual national-champion Huskies decided this one at the coin toss. Consensus All-America defensive tackle Steve Emtman intimidated Arizona offensive guard Nick Fineanganofo while they were shaking hands by offering a menacing smile and a firm grip. Fineanganofo was 50 pounds heavier than his Husky counterpart. On the first scrimmage play, Emtman picked up the Wildcat player and threw him down. On the second play, Emtman did it again. Game over. "If he wasn't sweating, he was pissing down his leg, he was almost stuttering," said UW center Ed Cunningham, later an ESPN broadcaster, of the midfield exchange. "It was sheer terror. If there's not humor in a 340-pound man in terror, I don't know what then."

3 WORST HUSKY LOSSES

1998, UA 31, at UW 28 — In what was christened "The Leap by the Lake," quarterback Ortege Jenkins entered Wildcat football lore when he scored the game-winner on an overly acrobatic 9-yard run with four seconds left to play before a crowd or 71,469 at Husky Stadium. On third-and-goal, Jenkins vaulted over UW linebacker Lester Towns and defensive backs Marques Hairston and Brendan Jones, and did a complete flip to reach the end zone, capping a 13-play, 80-yard drive. The game matched the 14th-ranked Wildcats against the No. 20 Huskies in the AP poll. The 6-foot-2 Jenkins doubled as an Arizona basketball player. He was so athletic, he caught a 22-yard pass on that final drive.

1992, at UA 16, UW 3 — The Huskies came into Tucson unbeaten in eight games and ranked No. 1 in the national but reeling from the suspension during the week of starting quarterback Billy Joe Hobert amid accusations he accepted an improper loan. The 12th-ranked and defensive-minded Wildcats held a UW team averaging 208 yards rushing to just 90 and broke a 3-3 tie in the third quarter with the second of three field goals by Steve McLaughlin.

2014, at UA 27, UW 26 — In Chris Petersen's first season as Husky coach, his team got beat by Casey Skowron's 47-yard field goal as time ran out. Adding to that tumult, the new UW leader was accused of clock mismanagement because his team had the ball first down at its 44 with 1:33 remaining and conceivably could have taken three knees and run the clock out. However, the Huskies ran a play and running back Deontae Cooper fumbled, which was one of six bobbles and three lost by the UW.

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