UW's 3 Best Wins and 3 Worst Losses Against Colorado
One hundred and seven years ago, the University of Washington and Colorado football teams got together for the first time and it wasn't an encounter many people wanted to remember.
The game was played on an athletic site that no longer exists — Denny Field, on the north end of campus, where Hutchinson and Hanse Halls now take up space — and held in a driving rain storm.
World War I was well involved overseas and this game was held on Thanksgiving Day, and combined with that horrible weather, not many people ventured out for a look, outside of a large contingent of kids who knocked down a fence and got in free.
The lopsided nature of the game, won by the UW 46-0, was somewhat of a surprise because the Buffaloes were much heavier up front than the Gil Dobie-coached home team and coached by Fred Folsom, an overly successful leader whose name is emblazoned on the current Colorado football stadium.
The now-defunct Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that "Washington had a pleasant stroll up the field" and "attempted mostly plunging football."
Colorado wouldn't show its face in a game against the UW for nearly another 40 years, beating the Huskies 21-20 at Husky Stadium to open the 1953 season, making sure UW All-Americans Don Heinrich and Hugh McElhenny, indeed, had graduated.
Jim Owens' first game as the Husky coach resulted in a 6-6 tie with Colorado in 1957. Big Jim liked to say, not so politically correct these days, that a football tie "was like kissing your sister."
The UW would hire a former Colorado assistant coach named Don James as its head coach in 1975, who would lose to Colorado 21-7 the following season, and wave a million-dollar yearly salary at Rick Neuheisel to coax him to leave the Buffaloes for the Huskies following the 1998 season.
Neuheisel's first win as the UW coach? He beat Colorado 31-24 at Husky Stadium in his third game.
These schools became conference opponents in 2011 and the Huskies have won seven of their nine Pac-12 outings, but have lost the last two, both in Boulder.
The overall series stands 12-7-1 favoring the UW. It all began with a lopsided outcome in rainy Seattle and, considering this Colorado team is 1-9 and resides in last place in the Pac-10 standings, the Huskies could be headed for another pleasant stroll more than a century later.
3 BEST HUSKY VICTORIES
2016, UW 41, Colorado 10 — As successful as they were back then, the Huskies found it difficult to close out big games in the Petersen era losing the Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and a CFP game among others. That wasn't the case in this Pac-12 championship in Santa Clara, California, featuring No. 4 UW against the eighth-ranked Buffaloes . One play into the second half, safety Taylor Rapp returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown and a 21-7 lead and it was basically over. Rapp had two picks that day and was named the game's MVP.
2000, UW 17, at Colorado 14 — The Rose Bowl-bound Huskies had to tough out a close one in Boulder, Colorado, relying on their defense to get things done. Defensive tackle Larry Tripplett was named CNN/SI Defensive Player of the Week after he came up with 8 tackles and 3 of the UW's 6 sacks.
1985, UW 20, Colorado 17 — Making his third career start, then-sophomore quarterback Chris Chandler directed the UW to a Freedom Bowl win in Anaheim, California. Chandler threw for 141 yards and rushed for another 72 while running the option and was named game MVP. Jeff Jaeger's 18-yard field goal three seconds into the fourth quarter gave the Huskies a 20-10 lead and proved to be the deciding points.
3 WORST HUSKY LOSSES
1989, Colorado 45, at UW 28 — In a matchup of the nation's No. 21 and 5 teams, the Buffaloes came to Husky Stadium just a week following the death of their popular quarterback Sal Aunese to inoperable stomach cancer. He was just 21. Colorado seemed bent on remembering its leader with a memorable season and went 11-0 before losing in the Orange Bowl. Against the UW, the Buffs built a 38-6 lead in the third quarter and rushed for 420 yards with none of their backs surprisingly surpassing 100.
1990, at Colorado 20, UW 14 — In a classic battle of two heavyweight teams, the 12th-ranked Huskies drove to the Colorado 7 looking for a comeback win, only to have Mark Brunell's fourth-down pass intended for Mario Bailey intercepted in the end zone with 1:04 left in the game. The UW ended up 10-2 and beat Iowa in the Rose Bowl, while then-No. 20 Colorado finished 11-1-1 and topped Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl. The Huskies were nine points shy of going unbeaten, the Buffs just a solitary point.
2021, at Colorado 20, UW 17 — These were two really bad football teams, but the Huskies couldn't play much worse than this. They out-gained Colorado 426 to 183 in total yards and held the Buffs to a mere 9 first downs, dominating everywhere but on the scoreboard. One week after Jimmy Lake was fired as coach, the UW bumbled through this road game, giving up a most charitable score on Jack Lamb's 88-yard fumble return. Both teams finished 4-8.
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