No matter how lopsided a matchup may look, games aren’t played on paper. That’s a lesson the No. 23 Washington Huskies would be wise to remember heading into Saturday’s road trip to Wisconsin. At 2–6, the Badgers have looked like the Big Ten’s weakest link -- but overlooking an opponent, especially away from home, has burned Washington before.
The Huskies, like pretty much every college football program, have a history of falling into trap games just like this, ones where everything pointed to an easy win until it wasn’t. With every remaining game crucial for Washington's CFP hopes, here’s a look back at four such games that serve as cautionary tales heading into tomorrow’s matchup in Madison.
1990 vs UCLA
The early 1990s Washington Huskies were the most legendary teams of the program's history, defined by three straight Pac-10 titles and trips to the Rose Bowl -- and, of course, the 1991 national title.
But that 1991 national title plaque shouldn't be the only one from that era to be cemented inside Husky Stadium. 1990's team was just as good, going 10-2, winning the Rose Bowl, and even being named co-national champion according to David Rothman's "FACT" calculation.
However, the Huskies don't officially claim that season's national championship, as a crucial late-season loss ultimately knocked them out of consideration for the time's major national championship selectors (AP and Coaches polls)
That loss came in the penultimate game of the regular season, when the freshly-crowned No. 2 Huskies fell to the UCLA Bruins, who were 21-point underdogs, by a final score of 25-22. It was Washington's second loss of the season and would drop them to No. 10 in the rankings. Meanwhile, UCLA finished the season 5-6, failing to make a bowl game.
The Huskies would go on to dominate Washington State in the Apple Cup, then Iowa in the Rose Bowl, meaning that a national championship would've basically been guaranteed if it weren't for the loss to the Bruins. It's easily the most consequential trap game in Washington's history, and to make it even worse, it came at home in Husky Stadium.
2017 vs Arizona State
The next time Washington football would find true glory post-1992 would come during the Chris Petersen era from 2014 to 2019. In 2016, the Petersen-led Huskies reached the four-team College Football Playoff for the first time in program history, losing to Alabama in the Peach Bowl to cap off a memorable 12-2 season.
With quarterback Jake Browning returning for the following season, Washington had real aspirations to return to the CFP -- entering the season as No. 7 in the Coaches Poll and climbing up to No. 4 by Week 5. In Week 6, the Huskies would head to Tempe to take on 2-2 Arizona State. The Sun Devils upset ranked Oregon just two games earlier, but were still severely outclassed coming off back-to-back losing seasons.
However, Washington's offense completely sputtered, as Browning looked nowhere close to his usual self -- throwing for only 139 yards on 30 attempts. As a result, the Huskies scored just seven points. The Huskies defense kept them in the game, only allowing 13 points -- but in the end, Washington fell in ugly fashion, 13-7.
That was only one of two regular season losses suffered by the Huskies in 2017, the other being to Pac-12 North champion Stanford. If they had won, they would've earned a trip to the Pac-12 Championship Game, and potentially the Rose Bowl or College Football Playoff. Instead, the Dawgs were invited to the Fiesta Bowl, where they were defeated by Penn State 35-28. Arizona State would finish the season just 7-6.
2018 vs California
The very next season had a similar story play out. Once again with postseason hopes, the No. 15 Huskies went on the road in Week 9 to take on an unranked California team that had just lost three of its last four games.
Like in Tempe the year before, Washington's offense could not get anything going, losing the game 12-10 and becoming unranked by the next CFP poll. Cal finished the season 7-6, with that season's team being most known for losing the infamous 2018 Cheez-Itz Bowl, in which the Golden Bears and TCU combined to throw nine interceptions in an ugly 10-7 overtime affair.
Washington rallied after the loss, winning out in the regular season and ultimately beating Utah in the conference championship game to be crowned Pac-12 Champions. However, the Huskies' defeat to Cal ended up being a costly third loss that kept them out of the CFP. They would instead make a trip to the Rose Bowl, where they narrowly lost 28-23 to Ohio State.
2022 vs Arizona State
The Sun Devils would once again get the better of the Huskies in Tempe during the 2022 season. Coming off an embarrassing 4-8 2021 season, Washington hired Kalen DeBoer, who brought in Michael Penix Jr. to start at quarterback in hopes of turning things around.
No one really knew what to expect, but the duo quickly proved that the Huskies were back following a dominant win over No. 11 Michigan State in Week 3. Washington would stumble two weeks later to a UCLA team that ultimately finished the regular season 9-3, but looked to easily bounce back the following week against a 1-4 Arizona State squad.
Instead, Penix and the Huskies lost a second-consecutive game in a 45-38 offensive shootout. Out of all the games mentioned, this is the game fans may want back the most, as Washington's excellence under DeBoer and Penix proceeded to blossom.
After this loss, the Huskies proceeded to win their next 21 games, a streak that ended in the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship game. Most will remember the 2023 season, and rightfully so, but that 2022 season was just as special at the time. Washington finished the season 11-2, capped off with an Alamo Bowl victory over Texas. If it weren't for the loss to ASU, the Huskies would have easily found themselves in the Pac-12 Championship game, and perhaps even the CFP a year early.