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Husky Ghosts
kickinthenutshuskies
Member Posts: 47
Maybe every PAC 12 team has the same list of ghosts of their own. I doubt it. I think the Huskies are cursed with carrying a little too much weight on the reputation/relationship of their PAC 12 opponents. Net/net: there are very few gimmie W's year over year for UW - they have hobgoblins at virtually every turn. The gauntlet reads as follows... (alphabetically)
Arizona - Usually a W except when we expect one. They always produce some freak athlete, usually a mobile QB that unravels us - especially in Tuscon. Usually a win but can be a snake in the grass....
Arizona State - Where do I start? Can't fucking win in Tempe. No matter the year. Their stadium is kryptonite to UW. Playing them is like going to dinner with an ex girlfriend - pain will ensue
California - a riddle inside an enigma, they have our number not when we need to win but when we assume we are going to get a win. That fucking 2019 game typifies this relationship. The "Put Haener in" game will echo through eternity in this series.
Colorado - Aside from the early 90's and early 2000's, Boulder is usually our bitch but have proven to be a landmine when your competitive focus is down - or, in the case of last year, you just don't fucking care anymore...
Oregon - I can recall two wins in 20 years. Historically cannon fodder, but, let's face it, they own our ass. When we play them we are fucked with our pants on.
Oregon State - Mercurial uncertainty but usually one of the few precious W's you can predict on a schedule
Stanford - They crush us when we least expect it or need the win the most. Whether its at the library or at home they are pure motherfuckers that out coach us most every time
UCLA - Can't win in the Rose Bowl. It's that simple - doesn't matter who the teams are talent wise. UCLA usually equals a loss no matter what.
USC - Level boss.They come out of the tunnel and we shit our pants. I can recall three wins against them going back to the Jake Locker era. BTW, they have the nastiest stadium in the conference.
Utah - Guaranteed slug fest - if you don't eat your Wheaties you are going down. UW normally rises to the occasion and doesn't suffer blowouts - 50/50 ball if we win or not
Washington State - anything goes vs little brother. Never a gimmie, no matter the teams.
Arizona - Usually a W except when we expect one. They always produce some freak athlete, usually a mobile QB that unravels us - especially in Tuscon. Usually a win but can be a snake in the grass....
Arizona State - Where do I start? Can't fucking win in Tempe. No matter the year. Their stadium is kryptonite to UW. Playing them is like going to dinner with an ex girlfriend - pain will ensue
California - a riddle inside an enigma, they have our number not when we need to win but when we assume we are going to get a win. That fucking 2019 game typifies this relationship. The "Put Haener in" game will echo through eternity in this series.
Colorado - Aside from the early 90's and early 2000's, Boulder is usually our bitch but have proven to be a landmine when your competitive focus is down - or, in the case of last year, you just don't fucking care anymore...
Oregon - I can recall two wins in 20 years. Historically cannon fodder, but, let's face it, they own our ass. When we play them we are fucked with our pants on.
Oregon State - Mercurial uncertainty but usually one of the few precious W's you can predict on a schedule
Stanford - They crush us when we least expect it or need the win the most. Whether its at the library or at home they are pure motherfuckers that out coach us most every time
UCLA - Can't win in the Rose Bowl. It's that simple - doesn't matter who the teams are talent wise. UCLA usually equals a loss no matter what.
USC - Level boss.They come out of the tunnel and we shit our pants. I can recall three wins against them going back to the Jake Locker era. BTW, they have the nastiest stadium in the conference.
Utah - Guaranteed slug fest - if you don't eat your Wheaties you are going down. UW normally rises to the occasion and doesn't suffer blowouts - 50/50 ball if we win or not
Washington State - anything goes vs little brother. Never a gimmie, no matter the teams.
Comments
Too bad that's all gone. We? are just a team now. Every conference game is in doubt -- especially on the road.
Oregon cares and they care even more against UW. ASU is the only inexplicable anomaly.
UW 71 wins to WSU 32 and you think that’s anything goes? That’s one of the more lopsided rivalries in all of college football.
I'm just glad recruiting and NIL doesn't matter even in the soon to be G5 Pac-12.
1. Oregon - the Ducks have mostly been better than UW the past 25 but how damn flawlessly they've mostly played and they're like 6-0 in close games since the series mattered defies logic.
2. UCLA - I'm not looking it up, but didn't Don James have a losing record against the Bruins. In my lifetime, at home against UCLA has mostly been fine but playing at them is not only an automatic loss, but usually an embarrassing one.
3. Arizona State - Like UCLA, mostly fine at home. Away has been an automatic loss no matter how good UW is and how bad ASU is.
4. USC - The only one I'm fine with. The rare Pac-12 opponent I feel like UW usually plays pretty predictably and has stole some wins against them when USC was better than UW and gotten some injury breaks.
The rest I wouldn't even call ghosts
Stanford - Other than a rough patch 2017-2020, UW mostly plays the Tree how they should. They even had a little patch 2012-14 when UW played Stanford better than they should have.
Cal - Keep in mind how many years in a row they beat Cal. They lost to them when Cal was good and UW was bad then UW bounced back other than a shitty patch 2018-21 when Weaver and Wilcox for some reason got lit for them.
WSU - They've dominated WSU. They're not a ghost. The Cougs stole some in the 80s and the 2000s when both programs sucked - that's really it. They do have random shit players who have big games against UW. That's about it.
Someone already posted above but the Babs, Gilby, Ty, Turner, Emmert era killed the UW football as a PAC-12 power. Despite that, UW still ranks in the top 20ish for all tim wins.
It’s easier to tear something down than to build it up.