The Day After: Washington arrives at a treacherous November unbeaten
Plus, final thoughts on the Huskies' victory at Stanford.
STANFORD, Calif. — Should the Washington Huskies spend any time marveling at the gauntlet that awaits them over the next four weeks, they need only consult the 2001 Huskies for confirmation that it could always be worse.
That year, UW entered November with a 6-1 record and a No. 11 national ranking, and ascended to No. 8 after defeating No. 10 Stanford in Seattle. The Huskies followed with a blowout loss at unranked Oregon State, but defeated No. 9 Washington State in the Apple Cup for their second top-10 victory of the month.
Then, all they had to do was travel across the country to face one of the best teams in college football history.
The 9/11 terror attacks postponed UW’s scheduled Sept. 15 game against the Miami Hurricanes, who had not lost since their trip to Husky Stadium in September 2000. The rematch was over as soon as it began, Miami throttling the Huskies, 65-7, en route to an unbeaten national championship.
There have been other instances throughout Washington history of the Huskies facing three ranked opponents in November, though never when they were contending for a conference championship … and UW has never navigated such a final-month, regular-season schedule unbeaten.