Friday Fast Facts – Colorado at No. 15 Washington edition

Trivia question of the week: Washington head coach Chris Petersen reached 100 wins in only 117 career games (100-17). What other legendary coach hit career win No. 100 in game No. 117?

Trivia question of the week II: Washington is one of two schools which has been part of what has evolved into the Pac-12 since the conference was founded in 1915. Which is the other school has been in the conference since the beginning?

 

Pac-12 lines and television schedule … 

… Colorado the biggest underdog in the conference  …

From 5Dimes

Arizona State … a 2.5-point underdog to Stanford … Thursday, 7:00 p.m., MT, ESPN … Arizona State leads the series, 17-14 … Last: Stanford, 34-24 (2017)

No. 15 Washington … a 16.0-point favorite at home against Colorado … 1:30 p.m., MT, Fox … Washington leads the series, 11-5-1 … Last: Washington, 37-10 (2017)

Oregon State … a 7.0-point underdog at home against Cal … 2:00 p.m., MT, Pac-12 Networks … Cal leads the series, 37-33 … Last: Cal, 37-23 (2017)

No. 25 Washington State … a 1.0-point favorite at home against No. 12 Oregon … 5:30 pm, MT, FOX … ESPN College Game Day in Pullman … Oregon leads series, 47-41-7 … Last: Washington State, 33-10 (2017)

Utah … a 6.5-point favorite at home over USC … 6:00 p.m., MT, Pac-12 Networks … USC leads series, 11-5 … Last: USC, 28-27 (2017)

UCLA … a 7.0-point favorite at home against Arizona …  8:30 p.m., MT, ESPN2 … UCLA leads series, 24-16-2 … Last: Arizona, 47-30 (2017)

Big Picture

— Colorado hasn’t defeated a ranked team on the road since 2002. The Buffs have lost 28 straight road games against ranked opponents, dating back to September 21, 2002, when Colorado defeated UCLA, 31-17, in the Rose Bowl;

— Colorado is 705-502-36 all-time (.582). The Buffs are 25th in all-time victories;

— Colorado is 6-6-1 all-time in the state of Washington (4-4-1 in Seattle; 1-0 in Spokane; 1-2 in Pullman);

— Counting bus rides to airports and stadiums, the Buffs will travel just under 4,000 miles in ten days in their road trips to USC and Washington;

— Colorado started this season 5-0 after a 5-7 season last fall. This marks the second time in school history that the Buffs have matched the previous season’s win total in as many games the following year. In 1997, the Buffs finished 5-6, but went 5-0 to start the 1998 campaign (finishing 8-4);

— With the Drew Lewis interception against USC, CU linebackers now have four interceptions on the season (Nate Landman, 2; Rick Gamboa 1). The last time CU linebackers had four interceptions in the same season? 1991, when Ted Johnson had three and Greg Biekert had one;

— Laviska Shenault has 11 rushing (5) and receiving (6) touchdowns. He has already tied the CU school record for most touchdowns rushing and receiving (minimum three of each). In 1990, Mike Pritchard also had 11 combined touchdowns (also five rushing and six receiving).

Statistically speaking

— Colorado is ranked 100th or worse in only one major statistical category. The Buffs are 127th in the nation in tackles for loss allowed (8.8/game). The good news? Washington is 124th in the nation in tackles for loss (3.4/game);

— If the Buffs are going to upset the Huskies, they will need some turnovers. Fortunately, the stats are on their side. Colorado is 17th in the nation in turnover margin (+5, +0.83/game), while Washington is 74th in the country (-1, -0.14/game);

— Washington is third in the Pac-12 in total defense (315.1 yards/game), which is good enough for No. 15 in the nation. Hard as it may be to believe, that is a come down for the Huskies. Washington has led the Pac-12 in total defense for three years in a row, finishing No. 8 in the nation last fall.

Colorado and Washington … historical

Colorado and Washington are two western programs who have enjoyed national recognition and success, with the Huskies have a slight edge over the Buffs in several all-time categories.

According to Winsipedia

— Washington has 729 all-time wins (19th all-time); Colorado has 705 all-time wins (25th all-time);

— Washington has 297 all-time NFL draft picks (17th all-time); Colorado has 271 all-time NFL draft picks (23rd all-time); and

— Washington has 25 all-time first-round NFL draft picks (tied for 23rd all-time); Colorado has 24 all-time first round NFL draft picks (tied for 27th all-time);

Meanwhile …

— Colorado has 31 consensus All-Americans (21st all-time); Washington has 23 consensus All-Americans (32nd all-time);

— Colorado has 26 conference championships (10th all-time); Washington has 16 conference championships (30th all-time); and

— Colorado has a Heisman trophy winner, while Washington, surprisingly enough, has never had a player so honored.

Colorado and Washington – head-to-head

— Washington holds a 11-5-1 lead in the series with Colorado, including eight straight wins. The teams played for the first time in 1915, with the Huskies winning, 46-0. The teams didn’t play again until the 1950’s, with the Buffs picking up their first win, 21-20, in 1953.

— Colorado won three straight games in the series between 1989 and 1996, with both teams being ranked …

— In 1989, in an emotional first game after the death of Sal Aunese, No. 5 Colorado rolled No. 21 Washington, 45-28 (“Road Trip to Seattle; Buffs Dominate“);

— In 1990, No. 20 Colorado played its fourth ranked team in five weeks, holding on to defeat No. 12 Washington, 20-14, with an interception in the end zone with 59 seconds to play (“Deon Figures pick preserves victory“);

— In 1996, No. 8 Colorado defeated No. 13 Washington in the Holiday Bowl, 33-21 (“Good Bowl, Good Result“)

— The only other game between the two teams in which both schools were ranked was last December 2nd, when No. 4 Washington manhandled No. 8 Colorado, 41-10 (“Dawg Pounded“);

— Rick Neuheisel is not the only former CU coach to land in Seattle as the head coach at Washington. Legendary Washington coach Don James was the defensive coordinator for CU head coach Eddie Crowder (1968-70).

Player Notes

— Quarterback Steven Montez remains highly ranked nationally in a number of categories: completion percentage (8th – .705); passing efficiency (33rd – 154.2); and total offense (21st – 287.3 yards/game);

— Wide receiver Laviska Shenault leads the nation in receiving yards per game (130.0) and receptions per game (10.0). Shenault is also 7th in the nation in scoring (11.0 points/game); and is 13th in the nation in all-purpose yards (144.5 yards/game);

— Defensive end Mustafa Johnson is tied for 20th in the nation in sacks per game (.92);

— Running back Travon McMillian is fifth in the Pac-12 (27th in the nation) in rushing yards per game (93.3 yards/game);

— Defensive back Ronnie Blackmon is first in the Pac-12 (24th in the nation) in punt return average (9.9 yards/return).

Pac-12 Notes

— After 216 straight appearances for the Washington State flag on ESPN’s GameDay, ‘Ol Crimson is finally coming home. GameDay will originate out of Pullman this Saturday, its first-ever appearance at Washington State. The streak of 216 straight appearances began in Austin for a Texas game on October 4, 2003;

— Three teams from the Pac-12 were ranked in the latest Associated Press poll … No. 12 Oregon … No. 15 Washington … and No. 25 Washington State. Four Pac-12 teams were on the list of teams receiving votes: No. 26 Stanford; No. 27 USC; No. 30 Colorado; and No. 33 Utah … Colorado was one of five teams ranked in the USA Today/Coaches poll, which included Stanford at No. 24 and Colorado at No. 25;

— With Washington State joining the rankings this week, eight Pac-12 teams have now been ranked at one time or another this season.  Arizona, UCLA, Oregon State and Utah are the four teams who have not cracked the polls so far this season;

— Washington has now appeared in 40 consecutive AP polls, including 29 weeks in the top ten;

— Six players from the Pac-12 made the Associated Press mid-season All-American teams. First team: Shane Lemieux, G, Oregon; Laviska Shenault, WR, Colorado; Ben Burr-Kirven, LB; Washington … Second team: Porter Gustin, LB, USC; Taylor Rapp, S, Washington; Ugochukwu Amadi, S, Oregon;

— No. 12 Oregon at No. 25 Washington State represents the fourth time this season that a pair of Pac-12 teams have squared off. Washington State is is 16th in the nation in total offense (485.5 yards/game), with Oregon 18th (482.8 yards/game). The Cougars are 11th in scoring (43.0 points/game), while the Ducks are 15th (41.8 points/game).

Trivia question answer: Only four coaches in major college history have reached 100 wins in fewer than 117 games (Gil Dobie, North Dakota State, Washington, Navy, Cornell – 108 games; George Woodruff, Penn – 109 games; Bud Wilkinson, Oklahoma – 111 games; Fielding Yost, multiple teams, most notably Michigan – 114 games).

The other coach who hit win No. 100 in game No. 117 … Knute Rockne, Notre Dame …

Trivia question answer II: California. Only Washington and Cal have been in the conference (initially the Pacific Coast Conference) since 1915.

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2 Replies to “Friday Fast Facts”

  1. Hah…had to rewrite this post and in the interim saw Rooney’s headline in the Camera about the Buffs in Big Games…which I was writing about. Haven’t read it fully but guessing the point is that we really don’t have any ‘signature’ wins in the Mac2.0 era….@OU, @Stanford 2 years ago turned out the teams were not good, ditto w/NU this year. At the highest level this goes directly to coaching, there are crazy upsets in football every week and it’s never the Buffs…and we really are never close (@USC 2 yrs. ago is the closest I can remember). Desperate for a Mac surprise, but have no reason for optimism.

    1. There’s certainly some validity to that, Irie.

      But, you no doubt remember the “signature” wins of the Hawkins era, right? Beating a 3rd ranked OU, among them. Only to then fall flat on their faces. Like a one-hit wonder.

      The Embree era really didn’t have any wins, so… no signature wins, either (can’t count beating Wazzu that time, either, I don’t think).

      At least Mac and Co have the program on an overall upward trajectory, I figure. And, not only are they winning more, and competing more when they’re losing (most of the time) but they’re building quality depth, talent and experience, too.

      So, all that said, if you in the Great Pacific Northwest (Seattle in particular) can enjoy a week of sunny 70’s in October? Why surely the Buffs can steal a win in Seattle, too, right?

      Crazier things have happened. Granted, I’m not as optimistic about that outcome as I usually am – as you rightfully pointed out I think, UW has truly been the Buffs’ house of horrors lately – but? That’s why they play the games.

      Hey at least the last time we beat the Huskies, I was there! With my UW alum brother, at that Holiday Bowl. That was a nice win, for sure.

      Maybe we’ll see something similar tomorrow?

      Go Buffs!

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