Nebraska Football: 10 Things You Need to Know About Washington

Each week, Nebraska’s competition improves.

The Cornhuskers started the season against a team from the Football Championship Series (Division 1-A), then played a team from a non-BCS qualified conference.

This week, the Cornhuskers take on a team from the Pac-12 Conference.

Fresno State gave Nebraska a tough game last week.

The Cornhuskers must be prepared for a team that is better than Fresno State and a team that beat the Cornhuskers just nine months ago.

To get ready for the game between the Cornhuskers and the Huskies, here are 10 things you need to know about our visitors from the west coast. 

No Jack Locker, No Problem

Last year, Washington was led by one of the best quarterbacks in the country, Jake Locker.

Locker was drafted eighth in the 2011 NFL draft by the Tennessee Titans.

He was predicted to be the first overall draft pick, but a poor performance against a dominating Nebraska defense dropped his draft stock.

Washington still has many of their starters on offense but the question coming into the 2011 season has been: How much will the loss of Jake Locker hurt the Huskies?

The answer is, not much.

Sophomore quarterback Keith Price has been efficient so far this year.

In his first game against Eastern Washington, Price completed 17 of 25 passes for 102 yards and three touchdowns.

He showed improvement in his second start against Hawaii, completing 18 of 25 passes for 315 yards and four touchdowns.

As long as the young quarterback continues to improve, Husky fans will be happy.

NFL-Talented Running Back

Washington has one of the best running backs in the Pac-12.

Chris Polk started the season battling a knee injury. Last week’s performance against Hawaii proved that the knee injury is no longer a concern.

Polk ran for 107-yards and a touchdown against the Warriors.

Nebraska was able to hold Polk to 55 yards in their first meeting last year, but Polk ran for 177 yards and a touchdown in the Holliday Bowl against the Blackshirts.

Nebraska must be able to stop Washington’s best weapon if they want to win the game on Saturday.

Great Set of Wide Receivers

Washington has two receivers who could cause problems for Nebraska.

Wide receivers Devin Aguilar and Jermaine Kearse are two of the best in the Pac-12 Conference.

In the first game of the season against Eastern Washington, both receivers had only one catch for eight yards. In the second game against Hawaii, Aguilar caught five passes for 131 yards and a touchdown.

Kearse had a decent performance catching three passes for 30 yards and two touchdowns.

The stats for these two wide receivers may not be impressive so far this year, but that does not mean they're not talented.

Washington has many weapons and utilizes each of them.

When quarterback Keith Price needs to make a play, you know he will be looking for Devin Aguilar or Jermaine Kearse.

One of Nation’s Best Kickers

Did you watch the Sunday night football game this week between the New York Jets and the Dallas Cowboys? Did you see the Jets kicker kick the 50-yard game winning field goal with 22 seconds left in the game?

The kicker is Nick Folk.

Nick’s younger brother, Erik Folk, is the place kicker for the Washington Huskies.

Some scouts say that Erik will be a better NFL kicker than his older brother.

Erik Folk is on the Lou Groza Award watch list, where the award is given to the best place kicker in college football.

If the game is close on Saturday, Washington has a weapon who could win them the game.

Surprising Freshman Tight End

Coming into the 2011 season, everyone knew about the talented wide receivers in Aguilar and Kearse, and the dynamic running back Chris Polk.

What Washington fans didn't know, is that the team would also have a talented freshman tight end.

Austin Seferian-Jenkins had three catches for 91 yards and a touchdown last week against Hawaii.

So far this year, Seferian-Jenkins has been the receiver quarterback Keith Price has looked to when he needs a first down.

Adding a weapon like Seferian-Jenkins to the team has made the transition at quarterback from Jake Locker to Keith Price an easy one.

Lost Half of Starters from 2010 Team

Is Washington in a rebuilding year?

The Huskies lost ten starters from their team in 2010.

The biggest hit was to Washington’s defense—the team only returns one starter on defense from last year.

What will keep the team together and able to compete for a Pac-12 Conference Championship is the leadership at the skill positions.

The first game of the season was a nail-biter, a 30-27 win over Eastern Washington.

Before the season, fans in Washington would have said yes, the team is definitely in a rebuilding year. After the bounce back performance against Hawaii, maybe they'll reconsider.

The game Saturday will answer many questions for Husky fans as to where their program stands.

Series between Huskers and Huskies is tied 4-4-1

Nebraska has played against Washington nine times.

Each team has won four and they played to a 6-6 tie in their first meeting in 1925.

Since 1992, Nebraska has beaten Washington three times and has lost to them twice.

This series has been back and forth over the years, as evident in last year’s two meetings between the schools.

Nebraska traveled to Washington and beat the Huskies 56-21, but lost to them 19-7 in the Holiday Bowl.

The game Saturday will give the winning team the edge in this close matchup.

Two of Washington’s Worst Losses Came from the Cornhuskers

Two of Washington’s worst losses since 1975 have come from the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

The first occurred in September of 1998.

Nebraska came into the game ranked No. 2 in the polls while Washington was ranked No. 9. The game was built up as the game of the week in college football.

Some sport reporters felt Nebraska was overrated, but Nebraska proved their skeptics wrong by beating down the Huskies, 55-7. 

Led by quarterback Bobby Newcomb and running back DeAngelo Evans, Nebraska rolled up 434 total yards against the Huskies. The game was Washington’s worst loss since 1975.

The second beat down of the Huskies occurred last year in Washington.

Nebraska once again came into the game with their skeptics, and the team was coming off a close 38-17 win over Idaho.

Fans started to wonder how Nebraska would fare with a freshman quarterback against a good Washington team.

Nebraska played their best game of the 2010 season at Washington.

Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez had 289 total yards and four touchdowns. Nebraska won the game, 56-21, giving the Huskies their third worst lost since 1975.

Washington Has 10 Players Currently in the NFL

The University of Washington currently has 10 players in the NFL.

Some of the notable players from Washington include: QB Mark Brunell (New York Jets), QB Jake Locker (Tennessee Titans), and C. Olin Kreutz (New Orleans Saints).

Brunell and Kreutz have made a combined nine Pro Bowl appearances while Locker was a first-round draft choice this year.

Washington Has Harry the Husky, Nebraska Had Harry Husker

The University of Washington used to be known as the Siberian Huskies until 1961.

The team used live sled dogs as their mascots, but due to logistical problems, Washington had to come up with a new mascot.

After a student vote, Harry Husky was introduced in 1995.

Nebraska also had a Harry as a mascot, Harry Husker.

Nebraska’s Harry Husker mascot was dressed in a red Nebraska coat with a red cowboy hat.

Nebraska used Harry Husker as their mascot from 1965-1973.