There’s nothing quite like a son trying to measure up to his father’s legacy, which where Washington linebacker, and special teams terror Carson Bruener finds himself. His father Mark was a Husky tight end from from 1991 until 1994. In Mark’s freshman season, the the Huskies went 12-0 and won a national championship.
“I had a conversation with him last week because I was like, ‘9-0 is pretty special’,” Carson said. “Not a lot of Husky fans have done that in the history of UW Football.” (the story continues below the podcast)
Listen in as Coach V, UW Leah, and Trevor Mueller break down Washington’s 35-28 victory over Utah Saturday afternoon.
So his dad did some searching and found that his 1991 team was the only one to do it in the last 32 years. What he also found is that since that perfect season in 1991, there have been only 6 teams conference teams that have started the season 10-0. Oregon did it most recently in 2010 and 2012, USC did it in back-to-back years in 2004 and 2005, and UCLA and Arizona State did it in 1998 and 1996 respectively.
The Bruins and the 2012 Ducks stopped at 10 consecutive wins.
Mark also let his son know about winning streak that went to 20 games, extending into the 1992 season.
“I told him we’re coming for that too,” he laughed. “We’re coming for that win streak.”
Right now the Huskies have won 17 games so he’s closing in on that one, as well. But family rivalry aside, Carson returned his thoughts to the 2023 Washington Huskies.
“We say that, but we’re not focused on that. We’re focused on our next opponent and going 1-0 next week,” he said.
That mindset is something that came up and his dad offered him some Kalen DeBoer sounding advice:
“He said the same thing I just say: ‘take each game as it comes’,” he recalled. “‘You can’t look in the future’.”
Carson understands that the target on the backs of Washington will be even bigger next Saturday in Corvallis, Oregon where they play the 10th-ranked Beavers.
“We still got two great games coming up at Oregon State and the Apple Cup,” he said. “You can’t be too excited and looking at the future because in your next game it can affect you.”
For now it’s about maintaining a the routine that has helped them stack 17 consecutive victories.
“Right now we’re going to celebrate this win and enjoy it,” he said of Washington’s 24-hour rule. “Then we’re going to focus on Oregon State and prepare for (them).
