The Washington Huskies and the UCLA Bruins have a long line of notable players who went on to play professionally such a Troy Aikman and Jackie Robinson for the Bruins and Warren Moon and Lincoln Kennedy.
Both teams have had multiple conference championships and first round draft picks, but it is UCLA who has the best match-up record. With the teams meeting 72 times on the gridiron and Washington having a losing record of 33-40-2 to the Bruins, there has been close games and there has been blowouts.
There are three memorable games to look back over as a few of the most notable over the course of the 90 years these two teams have played one another.
3. 1959 Washington Over UCLA 23-7
The Bruins hold the longest win streak against these two teams, winning the contest between 1952 – 1958. The Huskies snapped that seven-game win streak in 1959 under third-year head coach, Jim Owens. The score was close at first as Washington was up on UCLA going into the half 14-7 with the Bruins getting the first touchdown of the game. Later in the second half, Washington came away with an interception on their own 2-yard line to help seal the deal with an offensive score lasting six plays after the INT. This would also be the first time Washington beat the Bruins in Los Angeles since 1940 and Jim Owens got rightfully carried off the field on the shoulders of his players.
2. 2001 UCLA Over Washington 35-13
The No. 7 Bruins hosted the No. 10 Huskies in Pasadena, CA in battle of two undefeated teams. Washington was going into the game already defeating the No. 11 Michigan Wolverines, but UCLA was riding high, knocking off three top-25 teams in Alabama, Ohio State, and Oregon State. Over 70,000 fans gathered in the Rose Bowl and watched as the Bruins ran all over the Huskies in a turnover filled game. Both teams had three fumbles, but it was the men in powder blue that won where it mattered – on offense. UCLA ran for 325 yards and four touchdowns, while only relying on nine caught passes for 128 yards. Washington would need to settle for a dreadful eight rushing yards on 28 carries and would pass for 340 yards on 46 attempts. Both teams had three turnovers a piece, but UCLA’s Deshaun Foster running for 301 yards would be too much for Washington to handle.
1. 2018 Washington Over UCLA 31-24
The No. 10 Washington Huskies rolled into Pasadena, CA and barely escaped first-year head coach, Chip Kelly, with a win under Chris Petersen. The Huskies led 24-7 at halftime but saw the Bruins climb back within a touchdown twice in the fourth quarter. Myles Gaskin helped put the Bruins away with a touchdown in the fourth quarter, making it his 50th rushing score and the fifth player in Pac-12 history to have 50 or more TDs on the ground. What also made this memorable was that it was Washington’s first win in Pasadena since 1995 under head coach Jim Lambright, which was the longest road-win drought the UW has ever had over UCLA.
