1977 Washington Huskies football team

American college football season

1977 Washington Huskies football
Pacific-8 champion Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 27–20 vs. Michigan
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 9
AP	No. 10
Record	8–4 (6–1 Pac-8)
Head coach	Don James (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Dick Scesniak (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Jim Mora (3rd season)
MVP	Warren Moon (QB)
Captains	Blair Bush (C) Dave Browning (DT) Warren Moon (QB) Mike Rohrbach (LB)
Home stadium	Husky Stadium (c. 58,000, AstroTurf)
Seasons ← 1976 1978 →

1977 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 10 Washington $	6	–	1	8	–	4
No. 15 Stanford	5	–	2	9	–	3
No. 13 USC	5	–	2	8	–	4
California	3	–	4	7	–	4
Washington State	3	–	4	6	–	5
Oregon	1	–	6	2	–	9
Oregon State	0	–	7	2	–	9
UCLA †	0	–	2	0	–	4

$ – Conference champion † – UCLA forfeited 7 wins (5 conference wins) due to ineligible players. Rankings from AP Poll

The 1977 Washington Huskies football team represented the University of Washington in the 1977 NCAA Division I football season as a member of the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8). The Huskies were led by third-year head coach Don James and played their home games at Husky Stadium in Seattle. They finished the regular season at 7–4 overall, were champions of the Pac-8 at 6–1, and earned a trip to the Rose Bowl on January 2.^[1]^[2]

The Huskies were fourteen-point underdogs to #4 Michigan, but upset the Wolverines 27–20.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 10	No. 16 Mississippi State*		Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	L 18–27† (later fofeited)^[6] ^{[better source needed]}	45,050	^[7]
September 17	San Jose State*		Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	W 24–3	36,489
September 24	at Syracuse*		Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY	L 20–22	12,839
October 1	at Minnesota*		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	L 17–19	31,895
October 8	at Oregon		Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR (rivalry)	W 54–0	29,500
October 15	Stanford		Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	W 45–21	46,529
October 22	Oregon State		Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	W 14–6	46,677
October 29	at UCLA		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 12–20† (later vacated)^[6]	38,692
November 5	at California		California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 50–31	38,812
November 12	No. 14 USC		Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	W 28–10	59,501
November 19	Washington State	No. 19	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA (Apple Cup)	W 35–15	60,964
January 2, 1978	vs. No. 4 Michigan*	No. 13	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	W 27–20	105,312
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

† Games were subsequently vacated or forfeited to Washington^[6]

Roster

1977 Washington Huskies football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
FL	`81`	Gary Briggs	So
C	`58`	Blair Bush (C)	Sr
G	`72`	Marshall Cromer	Jr
G	`75`	Mike Curtis	So
QB	`12`	Tom Flick	So
FB	`42`	Ron Gipson	So
TE	`86`	Scott Greenwood	Jr
OT	`78`	Curt Marsh	Fr
QB	`1`	Warren Moon (C)	Sr
RB	`24`	Joe Steele	So
OT	`63`	Jeff Toews	Jr
C	`56`	Tom Turnure	So
RB	`45`	Toussaint Tyler	Fr
OT	`79`	Randy Van Divier	Fr
OT	`70`	Robert Westlund	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
MG	`67`	Cliff Bethea	Sr
DT	`65`	Dave Browning (C)	Sr
SS	`39`	John Edwards	Jr
CB	`23`	Nesby Glasgow	Jr
LB	`55`	Bruce Harrell	So
FS	`96`	Kyle Heinrich	Jr
LB	`5`	Michael Jackson	Jr
LB	`34`	John Kerley	Jr
CB	`19`	Mark Lee	So
DT	`61`	Chris Linnin	So
DE	`73`	Doug Martin	So
CB	`25`	Wayne Moses	Sr
LB	`48`	Antowaine Richardson	So
LB	`54`	Mike Rohrbach (C)	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`7`	Steve Robbins	Sr
P	`27`	Aaron Wilson	Jr

Head coach

Don James (3rd year)

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Source:^[8]

Game summaries

Game 9 at California

Washington Huskies at California Golden Bears

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Washington	3	14	21	12	50
California	7	14	0	10	31

at Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, California

Date: November 5
Game attendance: 38,812
^[9]

Game information

Washington

Warren Moon
11/19, 207 yds, int
Joe Steele
22 rush, 90 yds, 2 TD
Scott Greenwood
5 rec, 112 yds

California

Gary Graumann
16/31, 172 yds, 2 TD
Paul Jones
14 rush, 58 yds
George Freitas
9 rec, 139 yds

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	WASH	CAL
1					California	Hillmon 7-yard touchdown reception from Young, Breech kick good	0	7
1					Washington	31-yard field goal by Robbins	3	7
2					Washington	Steele 5-yard touchdown run, Robbins kick good	10	7
2					California	Thompson 14-yard touchdown reception from Graumann, Breech kick good	10	14
2					Washington	Tyler 4-yard touchdown run, Robbins kick good	17	14
2					California	Thompson 10-yard touchdown reception from Young, Breech kick good	17	21
3					Washington	Moon 12-yard touchdown run, Robbins kick good	24	21
3					Washington	Moon 1-yard touchdown run, Robbins kick good	31	21
3					Washington	Steele 1-yard touchdown run, Robbins kick good	38	21
4					California	48-yard field goal by Breech
4					Washington	Safety, center snap out of end zone
4					Washington	Smith 3-yard touchdown run, Robbins kick good
4					California	Freitas 7-yard touchdown reception from Graumann, 2-point run/pass good/failed/incomplete
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							50	31

USC

	1	2	3	4	Total
USC	0	3	0	7	10
• Washington	0	7	14	7	28

Date: November 12
Location: Husky Stadium, Seattle, WA
Game attendance: 59,501
Game weather: Overcast

Scoring summary

2	WASH	Moon 2-yard run (Robbins kick)	WASH 7-0

2	USC	Jordan 26-yard field goal	WASH 7-3

3	WASH	Gaines 19-yard pass from Moon (Robbins kick)	WASH 14-3

3	WASH	Steele 1-yard run (Robbins kick)	WASH 21-3

4	USC	White 1-yard run (Jordan kick)	WASH 21-10

4	WASH	Moon 71-yard run (Robbins kick)	WASH 28-10

Source:^[10]

Washington State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Washington State	0	0	0	15	15
• Washington	21	7	7	0	35

Date: November 19
Location: Husky Stadium, Seattle, WA
Game attendance: 60,964

Scoring summary

1	WASH	Steele 33-yard pass from Moon (Robbins kick)	WASH 7-0

1	WASH	Greenwood 33-yard pass from Moon (Robbins kick)	WASH 14-0

1	WASH	Steele 3-yard run (Robbins kick)	WASH 21-0

2	WASH	Steele 6-yard pass from Moon (Robbins kick)	WASH 28-0

3	WASH	Rowland 5-yard run (Robbins kick)	WASH 35-0

4	WSU	Doornik 4-yard run (Watson kick)	WASH 35-7

4	WSU	Kelly 14-yard pass from Thompson (Thompson to Ransom pass)	WASH 35-15

Source:^[1]^[2]

NFL draft selections

Two University of Washington Huskies were selected in the 1978 NFL draft, which lasted twelve rounds with 334 selections.

= Husky Hall of Fame^[11]

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
Blair Bush	Center	1st	16	Cincinnati Bengals
Dave Browning	Defensive end	2nd	54	Oakland Raiders

Source:^[12]

Quarterback Warren Moon played for the Edmonton Eskimos (CFL) from 1978 to 1983 and made his NFL debut with the Houston Oilers in 1984.^[13]

References

^ ^a ^b "Huskies freeze Cougars and get a bowl bid, too". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. November 20, 1977. p. 3B.
^ ^a ^b Missildine, Harry (November 20, 1977). "UW earns somebody's bowl". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. D1.
^ Missidine, Harry (January 3, 1978). "Jackson rescues Washington". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 19.
^ "Huskies prove worthy". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. January 3, 1978. p. 13.
^ "Huskies go from rags to roses". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 3, 1978. p. 1C.
^ ^a ^b ^c "All-Time Records for Washington". Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
^ "Hapless Huskies bitten by Bulldogs". The News Tribune. September 11, 1977. Retrieved October 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "The Lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). October 8, 1977. p. 3B.
^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1977 Nov 06. Retrieved 2019-Jan-06.
^ "Huskies stop – USC – and smell the roses". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. November 13, 1977. p. 1C.
^ "The Husky Hall of Fame". gohuskies.com. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
^ "1985 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.
^ "Warren Moon Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com.

External links

YouTube – UW video – "The James Gang Arrives" (1977 season)

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