Huskies set modern program record for consecutive home wins

SEATTLE – Just moments after the final seconds ticked off the clock, UW Huskies fans began pouring onto the field.

Soon after, the Husky Stadium turf was engulfed in a sea of purple pandemonium.

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Washington pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 27-17 win over No. 10 Michigan on Saturday night, avenging the program’s loss to the Wolverines in the College Football Playoff national championship game this past January.

With the victory, the new-look Dawgs got their first signature win of the Jedd Fisch era. They snapped Michigan’s 24-game regular-season Big Ten win streak.

And they made program history.

This was Washington’s 18th consecutive win at Husky Stadium, which is the program’s longest home win streak in more than a century. The program’s previous modern record was 17 straight home wins, which it achieved twice – from 1990 to 1992 and 1999 to 2002.

Saturday’s triumph came in front of an electric atmosphere of 72,132 fans – including a healthy dose of maize-clad Michigan supporters – on a picture-perfect early-October evening along the shore of Lake Washington. It was the largest attendance at Husky Stadium since 2016 against USC.

“All of our fans were in full force tonight,” Fisch said. “What an awesome place. It was a dream of mine to be able to have a chance to (coach) in an environment like this, and to have that environment was just special.”

A field storming in Seattle as @UW_Football takes down No. 10 Michigan ‼️#B1GFootball on NBC 📺 pic.twitter.com/noCMQNShwx

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 6, 2024

The Huskies haven’t lost on Montlake since their 2021 Apple Cup defeat to Washington State. They went a combined 14-0 at home in 2022 and 2023 and are off to a 4-0 start at Husky Stadium this fall. Though they lost to the Cougars in last month’s Apple Cup across town at Lumen Field, that was officially a neutral-site game.

Washington’s all-time record for consecutive home victories is 45, which it rattled off from 1908 to 1916. That was part of the Huskies’ NCAA-record 64-game unbeaten streak, which still stands today.

Saturday’s field-storming was reminiscent of the massive on-field celebration that followed Washington’s 36-33 win over archrival Oregon last October, when both teams were ranked in the top 10 and had national-title aspirations. This victory didn’t hold the same big-picture implications, but getting a slice of revenge for January’s national-title game loss certainly made it a moment worthy of the postgame frenzy.

“It was awesome,” said Washington quarterback Will Rogers, who transferred to UW after playing the previous four seasons at Mississippi State. “I’ve never been a part of that. I was curious if they were gonna (rush the field), but when they did it, it was just awesome. … It’s something I’ll remember the rest of my life, for sure.”

Fisch also was a fan of the field-storming.

“I absolutely loved that,” Fisch said. “I love college football. … And college football is that. College football is pageantry. College football is the band. College football is the student section. College football is rushing the field. You don’t get that in pro football.

“I’m just so proud to be a part of it and watch it and see our guys celebrate and see our fans enjoy it.”

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