After a week off, the Washington football team (2-3 overall, 1-1 Pac-12) returns to the field to face UCLA (4-2, 2-1) in the UW's Homecoming game, this Saturday, Oct. 16 at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium.

Kickoff is 5:30 p.m., and the game will air on FOX television. The Huskies enter the game off their off week, which fell after a 27-24 loss on a last-second field goal, at Oregon State. The Bruins' most recent game was a late-night, 34-16 win at Arizona last Saturday. Following the UCLA game, the Huskies head to Tucson to face Arizona in a Friday night game, Oct. 22.
 
QUICK HITTERS: Eight players made their first career UW start in the Montana game, and one more did vs. Michigan, Arkansas State and Cal, which means that 40 members of the current roster have started at least one game for the Huskies ... 108 of the 125 players on the UW roster are freshmen or sophomores ... 78 are freshmen ... five true freshmen have played this season forr the Huskies: DLs Kuao Peihopa and Voi Tunuufi, QB Sam Huard, WR Jabez Tinae, and DB Davon Banks ... none of them have played in more than games ... UW has gone 80 games in a row without allowing an opponent to score more than 35 points, easily the longest such streak in the nation ... Race Porter is currently No. 2 the Pac-12 (10th in NCAA) with his 47.1-yard punt average, which is 1.5 yards ahead of pace for the UW single-season school record (45.6).
 
TELEVISION: The Washington-UCLA game will air on FOX television, with Tim Brando (play by play) and Spencer Tillman (analyst) calling the action.
 
HUSKIES vs. BRUINS HISTORY:  UCLA enjoys a eight-game edge in the series, with 40 wins, 32 losses and two ties in 74 all-time games against Washington. The Bruins have taken that lead relatively recently, having  won 13 of the last 18, with many recent games having been comebacks. 
 
The Huskies and Bruins last met in Pasadena in 2018, when the Huskies won, 31-24, behind 116 rushing yards and two TDs from Myles Gaskin, as well as 265 yards and a TD passing, along with a rushing TD, from Jake Browning. In 2017, the Huskies won, 44-23, behind 169 rush yards from  Gaskin and 94 more from Lavon Coleman. Prior to 2017, the most recent UW-UCLA game was in 2014, when the Bruins racked up 476 yards in a 44-30 win. The year prior in Pasadena, UCLA held on for a 41-31 win despite the Huskies out-gaining the Bruins in total offense. Cyler Miles came off the bench for injured starter Keith Price and threw for 149 yards and two scores while UCLA's Myles Jack rushed for four touchdowns. 
 
The 2010 game was a rare Thursday night contest in Seattle, with the Huskies beating the Bruins, 24-7, as UCLA was held off the scoreboard after the first quarter. Chris Polk rushed for 138 yards and Jesse Callier added 107 in what was mostly a defensive game (UW out-gained UCLA 321 to 163 yards). In 2009 in Pasadena, the Bruins held off the Huskies' comeback attempt for a 24-23 victory. In 2008, UCLA pulled away late for a 27-7 win. But in 2007 in Pasadena, the Bruins beat the Huskies, 44-31, in a game that featured 41 combined points scored in the fourth quarter after a 10-10 tie at the half. The Huskies got the win in 2006 in Seattle, coming back from 16-0 behind to win, 29-19. In 2005, the Bruins needed a fourth-quarter comeback to secure a 21-17 win as the Huskies led 10-0 at half and 17-7 after three quarters. In 2004 in Seattle, Maurice Drew ran for 322 yards and five touchdowns as the Bruins came back from a 24-7 deficit to win, 37-31.
 
In 2003 at the Rose Bowl, 18th-ranked Washington built a 16-7 halftime lead, but the Bruins stormed back to win going away, 46-16. UCLA's 39 second-half points were the most ever against a Husky team in a second half. In 2002, the Bruins parlayed a 24-14 halftime lead into a 34-24 win. In 2001, the Bruins won, 35-13, as tailback DeShaun Foster rushed for 301 yards in a game the Huskies played without injured starting quarterback Cody Pickett (the only game Pickett missed after separating his right shoulder the previous week vs. USC). 
 
In 2000, with a 35-28 win, Washington broke the Bruins' three-game winning streak in the series. UCLA had won games in 1997, 1998 and 1999 to take the series advantage, which, prior to the '97 meeting was tied at 27-27-2. In 12 of the last 17 meetings (all but 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2007) between Washington and UCLA, one or both of the teams has been ranked. Going by ranking alone, the Bruins managed to upset the Huskies in four of those games – most notably the 1990 loss at Husky Stadium that knocked aside the UW's national title hopes. In that '90 game, the unranked Bruins handed No. 2 Washington a 25-22 loss. In the next meeting in 1993, 22nd-ranked UCLA beat the 12th-ranked Dawgs, 39-25. Prior to 2004, the most recent "upset" was in 1999, when an unranked UCLA team beat No. 22 Washington, 33-20. The UW-UCLA series first got underway in 1932, when the Huskies posted the first of four straight shutouts against the Bruins. UCLA got its first win in the series in 1938 with a 13-0 win in Los Angeles. 
 
EXPERIENCE AND YOUTH: Thanks in part to the extended eligibility that resulted from the pandemic, Washington's 2021 roster is remarkable for both its youth and its experience, all at once. Washington returns 10 starters on offense and eight on defense, along with returning "starters" at kicker (both FG/PAT and kickoff), punter, holder and long snapper. Those numbers are all higher than average. What's more, the roster includes 17 individuals who have started at least one game on offense, and 13 on defense. All totaled, those 29 players (one of them, Alex Cook, has started on offense and defense) have started 212 games (129 on offense, 83 on defense). 
 
All that said, the UW roster includes just six players in their final year of available eligibility: P Race Porter, OLB Ryan Bowman, QB Patrick O'Brien, C Luke Wattenberg, and TBs Sean McGrew and Kamari Pleasant. Of the 126 players on the current roster, 78 are listed as freshmen (56) or redshirt freshmen (22), while 31 more are sophomores. That means that 109 of 126 players (86.5 percent) have three or more years of eligibility remaining, entering the 2021 season. The roster includes just 11 juniors, five seniors and one grad transfer.
 
OPPONENTS 35-AND-UNDER: Washington hasn't allowed an opponent to score more than 35 points in a game since a 44-30 loss at UCLA in 2014. That's a streak of 79 games in a row that the Huskies' opponent has failed to score more than 35. In that 79-game stretch, Husky foes have scored 30 or more just 13 times (of those 13, five were exactly 30 points) and have been held to 14 or fewer points 32 times. In that same span of 79 games, the UW has scored more than 35 points on 31 occasions. No other team in the FBS has a current streak longer than 38 games (San Diego State).
 
DEFENSE vs. BIG PLAYS: Last year (albeit in only four games), Washington's defense allowed just one play from scrimmage for more than 40 yards, tied for fewest in the nation. In 2019, the Huskies gave up just seven such plays of 40 or more yards, the eighth-lowest total (tied) in FBS. The median for 40-plus yard plays allowed in 2019 was 14. Also in 2019, the Huskies allowed just two plays over 50 yards, the third-lowest (tied) total (the median was seven). The year before, the Huskies gave up just ONE scrimmage play of 40 or more yards all season. No other FBS team allowed fewer than four and 102 teams allowed 10 or more that year. In 2017, the UW also led the nation with fewest 40-yard scrimmage plays allowed (3) and were second in fewest 30-yard plays (14). They were tied for 5th and 2nd, respectively, in 2016. Washington has allowed one player longer than 40 yards in five games during the 2021 season. Only two FBS teams have allowed none.
 
HUSKY STADIUM RENOVATION: Husky Stadium underwent a major renovation over from Nov., 2011, through Aug., 2013, as the entire lower bowl and south upper deck were demolished and replaced. The new facility features a new, state-of-the-art football operations center (weight room, training room, locker room, meeting rooms, coaches' offices) in the west end, much more premium seating options and a new playing surface. Husky Stadium had featured a track up until 2011, so seats that were once far from the field, particularly in the west end, are much closer to the action. UW is 43-13 at home since the re-opening of Husky Stadium.
 
ALASKA AIRLINES FIELD AT HUSKY STADIUM: The Oregon game on Nov. 5, 2011, marked the final game in Husky Stadium prior to major renovations that were completed in summer, 2013. The Huskies re-opened their home field with a 38-6 win over then-No. 19 Boise State on Aug. 31, 2013. The 2021 season marks the 101st season of play in Husky Stadium. Original construction on the facility was completed in 1920 when Washington played one game in the new campus facility. UW's all-time record in Husky Stadium stands at 399-182-21 (.680).