Then and now: Are Huskies worse than 1-10 team from 2004?
While the Washington Huskies try to fulfill a goal this week of winning the Apple Cup, they could also help answer a question: Is the program really any better now than it was in 2004?
That was the last time UW entered the Apple Cup in a similar situation — without a Pac-10 win and with a coach who had already been fired.
Then, it was Keith Gilbertson on the way out and the Huskies entering with a 1-9 record overall — the lone win at home against San Jose State. Washington lost that Apple Cup 28-25 to complete a 1-10 season that set a school record for most losses — a record this year’s team, at 0-10, has tied.
Tyrone Willingham was hired in December 2004 to turn the program around. He hasn’t done so, and three weeks ago was told he wouldn’t be coming back next season.
Willingham maintains that the program is better off now than it was when he inherited it from Gilbertson.
After Saturday’s loss to UCLA, Willingham referenced the 2004 squad, saying he had been reminded by some of the seniors that “a few years ago they went through something like this. And they said the seniors [on the 2004 team] quit. And I don’t think our seniors have quit. I don’t think our football team has quit.”
Conventional wisdom has been that the foundation of the program is better now than it was then, with more returning talent and improved character.
But as the losses have piled up this season, some have begun to wonder — especially about the former assertion — and a loss Saturday to Washington State would only heat up those thoughts.
Washington has one game after the Apple Cup, a Dec. 6 date at California in which the Huskies figure to be huge underdogs. That means their best, and maybe only, chance for a win is this weekend.
Asked if he thought the Huskies were better now than in 2004, senior cornerback Mesphin Forrester answered, “That’s a tough question.” He was sitting out that season as a redshirt.
“No, I can’t say it is,” he said after some thought. “Because we’re still losing. From 2004 to now, we still haven’t been to any bowl games. So I can’t say it’s in better shape.”
A look at some of the numbers would indicate that this team is worse than 2004.
