2018 Washington Huskies football team
The 2018 Washington Huskies football team represented the University of Washington during the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Chris Petersen led the team in his fifth season as head coach. Washington competed as a member of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference and played their home games on campus at Husky Stadium in Seattle.
| 2018 Washington Huskies football | |
|---|---|
Pac-12 champion Pac-12 North Division co-champion | |
Pac-12 Championship Game, W 10–3 vs. Utah | |
Rose Bowl, L 23–28 vs. Ohio State | |
| Conference | Pac-12 Conference |
| North Division | |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 13 |
| AP | No. 13 |
| Record | 10–4 (7–2 Pac-12) |
| Head coach |
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| Offensive coordinator | Bush Hamdan (1st season) |
| Co-offensive coordinator | Matt Lubick (2nd season) |
| Defensive coordinator | Jimmy Lake (1st; 5th overall season) |
| Co-defensive coordinator | Pete Kwiatkowski (1st; 5th overall season) |
| Home stadium | Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 13 Washington xy$ | 7 | – | 2 | 10 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 10 Washington State x | 7 | – | 2 | 11 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stanford | 6 | – | 3 | 9 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon | 5 | – | 4 | 9 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California | 4 | – | 5 | 7 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon State | 1 | – | 8 | 2 | – | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah xy | 6 | – | 3 | 9 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona State | 5 | – | 4 | 7 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USC | 4 | – | 5 | 5 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona | 4 | – | 5 | 5 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UCLA | 3 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Colorado | 2 | – | 7 | 5 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship: Washington 10, Utah 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Huskies began the year ranked sixth in the preseason AP Poll and were the preseason favorites to win the Pac-12. In their first game of the year, Washington lost to then-No. 9 Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game played in Atlanta. The team rebounded and won the following five games before losing on the road to rival Oregon in overtime, and again two weeks later against California. With the Pac-12 North Division title on the line, Washington defeated in-state rival and seventh-ranked Washington State on the road in the 111th Apple Cup. The Huskies won their second Pac-12 title in three years by defeating Utah in the 2018 Pac-12 Football Championship Game. The team was invited to the Rose Bowl, where they were defeated by Ohio State to end the year at 10–4, 7–2 in conference play.
Washington was led offensively by senior quarterback Jake Browning, who threw for 3,192 yards and 16 touchdowns, and senior running back Myles Gaskin, who rushed for 1,268 yards and 12 touchdowns. Browning became the school's all-time passing leader on September 29 in the team's game against BYU, while Gaskin added to his all-time career rushing records that he set in 2017. The Husky defense was led by senior linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven, who led the Pac-12 in tackles and was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. Burr-Kirven was named a first-team All-American by several selectors including the Associated Press.