2002 Washington Huskies football team

2002 Washington Huskies football
Sun Bowl, L 24–34 vs. Purdue
ConferencePacific-10
Record7–6 (4–4 Pac-10)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorKeith Gilbertson (3rd season)
Offensive schemeSpread
Defensive coordinatorTim Hundley (4th season)
Base defenseMultiple
MVPCody Pickett (O)
Ben Mahdavi (D)
CaptainPaul Arnold
Ben Mahdavi
Jafar Williams
Elliot Zajac
Home stadiumHusky Stadium
Seasons
← 2001
2003 →
2002 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 10 Washington State $+   7 – 1     10 – 3  
No. 4 USC  %+   7 – 1     11 – 2  
Arizona State   5 – 3     8 – 6  
UCLA   4 – 4     8 – 5  
Oregon State   4 – 4     8 – 5  
California   4 – 4     7 – 5  
Washington   4 – 4     7 – 6  
Oregon   3 – 5     7 – 6  
Arizona   1 – 7     4 – 8  
Stanford   1 – 7     2 – 9  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2002 Washington Huskies football team was an American football team that represented the University of Washington during the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season. In its fourth season under head coach Rick Neuheisel, the team compiled a 7–6 record, finished in a four-way tie for fourth place in the Pacific-10 Conference, and outscored its opponents by a combined total of 398 to 342.[1] Cody Pickett and Ben Mahdavi were selected as the team's most valuable player offensive and defensive players, respectively.

Northwest Championship

[edit]
Main article: Northwest Championship

Following the UCLA game, the Huskies had a 4–5 record, 1–4 against Pac-10 opponents, and had lost 4 of the last 5 games. The Huskies were at serious risk of a losing season, their first since 1974, and of missing a bowl game.

Through rare[2] happenstance, Washington was scheduled to play the three other Pacific Northwest schools in order to end the season. Neuheisel, sensing an opportunity to motivate his team, declared that despite the thus far disappointing season the Huskies were still fighting to win the "Northwest Championship" by sweeping Oregon State, Oregon, and Washington State in their remaining games.[3][4]

It was a successful rallying cry, and the Huskies first beat Oregon State. The next week they won at Autzen Stadium, their first win against Oregon at home since 1996. The Huskies capped the season with a triple-overtime victory over No. 3 Washington State in the Apple Cup, claiming the Northwest Championship with back-to-back-to-back wins over the other northwest schools.[5]

Schedule

[edit]
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
August 3112:30 p.m.at No. 13 Michigan*No. 11
ABCL 29–31111,491
September 712:30 p.m.San Jose State*No. 11
FSNW 34–1070,147
September 217:00 p.m.Wyoming*No. 11
  • Husky Stadium
  • Seattle, WA
FSNW 38–772,898
September 2812:30 p.m.Idaho*No. 13
  • Husky Stadium
  • Seattle, WA
FSNW 41–2770,070
October 512:30 p.m.CaliforniaNo. 12
  • Husky Stadium
  • Seattle, WA
FSNL 27–3471,337
October 1212:30 p.m.ArizonaNo. 22
  • Husky Stadium
  • Seattle, WA
FSNW 32–2871,016
October 1912:30 p.m.at No. 19 USCNo. 22
ABCL 21–4152,961
October 267:00 p.m.at No. 23 Arizona State
FSNL 16–2756,101
November 24:00 p.m.UCLA
  • Husky Stadium
  • Seattle, WA
TBSL 24–3472,017
November 912:30 p.m.Oregon State
  • Husky Stadium
  • Seattle, WA
FSNW 41–2972,557
November 1612:30 p.m.at No. 23 Oregon
ABCW 42–1457,112
November 233:30 p.m.at No. 3 Washington State
FSNW 29–26 3OT37,600
December 3111:00 a.m.vs. Purdue*
CBSL 24–3448,917
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Pacific time

Roster

[edit]
2002 Washington Huskies football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB 24 Rich Alexis Jr
WR 20 Paul Arnold (C) Sr
C 72 Todd Bachert Jr
OT 65 Khalif Barnes So
QB 12 Taylor Barton Sr
G 53 Aaron Butler So
RB 29 Braxton Cleman Sr
WR 82 Matt DeBord Fr
G 78 Dan Dicks So
FB 22 Ty Eriks Fr
WR 10 Charles Frederick So
WR 7 Wilbur Hooks Sr
OT 67 Nick Newton Jr
QB 15 Casey Paus Fr
QB 3 Cody Pickett Jr
WR 5 Patrick Reddick Sr
TE 83 Joe Toledo Fr
FB 5 Zach Tuiasosopo So
TE 84 Kevin Ware Sr
WR 1 Reggie Williams So
G 75 Elliott Zajac (C) Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
CB 3 Roc Alexander Jr
FS 43 Owen Biddle Sr
SS 34 Greg Carothers Jr
LB 88 Marquis Cooper Jr
CB 5 Sam Cunningham So
LB 90 Kai Ellis Sr
DE 56 Manase Hopoi So
CB 21 Derrick Johnson So
DT 99 Tank Johnson Jr
DE 47 Anthony Kelley Sr
LB 41 Ben Mahdavi (C) Sr
CB 28 Chris Massey Jr
DT 65 Josh Miller So
DB 23 B. J. Newberry So
CB 13 Nate Robinson Fr
FS 38 James Sims Fr
LB 1 Jafar Williams (C) Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 15 John Anderson Sr
P 17 Derek McLaughlin So
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster

Source:[6][7]

Team players in the NFL

[edit]

No Washington players were selected in the 2003 NFL draft.

The following finished their college career in 2002, were not drafted, but played in the NFL.

Player Position First NFL team
Paul Arnold Wide receiver Indianapolis Colts
Kevin Ware Tight end Washington Redskins

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Washington Yearly Results (2000–2004)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  2. ^ Condotta, Bob (October 12, 2004). "Huskies eyeing mythical Northwest title". The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 8, 2022. Fans of other schools cried that the Northwest Championship was strictly mythical, just another devious Neuheisel ploy. But the Huskies didn't care, and proudly laid claim to it again last year when, in the midst of one of the most chaotic seasons in school history, the lone highlight was beating Oregon State, Oregon and Washington State by a combined 61 points.
  3. ^ Maisel, Ivan (November 25, 2002). "Tale Of Two T-Shirts". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on December 25, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2022. Washington is content with its unofficial Northwest Championship. "It had to be enough," quarterback Cody Pickett said Sunday. "Everybody left us for dead. We had to rally around something."
  4. ^ Condotta, Bob (November 21, 2012). "Ten years ago, Huskies won a wild Apple Cup in Pullman". The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 8, 2022. Washington [...] had meandered through the first three-quarters of the season at 4-5 before Neuheisel said his team's new goal was to sweep its last three games against Oregon State, Oregon and WSU and win what he coined the "Northwest Championship." Washington had two-thirds of that title in hand as it headed to Pullman.
  5. ^ Jude, Adam (October 5, 2016). "Silence was Golden, and purple: Remembering when UW last won at Oregon in 2002". The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 8, 2022. That completed what Neuheisel had dubbed the Northwest Championship, with the Huskies closing out the season with successive victories over Oregon State, Oregon and WSU (after losing to USC, Arizona State and UCLA the three weeks prior). Neuheisel even had T-shirts made up with blank boxes to check off after each win. [...] The Huskies wore those T-shirts as they marched back onto the Autzen Stadium turf for their postgame brouhaha.
  6. ^ "Today's lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). November 16, 2002. p. 4D.
  7. ^ "Apple Cup preview: WSU". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). November 23, 2002. p. C15.


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