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| UW calls themselves the "Dawgs" |
The last (only) time the Spartans visited Seattle to play the University of Washington was in 1970. It was a different era; Duffy Daugherty was the Spartan coach, nearing the end of his Hall of Fame era. Jim Owens was the coach at UW, nearing the end of his 17-year career. UW won this game, 42-16, to begin a 6-4 season in 1970. The Spartans won the previous year, 1969, 27-11 in East Lansing in an unforgettable season for both schools (MSU 4-6, Washington 1-9). The ES was one year old the last (only) time the Big Green beat UW. The last time the two played was at the Aloha Bowl in 1997, where #21 U-Dubb beat the #25 Spartans, 51-23.
A warning about the West Coast during the regular season
In the last 50 years, the regular season on the West Coast (Pac-10, not Pac-12) has been unkind to the Spartans on the gridiron.
In 2018, the Spartans lost to Arizona State in Tempe, 16-13, in a terribly coached game by Dantonio. They also lost to ASU in 1986, 20-17 in Tempe under coach Perles. In 2014, Oregon defeated MSU 46-27 as both teams were ranked in the top 10.
The ES attended MSU’s thumping by Cal in Dantonio’s first game of his second season, 2008, losing 38-31 in Berkley. Cal’s Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen (future NFL RBs), ran all over MSU for 268 yards on the ground. Nick Sabin got whacked at Oregon, 48-14, in 1998; the ES walked out of Autzen Stadium at half-time and had to take his shirt off as to not be laughed at. So did Muddy Waters, getting his butt kicked 35-17 in 1980 at Oregon; the ES was just getting exposed to MSU and was living in California as a 12-year old, making the trip to Eugene. The ES is 0-3 watching MSU out west.
Way back in 1974, Dick Vermeil led UCLA to a 56-14 win in LA over Denny Stoltz and MSU.
That’s 0-8 vs Arizona State, Cal, Oregon, UCLA, and Washington since 1970. Time for a W over UW!
