2006 Washington Huskies football team

The 2006 Washington Huskies football team represented the University of Washington in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by second-year head coach Tyrone Willingham, the team compiled a 5–7 record and was ninth in the Pacific-10 Conference. Home games were played on campus at Husky Stadium in Seattle.[1] Beginning with this season, the NCAA allowed a twelve-game regular season schedule. The Pac-10 schedule was increased from eight to nine games; each team played all nine conference opponents.

2006 Washington Huskies football
ConferencePacific-10 Conference
Record5–7 (3–6 Pac-10)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorTim Lappano (2nd season)
Offensive schemeSpread
Defensive coordinatorKent Baer (2nd season)
Base defense4–3
MVPIsaiah Stanback (O)
MVPC.J. Wallace (D)
Captains
Home stadiumHusky Stadium
(Capacity: 72,500)
Seasons
← 2005
2007 →
2006 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 4 USC +   7 2     11 2  
No. 14 California +   7 2     10 3  
No. 21 Oregon State   6 3     10 4  
UCLA   5 4     7 6  
Oregon   4 5     7 6  
Arizona State   4 5     7 6  
Arizona   4 5     6 6  
Washington State   4 5     6 6  
Washington   3 6     5 7  
Stanford   1 8     1 11  
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

Background

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Two years earlier in 2004, the Huskies had a dismal 1–10 season, with their lone victory over San Jose State. With three games remaining, second-year head coach Keith Gilbertson announced his resignation, effective at the end of the season.[2][3][4] Willingham was hired in December after being dismissed from Notre Dame after just three seasons.[5][6]

While Washington saw an overall improvement on the team in 2005, they still struggled to win games, and finished with a 2–9 record. Highlights of the season were victories over Idaho and Pac-10 foe Arizona, and holding USC to 390 yards, their lowest offensive total of the year.

Pre-season

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Redshirt freshman tailback J.R. Hasty was expected to have a big impact on the offense, but was declared academically ineligible. Senior Isaiah Stanback and sophomore Johnny Durocher competed for the starting quarterback position. Junior College transfers were Anthony Atkins (DE), Jason Wells (S), and Jordan Murchison (CB). All were expected to fill holes in the team.

Washington did not appear in any pre-season rankings and was predicted to finish last in the Pac-10 media poll.

Pre-season awards

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Sporting News Preseason All-Pac-10[7]

  • C.J. Wallace - All-Pac-10 First Team
  • Sean Douglas - All-Pac-10 First Team
  • Scott White - All-Pac-10 Second Team
  • J.R. Hasty - Pac-10 Offensive Newcomer of the Year

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 212:30 p.m.San Jose State*W 35–2952,256
September 912:30 p.m.at No. 15 Oklahoma*ABCL 20–3784,577
September 1612:30 p.m.Fresno State*
  • Husky Stadium
  • Seattle, WA
FSNW 21–2057,012
September 2312:30 p.m.UCLA
  • Husky Stadium
  • Seattle, WA
TBSW 29–1958,255
September 306:00 p.m.at ArizonaW 21–1055,409
October 712:30 p.m.at No. 2 USCFSNL 20–2690,282
October 143:30 p.m.Oregon State
  • Husky Stadium
  • Seattle, WA
FSNL 17–2762,656
October 2112:30 p.m.at No. 11 CaliforniaFSNL 24–31 OT58,534
October 284:00 p.m.Arizona State 
  • Husky Stadium
  • Seattle, WA
FSNL 23–26 OT58,822
November 412:30 p.m.at No. 24 OregonTBSL 14–3458,408
November 1112:30 p.m.Stanford
  • Husky Stadium
  • Seattle, WA
L 3–2055,896
November 183:45 p.m.at Washington StateFSNW 35–3235,117
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Pacific time

Game summaries

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San Jose State

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1 234Total
San Jose State 6 3614 29
• Washington 7 1477 35

Oklahoma

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1 234Total
Washington 7 607 20
• Oklahoma 7 6177 37

Fresno State

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1 234Total
Fresno St 7 076 20
• Washington 7 707 21

UCLA

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1 234Total
UCLA 13 330 19
• Washington 0 7715 29

Arizona

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1 234Total
• Washington 0 2100 21
Arizona 0 370 10
1 234Total
Washington 3 737 20
• USC 7 1063 26

In the fourth quarter, with 2 seconds left on the game clock, the Huskies moved the ball 15 yards shy of the end zone, stopping the clock by getting a first down. Before Isaiah Stanback could hike the ball, the clock ran out and they were unable to get off a final play. It was a controversial moment that many blamed on miscommunication from the officials regarding when the clock would start again.

Oregon State

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1 234Total
• Oregon St 7 3107 27
Washington 3 1400 17

Linebacker Scott White intercepted two passes in the first half, setting up two touchdowns and giving Washington a 17–10 lead by halftime. However, the Huskies struggled in the second half both offensively and defensively. Oregon State quarterback Matt Moore connected with wide receiver Sammie Stroughter to give OSU a 27–17 lead. Late in the fourth quarter, Washington quarterback Isaiah Stanback suffered a Lisfranc fracture in his right foot; the injury requires surgery and Stanback will miss the remainder of the 2006 season.

California

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1 234OTTotal
Washington 3 70140 24
• California 0 310117 31

Back-up quarterback Carl Bonnell made his first start of the season filling in for the injured Isaiah Stanback. In his first start he threw two touchdown passes including a 40 yard hail mary pass to Marlon Wood to send the game into over time. However, Bonnell also threw five interceptions in regulation, and one in over time.

Arizona State

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1 234OTTotal
• Arizona St 0 14606 26
Washington 0 33143 23

Oregon

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1 234Total
Washington 0 770 14
• Oregon 7 10143 34

Stanford

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1 234Total
• Stanford 0 3710 20
Washington 0 300 3

Washington State

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1 234Total
• Washington 0 14147 35
Washington St 0 14315 32

[8]

NFL Draft

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Two Huskies were selected in the 2007 NFL draft, which lasted seven rounds (255 selections).

Player Position Round Overall Franchise
Isaiah Stanback QB 4th 103 Dallas Cowboys
Dashon Goldson S 4th 126 San Francisco 49ers

References

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  1. ^ "Washington Huskies".
  2. ^ "Gilbertson steps aside". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (Seattle Times). November 2, 2004. p. C1.
  3. ^ Daschel, Nick (November 2, 2004). "Dawgs take Gilbertson off hot seat with contract buyout". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (The Columbian). p. E1.
  4. ^ Korte, Tim (November 2, 2004). "Turner is thinking big for next Husky hire". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. (Idaho-Washington). Associated Press. p. 1B.
  5. ^ "Huskies hire coach". Ellensburg Daily Record. (Washington). Associated Press. December 13, 2004. p. A6.
  6. ^ Korte, Tim (December 13, 2004). "Willingham returns to Pac-10 as Washington's new coach". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. E1.
  7. ^ "Huskies Receive Sporting News' Preseason All-Pac-10 Honors". gohuskies.com. Archived from the original on July 11, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2006.
  8. ^ ESPN[dead link]. Retrieved 2014-Oct-27.