AUSTIN (KXAN) — The last time Texas and Washington played each other in back-to-back seasons was nearly 50 years ago, and this time around there’s a bit more meaning to the game.
When the Longhorns and Huskies meet Jan. 1 at Caesars Superdome for the Sugar Bowl, it’ll be the sixth time in their storied histories and just the second time in consecutive seasons. Last year, the Huskies beat the Longhorns 27-20 in the Alamo Bowl and that was the first time in more than 20 years the programs faced off.
Washington is 2-1 over the Longhorns in neutral-site games including the Alamo Bowl win. The teams played in the Sun Bowl following the 1979 season and the Huskies picked up a 14-7 win. Texas won the 2001 Holiday Bowl in a wild one 47-43, and the Longhorns scored 27 points in the fourth quarter to steal the win behind quarterback Major Applewhite’s 473 passing yards and four touchdowns . Ivan Williams scored the go-ahead touchdown for the Longhorns with 0:38 remaining to complete the 19-point comeback.
In five meetings, Texas is 3-2 over the Huskies with the first two victories coming in a home-and-home series from 1974-75. Texas topped the Huskies 35-21 in Austin in 1974, then went up to the Pacific Northwest and beat them on their home field 28-10 in 1975.
Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian got his head coaching career off the ground in Seattle with the Huskies from 2009-13. He was 34-29 in five seasons with Washington and took the program over after its worst season ever, finishing 0-12 in 2008 under Tyrone Willingham. Sarkisian led the Huskies to a Holiday Bowl win in 2010 and finished 8-4 in 2013, his final year before taking the head coaching job at Southern California.
As far as the Sugar Bowl goes, it’ll be the Longhorns’ fifth time as part of the game and they are 2-2 all-time. Most recently, Texas and quarterback Sam Ehlinger took out Georgia 28-21 in 2019. They are 2-1 in the Caesars Superdome with wins over Georgia and Tulane and a 1995 Sugar Bowl loss to Virginia Tech.
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