Pursuit of Perfection Is Enough to Keep Huskies Motivated

The University of Washington football team has the added challenge of being properly motivated to face Washington State in Saturday's Apple Cup while knowing it has a Pac-12 championship game appearance already locked in place.

If anything, the Huskies (11-0 overall, 8-0 Pac-12) have done a masterful job this season of staying focused while playing out the schedule. 

They had no letdowns before taking on Oregon or USC, so why start now?

Senior edge rusher Zion Tupuola-Fetui insisted being ready to meet the Cougars (5-6, 2-6) at Husky Stadium won't be a problem.

"We know what's on the line for them and we know that history is on the line for us," Tupuola-Fetui said. "There's definitely a lot to play for. I don't think the narrative will ever find its way onto our team, that everything's kind of resolved and we're going to wait for Vegas."

The player known as ZTF said he and his teammates took a moment this past weekend "to celebrate a free trip to Vegas," though there won't be any casino excursions, roulette wheels or card games involved and the Dec. 1 Pac-12 championship game will be all business. 

The Huskies are bidding to become just the 10th football team from the Pac-12 and its other league iterations over 108 seasons to post a perfect overall record, though USC's unblemished run in 2004 resulted in a messy investigation and vacated wins. That year, the Trojans finished 13-0 before the NCAA ruled the program was guilty of numerous infractions and took a pair of victories away.

The UW put together its 12-0 run for a national championship in 1991, preceded by USC's 12-0 team in 1972 and the Trojans' 11-0 finish in 1962. Five teams went unbeaten and untied as Pacific Coast Conference members (see chart below).

"We understand what this win means to our program, just as it wins the rivalry, and what it can mean for history, like trying to run the Pac for the first time," Tupuola-Fetui said. "Twelve-and-oh is not really something that's been said often in our program. We want to put our names up there in history."

SEEKING PAC-12 PERFECTION

1920, California, 9-0, PCC

1922, California, 9-0, PCC

1932, USC, 10-0, PCC

1940, Stanford, 10-0, PCC

1954, UCLA, 9-0, PCC

1962, USC, 11-0, AAWU

1972, USC, 12-0, Pac-8

1991, Washington, 12-0, Pac-10

*2004, USC,  11-0, Pac-10

(*two victories vacated)