During the 1916 season, Washington would become champions of the fledgling Pacific Coast Conference. Under coach “Gloomy Gil” Dobie, from 1908-1916, the team went 58-0-3 including 39 wins in a row. Before that season began, the July 26, 1916 Daily Home News reported that the University of Washington, “… had received an invitation from John B. Foster, secretary and business manager of the New York National League baseball club, for the University of Washington football team to play on the Polo Grounds in New York for the second Saturday of December. Mr. Foster proposed that Washington play Dartmouth or Rutgers or some other Eastern college eleven of equal standing, and offered to pay all expenses of the Washingtons’ trip…. If the invitation is accepted, it will be the longest trip ever taken for a single game.” But the Washington faculty committee was averse to the idea when it was presented to them and the “post-season” game never took place.
101 years later the University of Washington would open the season against Rutgers on September 1, 2017 in Piscataway, NJ.
101 years later the University of Washington would open the season against Rutgers on September 1, 2017 in Piscataway, NJ.