1978 Washington Huskies football team

1978 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
	$ – Conference champion; Rankings from AP Poll

1978 Washington Huskies football
1978 Washington Huskies football
Conference	Pacific-10
1978 record	7–4 (6–2 Pac-10)
Head coach	Don James (4th season);
Offensive coordinator	Dick Scesniak (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Jim Lambright (1st season)
MVP	Michael Jackson (LB)
Captains	Michael Jackson (LB); Nesby Glasgow (DB); Jeff Toews (OL); Scott Greenwood (TE);
Home stadium	Husky Stadium
	Seasons ← 1977 1979 →

The 1978 Washington Huskies football team was an American football team that represented the University of Washington during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. Under fourth-year head coach Don James, the team compiled a 7–4 record, tied for second in the Pacific-10 Conference, and outscored its opponents 270 to 155.^[1] Linebacker Michael Jackson was selected as the team's most valuable player. The team captains were Jackson, Nesby Glasgow, Scott Greenwood, and Jeff Toews.

In the newly-expanded Pac-10, the defending champion Huskies returned eighteen starters, but not at quarterback.^[2] Washington defeated the two new members, Arizona and Arizona State, and did not play California. The two losses were to UCLA and USC, and the Huskies defeated Washington State in the Apple Cup for the fifth consecutive year.^[3]^[4]^[5]

An unexpected non-conference loss at unranked Indiana in September likely kept Washington out of a bowl game.^[6]^[7]

Schedule[]

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 9	No. 12 UCLA	No. 11	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	L 7–10	55,780
September 16	Kansas*	No. 18	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	W 31–2	49,624
September 23	at Indiana*	No. 15	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	L 7–14	40,244
September 30	at Oregon State		Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR	W 34–0	30,000
October 7	No. 8 Alabama*		Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	L 17–20	60,975
October 14	at No. 18 Stanford		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	W 34–31	58,079
October 21	Oregon		Husky Stadium Seattle, WA (rivalry)	W 20–14	49,602
October 28	Arizona State		Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	W 41–7	54,866
November 4	Arizona	No. 20	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	W 31–21	47,587
November 11	at No. 5 USC	No. 19	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 10–28	54,071
November 25	vs. Washington State		Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA (Apple Cup)	W 38–8	35,187
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll

Roster[]

1978 Washington Huskies football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
WR		Ron Blacken
WR		Gary Briggs
OG	`68`	Dan Chavira	Jr
RB		Vince Coby
QB	`12`	Tom Flick	So
OG	`62`	Phil Foreman	Jr
WR	`93`	Spider Gaines	Sr
FB	`42`	Ron Gipson	Jr
TE	`86`	Scott Greenwood (C)	Sr
OT	`78`	Curt Marsh	So
TE	`80`	Randy Moraga	Jr
QB	`7`	Tom Porras	Jr
WR	`22`	Keith Richardson	Fr
RB		Rob Smith
OL		Joe Stanford
RB	`24`	Joe Steele	Jr
RB	`20`	Kyle Stevens	So
OT	`63`	Jeff Toews (C)	Sr
RB	`45`	Toussaint Tyler	So
C	`56`	Tom Turnure	Jr
OT	`79`	Randy Van Divier	So
OT	`70`	Roger Westlund	Sr
TE		R Wold

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB		Bret Gagliardi
LB		Willy Galoia
CB	`23`	Nesby Glasgow (C)	Sr
S	`46`	Greg Grimes	Jr
LB	`55`	Bruce Harrell	Jr
S	`96`	Kyle Heinrich	Sr
LB	`5`	Michael Jackson (C)	Sr
LB	`34`	John Kerley	Sr
CB	`19`	Mark Lee	Jr
DT	`61`	Chris Linnin	Jr
DE	`73`	Doug Martin	Jr
NG	`58`	Stafford Mays	Jr
LB	`48`	Antowaine Richardson	Jr
CB	`10`	Lance Theoudele	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`1`	Mike Lansford	Jr
P	`27`	Aaron Wilson	Sr

Head coach

Don James (4th year)

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Dick Scesniak – (OC)
Jim Lambright – (DC)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Source:^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]

Season summary[]

UCLA[]

Kansas[]

at Indiana[]

at Oregon State[]

Alabama[]

at Stanford[]

Washington Huskies (2–3) at #18 Stanford Cardinals (3–2)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Washington	0	7	24	3	34
Stanford	10	7	7	7	31

at Stanford Stadium, Stanford, California

Date: October 14
Game attendance: 58,079
^[12]

Game information

First quarter

STAN – Gordon Banks 29-yard pass from Steve Dils (Ken Naber kick). Stanford 7–0.
STAN – Ken Naber 25-yard field goal. Stanford 10–0.

Second quarter

WASH – Jeff Leeland 22-yard blocked punt return (Mike Lansford kick). Stanford 10–7.
STAN – Gordon Banks 3-yard run (Ken Naber kick). Stanford 17–7.

Third quarter

WASH – Mike Lansford 22-yard field goal. Stanford 17–10.
WASH – Lance Theoudele 36-yard interception return (Mike Lansford kick). Tie 17–17.
WASH – Greg Grimes 36-yard interception return (Mike Lansford kick). Washington 24–17.
WASH – Tom Porras 2-yard run (Mike Lansford kick). Washington 31–17.
STAN – Ken Margerum 33-yard pass from Steve Dils (Ken Naber kick), 0:00. Washington 31–24.

Fourth quarter

STAN – Phil Francis 6-yard run (Ken Naber kick), 5:03. Tie 31–31. Drive: 50 yards.
WASH – Mike Lansford 22-yard field goal, 0:22. Washington 34–31.

Top passers

WASH – Tom Porras – 8/20, 136 yards
STAN – Steve Dils – 27/39, 360 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT

Top rushers

WASH – Joe Steele – 17 rushes, 65 yards
STAN – Darrin Nelson – 20 rushes, 145 yards

Top receivers

WASH – Spider Gaines – 2 receptions, 41 yards
STAN – Ken Margerum – 5 receptions, 113 yards, TD

Oregon[]

Arizona State[]

Arizona[]

at USC[]

at Washington State[]

NFL Draft selections[]

Five University of Washington Huskies were selected in the 1979 NFL Draft, which lasted twelve rounds with 330 selections.

= Husky Hall of Fame^[13]

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
Jeff Toews	Tackle	2nd	53	Miami Dolphins
Michael Jackson	Linebacker	3rd	57	Seattle Seahawks
Spider Gaines	Wide receiver	6th	140	Kansas City Chiefs
Roger Westlund	Tackle	7th	186	Atlanta Falcons
Nesby Glasgow	Defensive back	8th	207	Baltimore Colts

References[]

^ "Washington Yearly Results (1975-1979)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
^ Withers, Bud (October 21, 1978). "Brooks trying to probe Ducks' 'inner game'". Eugene register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1C.
^ Missildine, Harry (November 26, 1978). "Steele: Shades of McElhenny". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. C1.
^ Drosendahl, Glenn (November 26, 1978). "Joe Steeles Jack's show - UW romps". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
^ Van Sickel, Charlie (November 27, 1978). "Huskies blitz Cougars in one-sided debacle". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 21.
^ "Hoosiers ambush UW 14-7". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). September 24, 1978. p. F1.
^ "Huskies find way to lose to Indiana". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. September 24, 1978. p. 4C.
^ "The lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). September 30, 1978. p. 2C.
^ "The lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). October 21, 1978. p. 2C.
^ Missildine, Harry (November 25, 1978). "Stakes are sufficient". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 21.
^ Killen, John (November 25, 1978). "Cougs vs. Huskies". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
^ "This time Huskies beat Cards on FG." Eugene Register-Guard. p. 4B. 1978 Oct 15. Retrieved 2021-Oct-12.
^ "The Husky Hall of Fame". gohuskies.com. Retrieved 2019-10-08.

External links[]

Official game program: Washington vs. Washington State at Spokane – November 25, 1978

This college football 1970s season article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

[1] "Washington Yearly Results (1975-1979)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Retrieved December 14, 2015.

[btrtpr-2] Withers, Bud (October 21, 1978). "Brooks trying to probe Ducks' 'inner game'". Eugene register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1C.

[sshofmc-3] Missildine, Harry (November 26, 1978). "Steele: Shades of McElhenny". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. C1.

[lmtjsjs-4] Drosendahl, Glenn (November 26, 1978). "Joe Steeles Jack's show - UW romps". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.

[sdcdeb-5] Van Sickel, Charlie (November 27, 1978). "Huskies blitz Cougars in one-sided debacle". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 21.

[hauwsr-6] "Hoosiers ambush UW 14-7". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). September 24, 1978. p. F1.

[fnwayto-7] "Huskies find way to lose to Indiana". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. September 24, 1978. p. 4C.

[bvlup-8] "The lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). September 30, 1978. p. 2C.

[lupdx-9] "The lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). October 21, 1978. p. 2C.

[starsu-10] Missildine, Harry (November 25, 1978). "Stakes are sufficient". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 21.

[cgvshulm-11] Killen, John (November 25, 1978). "Cougs vs. Huskies". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.

[12] "This time Huskies beat Cards on FG." Eugene Register-Guard. p. 4B. 1978 Oct 15. Retrieved 2021-Oct-12.

[13] "The Husky Hall of Fame". gohuskies.com. Retrieved 2019-10-08.

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v t Washington Huskies football
Venues	Various (1889–1894) Denny Field (1895–1920) CenturyLink Field (2011–2012) Husky Stadium (1920–2011, 2013–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Oregon Washington State (Apple Cup)
Culture & lore	Harry the Husky "Bow Down to Washington" Husky Marching Band Quarterback U The Wave 1985 Oregon State game
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders Starting quarterbacks NFL draftees Annual awards
Seasons	1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
National championship seasons in bold

1978 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 2 USC $	6	–	1	–	0	12	–	1	–	0
No. 14 UCLA	6	–	2	–	0	8	–	3	–	1
Washington	6	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Arizona State	4	–	3	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
No. 17 Stanford	4	–	3	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
California	3	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Arizona	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Oregon	2	–	5	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
Oregon State	2	–	6	–	0	3	–	7	–	1
Washington State	1	–	7	–	0	3	–	7	–	1

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll