Game Daily: This week in Husky history

Nov 6, 2015, 12:16 AM

The Washington football team has faced off against Utah just eight times, and has yet to be beaten by the Utes. On Oct. 31, 1953, Utah came to Seattle for the third matchup between the two teams. The UW would eventually pull off a 21-14 victory in front of a small, rain-soaked crowd of just over 21,000 at Husky Stadium, but in the first half, it was Utah that dominated the scoreboard, taking a 7-0 lead into the break. The Huskies wouldn’t put any points on the board until after the half. “Utah had a tricky offense,” first-year head coach John Cherberg told The Daily. Entering the game, Utah was the top ranked offense in the country, with an average of 400 yards per game. In comparison, the Huskies were averaging only 260 yards. At the start of the second half, the UW went 57 yards in 13 plays to tie the score at 7-7. Jim Houston caught a pass from quarterback Sandy Lederman for the touchdown and Wendell Niles made the extra point. Late in the third quarter, UW’s Bob McNamee returned a punt for 86 yards to the end zone but a UW player was called for clipping. The touchdown was brought back as the Huskies incurred a 15-yard penalty. This was the second clipping penalty of the game, as one came early in the second quarter after Utah had made a march downfield but was penalized and the ball moved back to the Washington 18. This put the Utes at fourth-and-14, but they were sacked, lost 8 yards, and the UW took possession. “Utah is a smooth operating team. They won’t throw the same thing at you more than once,” Cherberg told The Daily. “They play a wide-open game; running up the middle, around the ends, and if they can’t run against you they have a fine passing attack.” In the fourth quarter, the Huskies pulled ahead 14-7 with the second touchdown pass from Lederman on the night, a 58-yard play finding George Black in the end zone. Utah would come back with a second score in the fourth quarter, but Lederman and Black connected one more time for the game-winning touchdown. The duo set the longest passing play of the year with a 69-yard completion. Lederman ended the night 7-for-12 with three passing touchdowns. Black still sits in the record book for the UW at ninth in yards per reception in a single game after catching four passes for 136 yards against Utah. The 1953 Huskies ended the season with a 3-6-1 record, 2-4-1 in the Pacific Coast Conference. Reach Editor-in-Chief Kathryn Altena at sports@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @kkaltena

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