2016 Washington Huskies football team


The 2016 Washington Huskies football team represented the University of Washington in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was led by Chris Petersen in his third season as head coach of the Huskies. Washington competed as a member of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference and played their home games on campus at Husky Stadium in Seattle.
Washington finished the season with a 12–2 overall record and went 8–1 in conference to win the Pac-12 North Division, the program's first division title since the Pac-12 expanded and split into divisions in 2011. The Huskies earned a berth in the Pac-12 Championship Game where they defeated Colorado to win their first conference title since 2000. They were selected as the #4 seed in the College Football Playoff and played in the Peach Bowl, where they lost to #1 seed Alabama. Washington was ranked #4 in the final AP Poll of the 2016 season.

Previous season

The Huskies finished the 2015 season 7–6 overall and 4–5 in conference, tying for fourth place in the Pac-12 North. They were invited to the Heart of Dallas Bowl where they defeated Southern Miss.
During the offseason, defensive line coach and special teams coordinator Jeff Choate left Washington to accept the head coach position at Montana State. Former Husky defensive back Ikaika Malloe was hired from Utah State to coach the defensive line in 2016, while linebackers coach Bob Gregory took over special teams.
Wide receivers coach Brent Pease did not have his contract renewed following the 2015 season. Pease was replaced by offensive quality control coach Bush Hamdan, who also took on the title of passing game coordinator.

Schedule

Personnel

Recruiting class

Rankings

Game summaries

Rutgers

Idaho

Portland State

at Arizona

Stanford

at Oregon

Coming off of a 44–6 win against No. 7 Stanford at Husky Stadium, No. 5 Washington traveled to Autzen Stadium to face a 2–3 Oregon team. Prior to this game, Oregon had beaten Washington twelve straight times, ten of which were by a margin of 20 points or more. This was the longest winning streak by either team in the Oregon–Washington football rivalry.
The Oregon winning streak was finally snapped after a 70–21 Washington rout. On the first play from the line of scrimmage, Washington safety Budda Baker, a one-time commit to the Oregon Ducks, intercepted the pass from Oregon's true freshman Justin Herbert. The Huskies took the lead on a Jake Browning touchdown run with 13:23 left in the first quarter and never relinquished it. The Huskies led 35–7 by halftime, 42–7 after the first possession of the third quarter, and 70–21 with 9:58 left in the fourth quarter.
The Washington offense racked up 682 yards of total offense, averaged 10.1 yards per play, amassed 6 passing touchdowns by quarterback Jake Browning, and scored 70 points, the most scored by either team in the rivalry. The Huskies’ 70 points were the second-most an opponent has ever scored on Oregon in Eugene.

Oregon State

at Utah

at California

USC

Arizona State

at Washington State

vs Colorado (Pac-12 Championship Game)

vs Alabama (Peach Bowl - CFP Semifinal)

Awards and honors

Coaches

Chris Petersen - Head Coach
Tim Socha - Strength and Conditioning Coach
Jake Browning - Quarterback - Sophomore
John Ross III - Wide receiver - Junior
Jeff Lindquist - Tight end - Senior
Budda Baker - Safety - Junior
First Team
Second Team
Freshman
Offensive Player of the Year
Freshman Defensive Player of the Year
Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year
First Team
Second Team
Honorable Mention

NFL Scouting Combine

Seven members of the 2016 team were invited to participate in drills at the 2017 NFL Scouting Combine held between February 28 and March 6, 2017 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
DB04Budda BakerS5'10"195"9"4.45*15 reps32.5"115"6.76*4.08*N/A
TE04TE6'3"247""4.55*17 reps32"116"7.094.47N/A
DB28Sidney JonesCB6'0"186""4.47N/A33.5"123"7.024.28N/A
DB31Kevin KingCB6'3"20032""4.4311 reps39.5"*N/A6.56*3.89*11.14*
LB20Joe MathisOLB6'2"26633"9"N/A24 reps*N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
DL39Elijah QuallsDT6'1"313""5.1333 reps*31.5"105"7.654.66N/A
WO42John RossWR5'11"188""4.22†N/A37"133"*N/AN/AN/A

Top performer
† New combine record

2017 NFL Draft

The 2017 NFL Draft was held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia on April 27 through April 29, 2017. The following Washington players were either selected or signed as free agents following the draft.
PlayerPositionRoundOverall PickNFL Team
John Ross IIIWR19Cincinnati Bengals
Kevin KingCB233Green Bay Packers
Budda BakerS236Arizona Cardinals
Sidney JonesCB243Philadelphia Eagles
Elijah QuallsDT6214Philadelphia Eagles
Brandon BeaverSUDFA—Arizona Cardinals
Darrell DanielsTEUDFA—Indianapolis Colts
Jake EldrenkampOGUDFA—Los Angeles Rams
Joe MathisOLBUDFA—Houston Texans