Looking back at a pair of former UW-Penn State matchups

Washington will play a college football game at Penn State for the first time Saturday evening, but the teams have played each other three times, with two of those meetings being in bowl games.

The Nittany Lions are 3-0 against the Huskies, starting with a 21-7 win in 1921 at Husky Stadium.

Here is a look back at the other two meetings: Penn State’s 13-10 win in the 1983 Aloha Bowl and its 35-28 win in the 2017 Fiesta Bowl.

Defenses rule in Penn State’s Aloha Bowl win

Washington thought it would be headed to the Rose Bowl, after needing just a home win over Washington State, an 18-point underdog, in its final regular-season game to earn a trip to Pasadena.

But the Cougars dominated the Huskies, winning 17-6 and keeping Washington out of the Rose Bowl for the second straight year.

Penn State, meanwhile, came into the game on a roll. Ranked fourth to start the season, the Nittany Lions lost their first three games, then rebounded to lose just once in their next nine games to earn their spot in the Aloha Bowl.

Both defenses were extremely stout.

Reflective of the game, the offensive player of the game was UW punt returner Danny Green, whose 57-yard return in the second quarter gave Washington a 10-7 lead. The defensive player of the game was Penn State punter George Reynolds, who averaged 46.8 yards on eight punts.

It certainly has to be the only bowl game in which the punter and a punt returner won both player of the game awards.

Penn State finally scored a touchdown with three minutes remaining, when D.J. Dozier ran in from 2 yards to put Penn State up 13-10.

Washington, led by senior quarterback Steve Pelluer, was unable to lead the Huskies to a score on their final drive.

Pelluer, who led UW to a Rose Bowl win after the 1981 season, was 19 of 40 for 153 yards, but several of his incompletions were dropped passes.

“We missed more catches than we missed all year,” said Washington coach Don James. “If your offense can’t do anything, you can’t get a drive going. We couldn’t put together a good drive.”

 The Huskies, who finished the season at 8-4, had 279 yards of total offense and punted nine times.

Penn State finished 8-4-1.

Nittany Lions hold off UW rally to win 2017 Fiesta Bowl

Both teams came into the game with 10-2 records. Washington, which had made the College Football Playoff the year before, was ranked No. 12 and Penn State was No. 9.

It figured to be a close game, but it was all Penn State early.

Saquon Barkley’s 92-yard touchdown run, coming against UW’s top-ranked rushing defense, gave the Nittany Lions a 28-7 lead with nine minutes left in the second quarter.

Washington rallied, closing to 35-28 on a 69-yard touchdown run by Myles Gaskin with 6:52 left in the game.

Penn State nearly ran out the clock on the next possession, and UW could not pull off a miracle in the final seconds.

Barkley had 137 of Penn State’s 203 rushing yards, more than double what UW had been allowing per game (92.3). Nittany Lions quarterback Trace McSorley threw for 342 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 60 yards.

UW quarterback Jake Browning was held to 175 yards passing with one touchdown. Gaskin finished with 98 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

“It’s a good football team we played out there,” UW coach Chris Petersen said. “It is, it really is. They had us on our heels most of the night. They got that lead, and it’s hard to catch a good team when they have a big lead.”