Times changed for UW-OSU

What’s a must-win game for the Huskies tonight used to be a couldn’t-lose.

Not too long ago, a football game against Oregon State was a gimme for the Huskies, one Washington fans could ink in as a “W” the day the schedules arrived. From 1975-2003, UW lost to Oregon State just twice.

But in a turnaround that vividly illustrates the changing fortunes of the two programs, Oregon State has won six in a row against the Huskies, four in Seattle – all since 2004.

OSU will try to make it seven in a row tonight when the teams kick off at Husky Stadium in a game televised on ESPN.

It’s a game that looms vital for UW’s postseason hopes as the Huskies are 2-3 overall and need to win four of their last seven just to get to .500 – and Washington will have just two home games remaining after this game.

UW coach Steve Sarkisian, though, has said all week that he wants his team thinking only of this game and not of what it might mean for the season, and the players uttered a similar stance.

“We can’t look at one game any more than any other game,” linebacker Cort Dennison said.

Undoubtedly, the Huskies will need their full focus on the Beavers to beat a program that has finished either second or third in the Pac-10 Conference four years running.

It’s a stark shift in the league landscape from the days when OSU went 28 consecutive years without a winning record, a streak that didn’t end until 1999.

Former Huskies quarterback Brock Huard went 3-0 against the Beavers while at UW and remembers how it used to be with OSU bringing up the rear and the Huskies in the ruling class.

Huard, who will be part of the ESPN announcing crew tonight, notes that it’s now Oregon State that has the stable coaching situation and is seemingly able to reload every season. There have been just two head coaches since 1997 and many assistants who have been in place for years, while UW is in a rebuilding mode with its fifth coach in that same time span.

“There was a time you would never have thought that,” Huard said.

OSU coach Mike Riley, who is 67-49 in 10 years at Oregon State, is given much of the credit for the turnaround.

Riley began the turnaround in 1997-98, then left for the NFL for four years while Dennis Erickson finished it from 1999-2002, leading the Beavers to their first winning seasons in almost three decades. When Erickson left for the NFL, Riley returned and has sustained what each built.

Riley said the keys to the turnaround are a newfound belief among the players, as well as improvements in football facilities and a stadium renovation.

“They kind of worked with each other,” Riley said. “(Facilities) really helped, but there’s nothing more important than attitude as far as success.”