Top 10 Washington Huskies Quarterbacks since 1970
Herb Nightengale
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Over the last 52 years, Washington Huskies quarterbacks have taken their team to great highs. We rank the top 10 UW passers since 1970.
We will name the top ten quarterbacks in the last five full decades. It won’t be easy as some pretty good ones will be left off the list, and there will be disagreement over the order of those making the top ten.
We begin with the 1970s and the ending of Jim Owens’s time in Montlake. He was followed by the Dawgfather Don James, who, over 18 years, coached the most games in Washington Huskies history. We go all the way to 2021 and the final season of Jimmy Lake’s tenure.
Over these five decades, the Huskies had good and bad times, with some outstanding quarterbacks leading the way.
Here are the top ten Washington Huskies quarterbacks since 1970. They aren’t necessarily the most popular quarterback or from the most successful teams, though some are listed among them. Some had success in the NFL, but this list is about how well they played at Washington.
Let’s start the countdown.
#10 Brock Huard 1996-98
Brock Huard, the younger brother, followed Damon to the Washington Huskies instead of going to UCLA. Brock and Damon were the only two starting quarterbacks under Jim Lambright. UW went 44-25-1 under Lambright but only won one of four bowl games and was likely the reason athletic director Barbara Hedges fired him after six seasons.
Brock won the lone bowl game win in his junior season. He also passed up his brother, becoming the Huskies’ fifth leading passer of all time. The younger Huard passer threw for 5,742 yards, 51 touchdowns, and 27 interceptions.
#9 Damon Huard 1992-95
Damon Huard was the first of the two Huard brothers to play quarterback at Washington. He is the father of one of the current UW quarterback Sam Huard.
From 1993-95, Damon was the Washington Huskies’ starting quarterback. The first two years with Damon at quarterback, the Huskies didn’t go to a bowl game though they had a 7-4 record.
His senior year, they played in the Sun Bowl after going 7-4-1 and tied for first place in the Pac-10. They lost to the Iowa Hawkeyes 38-18. Damon is sixth all-time in Huskie’s history in passing yardage with 5,496 yards, including 34 touchdowns.