Jake Locker, Washington Huskies (photo by Despeaux, via Wikimedia) (1)
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.
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.
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.
The 1970s began with Native American Sonny Sixkiller as the Washington Huskies quarterback. Sonny was and still is a popular Husky alumnus. Many young teenagers between 1970-72 looked up to him.
He certainly is the reason I started becoming a Huskies fan. It didn’t hurt that he had a cool name, but he could play. I didn’t see him play very much since not many games were on television back then. However, I didn’t miss listening to the games on the radio.
Today Sonny is still the eighth-ranked passer in Washington Huskies football history. In his three years at UW, he threw for 5,496 yards and 35 touchdowns.
Washington had some lean seasons during Jake Locker’s time at Montlake. Tyrone Willingham was Locker’s coach for his first two college football seasons. Locker’s freshman season of 2007, the Huskies went 4-8 and finished last in the Pac-10. He still shined, throwing for 2,062 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions.
The following year, Locker missed most of the season because of injury. He played only 4 games, and the Huskies went 0-12. Washington fired Willingham after the season.
Steve Sarkisian became the Washington Huskies Head Coach during Locker’s junior season. The Huskies were 5-7 in 2009, followed by 7-6 the next year. It was the only season Locker had a winning season. UW finished 4th in the conference and went to the Holiday Bowl, where they upset Nebraska 19-7.
Though the Huskies had a losing record during Locker’s time at Washington, he passed for more yards than anyone up to that point except Cody Pickett. He is now number four with 7,639 yards. Also, Locker has more rushing yards than any other quarterback at Washington with 1,939 yards.
Mark Brunell and Billy Joe Hobert came in together for Don James’ last three seasons. A time when the Huskies had so much success. In 1991 Hobert became the starting quarterback because of an injury to Brunell.
The Huskies went undefeated 12-0, beating Michigan 34-13 in the Rose Bowl to become co-national champions with Miami. Certainly, the best season in Huskies’ history. To this day, Washington Huskies fans believe they should have been undisputed the National Champions.
Hobert was a rare breed, never losing a college football game. Hobert threw for 2,273 yards in 1991 with 22 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
He may be more infamous than famous among the Washington Huskies faithful. In 1992, Hobert ran afoul of the NCAA. He came under scrutiny over a loan. As a result of their investigation, the NCAA handed harsh penalties to the Washington football program. Shortly after the season, James resigned, ending the Dawgfather Era.
Mark Brunell returned to be the starting quarterback in 1992. The Huskies tied for the Pac-10 title with a 9-3 record. Michigan avenged their loss the previous New Year’s Day and beat the Huskies 38-31. His senior year wasn’t as good as his sophomore one.
He ranks 13th on the all-time passer list with 3,423 passing yards and 23 touchdowns. Hobert is 18th.
Jake Locker was a tough act to follow, but Keith Price was more than up to the task. After seeing spot duty as a freshman, he became the Huskies’ starting quarterback in 2011.
UW wasn’t exactly stellar during Price’s tenure. They were 7-6 in his sophomore and junior season, dropping both bowl games. During his senior season, things were much better.
A three-game October losing streak derailed Washington’s Pac-12 title hopes, but they still finished 8-4. That included a 31-16 win over the Taysom Hill-led BYU Cougars in the Fight Hunger Bowl. For the season, Price threw for just under 3,000 yards and had 21 TDs compared to only 6 interceptions.
Price passed Locker, becoming the Washington Huskies’ third all-time passer with 8,921 yards. He’s also second in touchdowns, hitting paydirt 75 times.
Marques Tuiasosopo spent his first two seasons at Washington as Brock Huard’s backup. When Rick Neuheisel took over as head coach in 1999, the strong-armed Samoan became the Huskies’ starter.
That year, UW was 7-5 overall but 6-2 in the Pac-10, which was good for second place. Their season ended with a 24-20 loss to Kansas State in the Holiday Bowl. Tuiasosopo finished with 2,221 passing yards and 12 touchdowns. He also ran for another 541 yards and 6 more scores.
In 2000, Marques’s senior year, the Huskies had an excellent season, going 11-1. Washington beat Purdue in the Rose Bowl 34-24, and Tuiasosopo was the MVP. The Huskies finished the year ranked third in the polls.
He is seventh in passing yardage at Washington with 5,501 yards In rushing yards, Tuiasosopo’s 1,374 yards is number two among Huskies’ quarterbacks.
Whether Warren Moon is the top quarterback or not at Mountlake, he is undoubtedly one of the best known. James made a wised decision for his first starting quarterback at Washington.
Moon was an African-American quarterback at a time when African Americans weren’t seen as major college quarterback material. Needless to say, he didn’t generate much interest from big-time schools when he graduated from high school. So, Moon started his career at a Junior College in his hometown, West Los Angeles College.
UW wasn’t very good his first two seasons, going 11-11. Moon wasn’t that great either. In 19 games, he completed just 43.4% of his passes for 1,693 yards with 8 touchdowns and 10 picks. But things were about to change.
1977 was Moon’s senior season, and both he and the Huskies kicked it up a notch. Washington went 8-4, winning the Pac-8 Championshinship and upsetting #4 Michigan 27-20 in the Rose Bowl (Moon was the MVP).
For his part, Moon was electric. He had a combined 1,850 passing and rushing yards with 17 total touchdowns.
When he left Washington, only Sonny Sixkiller was above him in passing. As all football fans know, Moon went on to have a stellar 23-year professional career. After going undrafted by the NFL, he went north to Canada, winning five Grey Cups in six seasons with Edmonton.
Moon then joined the NFL in 1984 and quickly made up for lost time. His 49,325 passing yards are 13th all-time, and 291 touchdowns rank 16th. In 2006, he was enshrined in the Professional Football Hall of Fame.
In his second year leading the Washington Huskies, Head Coach Chris Peterson turned to heralded freshman Jake Browning to run his offense. It was the first of Browning’s four seasons as UW’s starting quarterback.
The Huskies were 7-6 his freshman season, culminating in a 44-31 win over Southern Mississippi in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. Browning finished the season 233 of 369 for 2,955 yards and 16 touchdowns. That included a 405-yard game against Arizona State.
Fortunes picked up for the Washington Huskies over the next three years. They went 12-2 (#4 ranked), 10-3, and 10-4, for a combined 32-9 record. Unfortunately, UW lost all three of the New Year’s six bowl games they played.
In Browning’s sophomore year, the Huskies were 8-1 in the Pac-12 and 12-2 overall. They beat Colorado in the Pac-12 Championship Game to claim another Conference title. The quarterback put on quite the show during the year, throwing for 3,430 and 43 touchdowns against just 9 interceptions. Their season ended with a loss to Alabama in the National Semifinal Game, and UW finished as the #4 ranked team in the polls.
His final two seasons at Washington weren’t as prolific; the Huskies were a combined 20-7. Browning threw for 2,719, and 3,192 yards, respectively, with 35 touchdown passes.
Browning owns several all-time Washington Huskies passing records. He has the most career passing yards, 12,226, and touchdowns, 94. The prolific passer also holds the record for most touchdowns in a season, 43 in 2016. He was the only Huskies quarterback to throw 6 touchdowns in a single game; he did it twice and also had a 5 TD game.
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