Historical dates haunt UW

A lot of athletes endure 0-for-4 results. Even Ichiro Suzuki has had four at-bats where nothing good materializes.

But when it comes to the storied Washington Huskies football program, this sort of blip rarely happens as the schedule unfurls.

Over 114 previous seasons, the Montlake club has been saddled with this type of season-opening indignation twice _ in 1939 and ‘69.

This weekend, the Huskies travel to Stanford, trying to right themselves and avoid a 0-for-4 start, which equates to a month of total gloom. UW faces a rather weighty task considering the combination of injuries and underachievement, and the fact the host Cardinal are 12 1/2 -point favorites.

The first time this four-game swoon happened to the Huskies it was unlucky. The second time was fairly messy.

“I remember it vividly,” said Ralph Bayard, 55, a wide receiver in ‘69. “It was like a nightmare.”

Bayard not only had the misfortune of going 0 for 4, his UW team, perhaps the worst in school history, whiffed on its first nine games before winning the Apple Cup over an equally inept Washington State club.

Those wounded ‘69 Huskies had to deal with a newly installed and poorly executed wishbone offense; a killer schedule opening with blowouts against Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State and California; bitter racial strife that led to protests, suspensions and player departures; and a decided lack of talent.

“The wheels started coming off fairly early,” Bayard said.

Ernie Steele was an ultraswift running back for the ‘39 UW team, which went 0 for 4 before winning four of its final five outings. The Huskies were drubbed 27-6 in their opener by Pittsburgh, and then lost by a touchdown each to UCLA, WSU and Oregon State, proving to be a fairly respectable outfit.

“I don’t remember it,” said Steele, 86, playfully playing dumb. “I don’t think we ever got upset about it.

“The players were different in those days. They didn’t have cars and things. Times were different. We didn’t have the upper deck. We didn’t have that many people watching us play.”

As the Keith Gilbertson-coached Huskies attempt to regroup in California, they will be comforted in knowing they bear little resemblance to the ‘69 team, according to Bayard, a former UW assistant athletic director.

“They have far better talent, certainly at the skill positions, and more size than we did, and obviously a lot of young players,” he said.

“It’s going to take some time, if people have the patience, to make the transition from the (Rick) Neuheisel regime to the Gilbertson regime.”