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Quarterback Matt Moore led Bruins against Stanford last week.

The Dawgs don’t like to lose in their house, and they will be right at home Saturday when UCLA (5-3, 2-2 Pac-10) travels to Washington (4-4, 1-3). The last time the Bruins were on their territory, in 2000, the Huskies scrapped for a 35-28 win. The rivalry has been, shall we say, vocal.

“They made it known that we lost and it didn’t sit well with us,” Tab Perry said, after the Bruins got revenge last year with a 35-13 beat-down. The Bruins did not shy away from boasting either.

“Rivalry? What rivalry? They gotta win some games for it to be a rivalry,” then-senior wide receiver Brian Poli-Dixon said.

The two then-undefeated teams met on national television for a three-hour DeShaun-Foster-for-the-Heisman-Trophy infomercial, as the UCLA tailback ran all over the touted Washington defense for a record 301 yards, including a 92-yard touchdown run. Meanwhile, the UCLA defense shoved the Huskies backward for minus 8 total rushing yards. 

This year the game is not exactly a marquee matchup. Neither team is ranked for the rumble for the first time in 10 years, which has a lot to do with a 4 p.m. appearance on TBS, the Huskies first ever. The Dawgs’ backs are against the wall as they are in a three-way tie for seventh place in the conference. The Bruins are hanging on to bowl hopes at fourth, with a .500 Pac-10 record. So, while the conditions are different, the need to win is the same.

“For both programs I would say this is every bit as big a game as a year ago. Both programs are trying to make this a positive season,” Washington head coach Rick Neuheisel said. 

Neuheisel and UCLA head coach Bob Toledo’s relationship has been the subject of gossip since Neuheisel, a former UCLA quarterback and later an assistant coach, was passed over for the head coaching position in favor of Toledo. The backbiting started again when each criticized the other last February for negative recruiting involving current Husky Clayton Walker and current Bruin starting strong safety Jarrad Page. The two coaches insist all is forgiven and forgotten.

“I like to see all nine (other Pac-10) teams struggle, not them in particular,” Toledo said.

Neuheisel said in July that playing UCLA is still the hardest game for him every year because of his Bruin history. He is not the only one with strong feelings.

“This game was real personal to us. We let our pads do the talking today,” Craig Bragg said after last year’s game.

Washington backup quarterback Taylor Barton felt the effects of that discourse. The Bruin defense left him with a concussion that put him in the hospital for the night. A week later he received a letter of apology from Bruin defensive end Dave Ball, who laid a particularly vicious late hit that displeased Toledo.

This year the defense is charged with stopping a struggling Husky rushing attack that averages under 80 yards per contest and a lethal passing game that averages 356 yards per game.

“They have probably one of the best receiving corps I’ve seen so far,” sophomore free safety Matt Ware said. “And with Pickett at quarterback sometimes they seem untouchable”

“We’re not blocking very well. When we get the opportunity to hit a hole and break a tackle, we haven’t made anybody miss,” Neuheisel said. “So we leaned on our throwing game. The throwing game started off the season gangbusters, but as we’ve become a little one-dimensional, it has dried up a bit.”

The UCLA offense will jump in a true freshman quarterback to the rivalry. Whoever plays will likely have to pass more than last week because the Dawgs boast the top run defense in the Pac-10, yielding 79.2 yards per game. Neither Drew Olson nor Matt Moore have experienced anything like the hostile environment of Husky Stadium, which boasts the best attendance in the league. Who is left talking will be decided Saturday.