Under fourth-year head coach Don James, the team compiled a 7–4 record, tied for second in the Pacific-10 Conference, and outscored its opponents 270 to 155.
The team captains were Jackson, Nesby Glasgow, Scott Greenwood, and Jeff Toews.
In the newly-expanded Pac-10, the defending champion Huskies returned eighteen starters, but not at quarterback.
The two losses were to UCLA and USC, and the Huskies defeated Washington State in the Apple Cup for the fifth consecutive year.
[2][3][4] An unexpected non-conference loss at unranked Indiana in September likely kept Washington out of a bowl game.