Steve Sarkisian’s Huskies started the season with a 5-1 record, lost a spate of games to nationally ranked teams, including Stanford, Oregon and USC, and recovered to shell Washington State in the Apple Cup to finish at 7-5. 2011 marked the first winning season of the Sarkisian era, after he went 5-7 and 6-6 in his first two seasons. This is how the Huskies, who play Baylor in the Alamo Bowl, fared in 2011, game-by-game:
University of Washington 2011 Schedule/Results
| Date | Opponent | UW Rnk | Opp Rnk | W/L | Score | Rec. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/3/11 | vs. Eastern Washington | — | — | W | 30-27 | 1-0 |
| 9/10/11 | vs. Hawaii | — | — | W | 40-32 | 2-0 |
| 9/17/11 | at Nebraska | — | 11 | L | 51-38 | 2-1 |
| 9/24/11 | vs. California | — | — | W | 31-23 | 3-1 |
| 10/1/11 | at Utah | — | — | W | 31-14 | 4-1 |
| 10/15/11 | vs. Colorado | — | — | W | 52-24 | 5-1 |
| 10/22/11 | at Stanford | 22 | 6 | L | 65-21 | 5-2 |
| 10/29/11 | vs. Arizona | — | — | W | 42-31 | 6-2 |
| 11/5/11 | vs. Oregon | — | 6 | L | 34-17 | 6-3 |
| 11/12/11 | at Southern Cal | — | 18 | L | 40-17 | 6-4 |
| 11/19/11 | at Oregon State | — | — | L | 38-21 | 6-5 |
| 11/26/11 | vs. Washington St. | — | — | W | 38-21 | 7-5 |
| 12/29/11 | vs. Baylor | — | 15 | — | — | — |