PART 1: 9/26/09 - #24 Washington at Stanford
On the heels of an 0-12 season, a return to prominence was hardly expected of the 2009 Dawgs. A young and unproven coach, presumed thinness at many key positions, and a challenging schedule all stood as roadblocks to even a respectable re-building year. And yet the Huskies came out swinging. A close opening day loss to #11 LSU was followed by a cathartic win over Idaho. Then, on a national stage, Washington defeated #3 USC behind inspired performances on all sides of the ball. Suddenly, all the pundits and sportswriters were asking, "Are the Huskies back?"
This weekend, suddenly minted as the #24 team in the country, the boys in purple headed to Palo Alto to address this question anew - and I followed close behind.
Saturday, September 26
In many places, fall is a time of gloom and dejection, a time when the retreat of summer leaves a leaden shadow in its wake. Not so in San Francisco. In San Francisco, fall is the life of the party.
The Bay Area awakes to an 80+ degree morning. The day's journey, however, will begin in the early afternoon, as kickoff won't take place until 6PM. An hour or so on the road brings us to the fringe of Stanford's campus, where a group of fellow Husky supporters are rallying/eating.
The mercury is swirling towards triple digits, so a cold treat on the way to the stadium is as much a craving as it is a health precaution.
Despite the recent period of futility on the field, Washington's fans still travel very well. The pre-game bbq, which hosted 30 or 40 exuberant Husky followers, was no aberration. Purple is noticeable everywhere as we continue the short trip to campus. A nearby parking enforcement sign captures somewhat ironically what I believe will be one of the themes of the day.
I'm not too shy to admit that I'm somewhat of a celebrity at Stanford. You see, several months ago I spoke at an on-campus seminar about some new buildings that are being constructed for the School of Engineering. By my own math, that puts me fairly high in the local popularity standings:
- Tiger Woods
- Condoleezza Rice
- Men's basketball team
- Sergey Brin
- Reese Witherspoon
- Me
- Men's football team (more on this later)
Brian, who is again traveling with me, has not seen much of the grounds before, so we take a quick swing through the main quad area, all clay tiles and colonnades (and I do my best to avoid attention/autograph seekers). Even if you are unaware of Stanford's role in higher education, something in the architecture here whispers of intellectual purity.
Mission accomplished, we turn our full attention to the impending game. The football stadium is situated beautifully into the campus landscape, camouflaged so effectively by surrounding trees and earth berms that one could walk by and miss it entirely, if he or she didn't take note of the light towers that are necessary for the glut of night-time games played here.
Stanford is not exactly renowned for supporting its football team. The crowd is officially announced as 36,900, which is less than 75% of capacity. 10-15% of those in attendance are wearing purple, and during pre-game warmups those 10-15% account for roughly 80% of the stadium noise.
First quarter - UW puts its "tackling-optional" unit on the field for the opening kickoff, and Stanford responds by running it back for a touchdown. Husky fans respond by going completely silent.
Both teams are in a very charitable mood to start the game, and exchange turnovers repeatedly. A poor decision by Stanford's quarterback essentially gifts the Huskies a defensive touchdown, and the game stands tied. But things tighten up, Stanford scores again, and is beginning to show signs of being physically dominant on both sides of the ball.
Second quarter - UW's defense has proven that it can stop Cardinal tailback Toby Gerhart. After he gains five to ten yards, that is. Stanford has settled into its obvious game plan of giving Gerhart the ball and instructions to run as far as he can with it. He obliges, repeatedly. Despite a semi-cohesive drive by Jake Locker and the Huskies, Stanford takes a 24-14 lead into the halftime break. If the game were a fight, it wouldn't be that close.
Third quarter - Stanford tacks on a field goal. The Huskies cannot get any points back. Perhaps most frustratingly, the big plays expected of UW's offense in the open field are not happening.
Fourth quarter - Stanford's coach, Jim Harbaugh, proves he is no slouch in the play-calling department. An aggressive, very-well executed Cardinal drive culminates in a touchdown, which is devastating news to Husky fans hoping for a comeback. As it turns out, UW simply cannot get comfortable enough on offense to mount any sort of counter attack. The final score is 34-14.
UW players and coaches had been on the receiving end of a three-week lovefest. As lovefests are wont to do, however, this one ended with a thud on Saturday. The question, "Are the Huskies back?" has a clear enough answer for the time being - No. The question now becomes, "Were the first three weeks of the season just a mirage?"
On October 17, I'll be in Tempe, Arizona, to see UW take on the Arizona State Sun Devils. I'm hoping my time in the desert brings back visions of the early season mirage, or whatever that was.
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