PART 3: 12/30/2010 - Washington vs. Nebraska - The Holiday Bowl
Washington's last-second win at Cal on November 27, coupled with a road victory against WSU a week later, ensured that the team's turbulent season would end with a bowl game - the first postseason appearance for the Huskies since 2002. The Holiday Bowl pitted UW against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, a team that had beaten the Huskies (and badly so) in Seattle only three months earlier. The rare in-season rematch offered Washington a chance to return the favor.
And it gave the seniors a final chance to prove that their hard work had the program on its way back.
Wednesday, December 29
Played annually since 1978, the Holiday Bowl is something of a San Diego tradition. Traveling to a bowl game, however, was new to me.
I meet Wilson Brian, who has flown out from Seattle, at SFO a little after 9:00 PM, careful not to allow my car reach a complete stop as I roll up to the Arrivals area. Brian jumps in, and just like that we are off. The ensuing route down Highway 101 will keep us tight to the coastline, and away from the barrenness of I-5.
Some three hours later, we pull over in the township of Atescadero for a short night's sleep. In the early morning, we are back on 101.
Thursday, December 30
There are still a few hundred miles between us and San Diego, so temptation to dawdle must be suppressed. Breakfast, though, is a necessity, one which we satisfy at Ventura, California's Busy Bee Cafe.
One italian sausage omelet, several jukebox songs, and a good portion of the afternoon later, we arrive at Qualcomm Stadium. Tailgating festivities are well underway. Washington fans, euphoric with their 6-6 team, have made the trip in large numbers; the turnout (combined with my immense likability) ensures that I find several different pre-game parties filled with faces from the past.
Night falls, the temperature drops, and unfortunately (as is sometimes the case in life) Qualcomm gets no prettier. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00.
Inside, the pre-game show includes pyrotechnics and parachuters. The two fan bases were each allotted about 15,000 tickets; a survey of the stands confirms that the groups are, for the most part, segregated to opposite sidelines.
First quarter - Nebraska receives the opening kickoff and establishes early success with its bread and butter plays - power runs up the middle. The 'Huskers march to midfield, and decide to open the playbook up a little. The call is a halfback pass, but as the UN running back collects the pitch and sets his feet to throw downfield, an unblocked UW defender clocks him, and the ball is jarred loose. Washington recovers. Pandemonium in the purple-clad section.
Washington's first offensive play, a halfback pass*, gets the ball to the Nebraska 5 yard line. Two plays later, the Huskies punch it in. Later in the quarter, while the UN offense sputters, Washington tacks on a field goal. The unlikely score UW 10, UN 0 punctuates the end of the period.
Second quarter - Nebraska's elusive quarterback Taylor Martinez finally breaks a long run, which in turn sets up a touchdown pass that cuts the Dawgs' margin to 10-7. Then, a scary moment: Washington quarterback Jake Locker takes a big hit from a Nebraska defender and remains on the turf for several minutes. Ushered to the sideline, his backup comes into the game but cannot convert a first down. The early-game optimism felt on this half of the stadium has been replaced, for the moment, with dread. But the Husky defense comes up big and intercepts Martinez, and Locker returns for the next series. Halftime arrives, and the 10-7 score holds.
Third quarter - UW receives the opening kick and needs just two big plays - a Locker pass first, followed by a Locker run - to get into the end zone and extend the lead to 17-7. As the quarter wanes on, Nebraska's offensive struggles compound; its overly simple playbook is no match for a Washington defense playing at peak efficiency.
Fourth quarter - Husky running back Chris Polk, who has amassed 100 yards on the ground to help offset a poor passing day overall by Locker, is stopped on a 4th and 1 attempt from the Nebraska 1 yard line. The 'Huskers have to insert their backup quarterback into the game (Martinez came up limping after a brutal third quarter sack), and they have to pick up yards in chunks with the clock winding down. But the tough field position dooms the drive almost immediately, as a holding penalty in the end zone results in a safety and two more points for UW. 19-7 will prove to be the final margin. As the clock ticks down, disheartened UN fans trickle out of the stadium, while Husky fans, largely in disbelief at what has transpired, begin to push down closer to the field. The final whistle sounds, and the scene, for those in purple, is equal parts catharsis, shock, and jubilation.
Thirty minutes later, Brian and I are still in the building, as are a couple thousand other hoarse UW supporters. I spot Seattle Times sports reporter Bob Condotta interviewing a Husky linebacker as Jake Locker, his legacy buoyed by the team's season-ending four game winning streak, walks off a college field for the final time.
Friday, December 31
Despite big talk the previous day about celebrating in Tijuana if our team won, Brian and I awake in Los Angeles. It is New Years' Eve, and it so happens that the UW men's basketball team will be playing UCLA in the afternoon. Improvising, we agreed the night before to scalp tickets to the game, and then head back up the coast in the evening.
At 12:30, we arrive on UCLA's campus and are surprised to find that the ticket office still has seats available (thirty minutes before tipoff). Things are quiet on campus, and we soon find that trend to extend to the UCLA game experience.
Former UW standout Spencer Hawes could be seen in purple along the sideline before the game.
Brian and I imagined that the trip to Pauley Pavilion - home to eleven national championship teams - would feel like a holy pilgrimage. But the indifferent home fans, and the Bruins' own lackadaisical play, made the whole experience more or less pedestrian. UW jumped out to a big lead in the middle parts of the game and cruised to a victory**.
We left L.A. with plenty to talk about. San Luis Obispo would be our home for the night - and take us into the New Year***. During the three hour drive, the two of us tried to grasp what had happened over the previous 48 hours. For fans of a recently-maligned program, such comprehension did not (and still does not) come easy.
And while it might be foolish to conclude that the UW football program is nationally relevant again, this season had more ups than downs, and there are good reasons to expect this year's modest success to carry over to bigger things as the next decade unfurls.
In the fall of 2011, these segments - following a bowl victory - will begin with a different (more expectant) tone. For most fans of the program, that is probably a welcome change.
*I'm thinking now that it cannot be a common occurrence for opposing teams to run back-to-back halfback passes.
**Earning the basketball team, incidentally, a 2-0 weekend sweep over the L.A. schools
***SLO: You rock!
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