SEATTLE — Washington opens the 2013 football season against Boise State in a renovated venue near the UW campus.
The Huskies found out Sunday afternoon that they’ll also close out the 2012 season against the Broncos — and even a new Husky Stadium can’t possibly hold a candle to this site.
Washington (7-5) and 20th-ranked Boise State (10-2) will play in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 22, it was announced Sunday.
“Boise State is a tremendous opponent, one that’s been good for many, many years,” Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian was quoted as saying in a UW press release. “We’re excited about the opportunity to prepare for them and play against them.”
“We are excited to return to the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas and face the University of Washington,” Broncos head coach Chris Petersen said in a statement. “Coach Sarkisian and his staff do an excellent job in preparing their team and we look forward to the challenge of playing a Pac-12 opponent for the second straight year.”
Despite their proximity, the Huskies and Boise State have played only one time previously. That game was in September 2007, when UW upset the 22nd-ranked Broncos.
Washington recently signed a home-and-home contract with Boise State, meaning the schools will play at the new Husky Stadium in next season’s opener and again in Boise in 2015.
“I think it can become one of those classic rivalries that get set up,” Sarkisian said in the press release. “Everybody loves a good rematch, you know?
“Somebody’s going to win and somebody’s going to lose this first one. Then we are going to come back nine months later to see who can win the second one.”
It marks the third year in a row that the Huskies will play in a bowl game, and this is the first time UW will play a pre-Christmas game in the Sarkisian era.
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