By Rich Myhre
Herald Writer
Wet, blustery weather on a football Saturday is nothing new in the Pacific Northwest. But on Nov. 14, 1981, the day Washington hosted Southern California in a showdown of Rose Bowl contenders, Mother Nature outdid herself.
In the hours before the two teams squared off at Husky Stadium, the region was staggered by a massive windstorm. Winds close to 90 mph – hurricane-force winds start at 75 mph – were measured off the Oregon coast. At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the breeze topped out at a mere 67 mph. An estimated 350,000 people in Western Washington were left without power. Two people in the Puget Sound area died, one from a falling tree and the other from touching a downed power line.
Husky Stadium, meanwhile, was being rocked by powerful gusts. Two hours before kickoff, and before the stadium filled with people, the press box suspended from the overhanging roof was swaying. Early in the game, an official had to hold the ball between plays to keep it from blowing away.
“(Sports columnist) Jim Murray had a famous quote in the LA Times the next day,” said former Washington coach Don James. “He wrote that it was so windy, there were whitecaps on the johns.”
“Back then, when the LA schools came to Seattle, there was always talk about people here wanting it to rain,” said Chuck Nelson, the team’s placekicker. “That’s Husky weather. But the weather that day was a little out of the ordinary. That day was very unique.”
Weather alone, though, was not going to slow USC. The John Robinson-coached Trojans were a mighty bunch, boasting a No. 3 national ranking and tailback Marcus Allen, the soon-to-be Heisman Trophy winner (Allen is the last Heisman winner to appear at Husky Stadium in the year of his award).
Slowing Allen was Washington’s first objective, and the weather was an obvious ally. Knowing the wind would hamper passing, the Huskies stacked defenders along the line of scrimmage. Allen still managed 155 rushing yards in 38 attempts, but he never reached the end zone. Nor did any of the other Trojans, breaking a string of 163 games over 15 seasons in which USC had scored at least one touchdown.
“It’s funny, but I don’t remember the wind all that much,” said Mark Stewart, then a UW All-America linebacker. “All I remember was being so focused, trying to stop Marcus Allen.”
Washington, though, was having its own offensive problems, and midway through the fourth quarter the score was just 3-3. It was then the Trojans appeared to get a decisive break, recovering a UW fumble at the Husky 41.
Instead, the Washington defense responded defiantly. Allen tried a sweep and was knocked down by linebacker Tony Caldwell for a yard loss. On second down, Stewart stopped Allen for a 3-yard loss on a flat pass. After a delay of game penalty and a third-down incompletion, USC was forced to punt.
With just over five minutes left in the game and a possible Rose Bowl berth in the balance, Washington’s offense came to life. Starting from the 20, the Huskies needed seven plays to reach the USC 30. Two key plays were a 17-yard Steve Pelluer pass to fullback Chris James out of the backfield and a USC pass interference penalty.
The drive stalled at the 30 and Nelson was summoned with 2:19 to play. His field goal try, from 46 yards on the right hash mark with Pelluer holding, started straight through the uprights.
“I knew I had hit it well enough,” Nelson said, “and I was just hoping it would go through before the wind got it.”
Nudged by the wind, the ball began drifting to the left, but still cleared the crossbar. And Husky Stadium erupted.
“In that kind of weather, it was one of the better kicks I ever made,” said Nelson, who works today in the investment business and is the color commentator on UW radio broadcasts. And the crowd response “was probably the loudest roar I heard in the three years I was there.”
“To make (a long field goal) in that kind of wind would be incredible for anybody,” James said. “But I had figured if anybody could make it, Chuck could.”
Moments later, there was more delirium. Nelson’s kickoff was caught by the wind and fell very short, bouncing at the 15-yard line. Trojan deep returner Fred Crutcher, running up to make the catch, had the ball bounce over his head. As he retrieved the ball at the goal line and started upfield, Crutcher was slammed by Washington’s Vince Albritton. The ball came loose and bounced into the end zone, where a frantic scramble ensued.
“Everybody, myself included, was making a mad sprint for the ball,” Nelson said.
It was UW freshman linebacker Fred Small who recovered the fumble. In a comic moment, the officials were climbing over bodies and pulling players away in a search for the football – and there was Small at the back of the end zone, joyfully dancing with the ball.
Later, Small would be twice rewarded, receiving both a game ball and a kiss from James. (Asked how many players he smooched in his long coaching career, James said with a chuckle, “He’s probably the only one.”)
USC managed just one first down on its last possession, and the Huskies ran out the remaining seconds to seal the 13-3 victory, one of the most dramatic of the James era. A week later, having beaten Washington State 23-10 and with USC’s 22-21 win over UCLA – the Trojans blocked a UCLA field goal try in the game’s final seconds – the Huskies were Rose Bowl-bound.
The Washington-USC game of 20 years ago stands out for other reasons, too. Allen’s 155 yards gave him 2,123 for the season, making him the first player in college football history to go over 2,000 rushing yards in one year.
Also, UW fans were introduced to a little-known running back named Jacques Robinson. A scout-team player for most of the season, Robinson spent much of the week before the USC game imitating Allen against Washington’s first-team defense. Robinson was so impressive in practice, he was promoted to a primary role and led the Huskies with 42 rushing yards in 13 carries against the Trojans. Seven weeks later, he was the Most Valuable Player in Washington’s 28-0 Rose Bowl win over Iowa.
“We couldn’t stop him in practice,” said James, today retired and living in Bellevue with his wife, Carol. “He was playing against our best defense and they couldn’t touch him. And that was one advantage to me being in the (coaching) tower. If I was down on the field, I wouldn’t have seen that and he would not have played in the Rose Bowl.”
Nelson’s game-winning kick was also the first of 30 consecutive field goals he would make over two seasons, still an NCAA record.
All in all, the windblown UW-USC game of 1981 was another historic chapter in the long, proud annals of Husky football.
“It was a memorable game,” said Stewart, today the head football and track coach at Lynnwood’s Meadowdale High School. “It was one of those games that helped the Huskies in the early ’80s in terms of our national spotlight.”
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