SEATTLE – When Paul Williams found out Fresno State University was going to open the 2004 season at the University of Washington, he knew he was in for much more than a football game.
It would be, the Bulldogs sophomore said Sunday, a chance “to finally get some closure.”
Williams is the younger brother of former UW safety Curtis Williams, who was left paralyzed after suffering a severe spinal cord injury in an Oct. 28, 2000, game at Stanford. He died of complications from his injury in May of 2002.
When he heard about the upcoming trip to Seattle, Paul Williams immediately took a calendar and began counting the days to the game.
“That was 228 days ago,” he said.
There were, he added, “so many emotions going on as soon as I heard about it. And as it started getting closer, I started getting more and more anxious.”
How could this be just another game in his young career? He would be taking the field at Husky Stadium where his brother played just a few seasons ago. He would be seeing some of his brother’s one-time teammates and coaches. He would be playing in front of fans that cheered for his brother and later mourned his death.
What was it going to be like, he had wondered that day. And every day since.
So, what was it like?
“It was great,” Williams said Sunday in a voice touched with emotion. “It was just a great experience. Finally, there are no more questions or anything like that. My family, they were happy to see me making plays on the same field Curtis made plays on. And now I can just go on.”
Williams did not start Sunday’s game – he is a backup wide receiver – but he had one of the day’s biggest plays. Early in the third quarter, he broke free on the left sideline for a 43-yard reception that moved Fresno State to the Washington 11-yard line. Two plays later, the Bulldogs scored a touchdown that put them on top to stay, 14-7.
A day earlier, the Huskies had prepared a special tribute to Curtis Williams. A purple 25, which was his jersey number, was painted along the white sideline boundary near the Washington bench.
“We wanted to do something to honor Curtis,” said Huskies coach Keith Gilbertson. “Curtis always loved playing in Husky Stadium and this is a fitting tribute.”
Paul Williams said he did not notice the No. 25 during the game, “but I wish I had. And that’s great they did that. I’d like to thank the people at Washington for caring for my brother so much.”
There was a particularly special moment after the game. It happened when UW defensive back Jimmy Newell sought out Williams. Newell, a senior, was a redshirt freshman the year Curtis Williams was injured.
“(Newell) came up to me after the game and told me it was a privilege to play with my brother,” Paul Williams said. “That meant a lot to me.”
Braunstein boots it: Michael Braunstein, a redshirt freshman who came to Washington with much fanfare, finally kicked his first career field goal after incumbent Evan Knudson missed from 37 and 38 yards in the first quarter.
Braunstein nailed a 25-yarder in the third quarter and also made a PAT after Washington’s first touchdown.
“Evan’s a good kicker,” Braunstein said. “I respect him a lot. He came over to me and said, ‘Hey, keep the job.’ He did a good job last year. It’s my time to shine now.”
Despite having redshirted last season, Braunstein did appear in games against Indiana and Idaho. He kicked an extra point against the Vandals, but the job was given after that game to Knudson, a walk-on.
After the game, UW head coach Keith Gilbertson said Braunstein, a scholarship player, has a leg up in the kicking competition.
Tuiasosopo goes long distance: Senior fullback Zach Tuiasosopo’s 50-yard carry in the second quarter was by far the longest of his UW career. His previous long was 13 yards, against Nevada last season.
Tuiasosopo came into the game with just 123 career rushing yards.
“You’ve got to give it to the O-line,” Tuiasosopo said of his 50-yarder. “That’s first and foremost. It was blocked perfectly up the middle and I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
Tuiasosopo carried twice for 51 yards and caught five passes for 47 yards. Both reception totals are career-highs.
Before Tuiasosopo’s run, the last time a UW non-tailback ran for that many yards on a single carry was Sept. 12, 1992, when quarterback Billy Joe Hobert ran for a 60-yard TD against Wisconsin.
Goldson pounces on one: UW free safety Dashon Goldson, a JC transfer playing in his first game as a Husky, recovered a fumble by Fresno State tailback Dwyane Wright in the first quarter.
Linebacker Joe Lobendahn slammed into Wright, causing the ball to bounce upfield and right to Goldson on the Fresno State 38-yard line. Goldson circled around, cut to his left and gained 11 yards.
He said he thought he could score, but that Bulldog quarterback Paul Pinegar cut off the sideline.
“I thought I was going to bring it back until I saw the quarterback pop up in front of me,” Goldson said. “I was running away from those big linemen. He thought I didn’t see him, but I did. He just cut my legs out from under me.”
Goldson also had five tackles and broke up two passes.
No bye fan: The Huskies take next Saturday off before opening Pacific-10 Conference play Sept. 18 at home against UCLA.
But to Gilbertson, a bye this early in the season is a waste.
“I think a bye is valuable when school is in session and then maybe you can give some guys time to get healthy,” he said. “I wouldn’t mind having a bye during conference play. This will seem like a long time until we play next.”
Former Husky fan: As a youngster growing up in the Los Angeles area in the late 1960s and early ’70s, Fresno State coach Pat Hill rooted for Washington.
“In LA, all my friends liked USC and UCLA,” he explained. “I wanted to be different. So I was a Husky fan when I was a kid.”
Hill remembers how former UW coach Jim Owens had a unique tradition. While most players on the team had gold helmets, those defensive players who excelled with hard work and physical play were rewarded with purple helmets.
“I thought that was a great concept,” Hill said, “and I grew up thinking the Huskies were a very physical team.”
Baptism by fire: Three true freshmen played in Sunday’s game – defensive linemen Greyson Gunheim and Jordan White-Frisbee, and linebacker Daniel Howell. Redshirt freshmen who were seeing their first game duty for the Huskies were wide receiver Anthony Russo, safety Chris Hemphill, quarterback Carl Bonnell, linebacker Kyle Trew and cornerback Cody Ellis.
That’s a fact: Sunday’s loss was Washington’s first in a home season-opener since 1985, when Oklahoma State stopped the Huskies 31-17.
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