SEATTLE — On Friday, the University of Washington football team steps into the shine of Friday Night Lights.
The Huskies are scheduled to depart for Texas, where they will continue practicing for next Thursday’s Alamo Bowl against Baylor. While the UW coaches and players were excited to be on their way to San Antonio, they also knew they were venturing into a hornet’s nest.
“They’ve got a little bit of a home-field advantage,” sophomore linebacker Jamaal Kearse said. “But for me, I always enjoy playing road games more.”
In what amounts to a road game, the Huskies will travel more than 2,000 miles to face a team that’s making a three-hour drive from Waco. But anyone who thinks the Huskies might be intimidated don’t remember how UW’s last bowl experience turned out.
This time last year, the Huskies were heading south to San Diego to face a Nebraska team that hammered UW earlier in the season at Husky Stadium. In the rematch, Washington beat the Cornhuskers in a Holiday Bowl stunner.
This time around, the Huskies have experience on their side.
“We didn’t know what to expect last year,” said junior cornerback Justin Glenn, a graduate of Kamiak High School. “Now we know what to expect.”
Part of the experience, as the Huskies learned last December, has to do with off-the-field activities. Rather than going to Sea World and the San Diego Zoo, this year’s team will take in a San Antonio Spurs game, learn about the Alamo and spend time on the Riverwalk.
“We’re obviously going down there to win,” junior center Drew Schaefer said. “That’s our goal, and that’s why you put all this work into it. But there’s also a little bit of a reward to it. You get to go down, spend some time as a team and explore San Antonio. But when it comes down to it, our goal is to win the game.”
Said Kearse: “Every time we go somewhere to play a game, it’s a business trip. But it’s a game at the end of the day; it’s still a game. And we need to get the job done.”
Much like last year’s Holiday Bowl, the Huskies (7-5) go in as heavy underdogs. Baylor (9-3) is ranked 15th in the country and features the best player in college football: Heisman trophy-winning quarterback Robert Griffin III.
The Bears also should have plenty of support from the area in and around Waco, where Baylor football has reigned supreme despite powerhouse programs in both men’s and women’s basketball this season.
As Baylor football coach Art Briles said during a welcoming press conference earlier this month: “We’re pumped being here, first of all because it allows our fans to come out and see us. They’ve been here for this ride all year, and it allows them to be here with us.”
The Huskies maintain that they won’t be intimidated by any unbalanced support in the Alamodome stands.
“They’re going to have their fans, we’re going to have our fans,” UW cornerback Desmond Trufant said. “Our fans are pretty loud, too. It’s going to be a great game. I’m excited.”
While Friday’s trip means the Huskies won’t be home for Christmas, head coach Steve Sarkisian said that’s fine with him.
“That’s the one gift I always tell the team,” he said. “The one gift I want for Christmas is just let me wake up in a hotel room and go practice. I get to do that this year. It happens to be in San Antonio, so we’ll have a ball with it.”
Said Glenn: “We’re excited. We’re playing this time of year and a lot of teams are sitting at home. It’s exciting.”
The Huskies might have to fly to the heart of Texas to play a team from the Lone Star State, but that didn’t seem to be of much concern as they prepared for UW’s first-ever appearance in the Alamo Bowl.
“We’re excited to go play,” Sarkisian said after the Huskies wrapped up their practices at UW on Monday. “We’ve earned this opportunity, to go play in the Alamo Bowl on national television, and against a very good opponent.”
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