Huskies Find Themselves in a Good Bowl, Looking for an Upbeat Finish

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — A bowl game is generally considered a reward, but 35 years ago and some 400 miles east of here, Jay Roberts just wasn't feeling the postseason magic.

Emerging from a rainy Independence Bowl practice at an obscure high school in Shreveport, Louisiana, the University of Washington linebacker, who was used to nice things after first becoming a No. 1 baseball draft pick for the Atlanta Braves, surveyed his drab surroundings and offered a blunt assessment.

"We're in a s****y bowl," Roberts said unapologetically before climbing aboard a waiting chartered bus.

Fast forward to this sprawling south central Texas city of 1.4 million and there are no complaints whatsoever coming from the current Huskies (10-2 overall, 7-2 Pac-12).

On Thursday night at the 30th Alamo Bowl, Kalen DeBoer's UW football team will meet the Texas Longhorns (8-4 overall, 6-3 Big 12) in the Alamodome in a 6 p.m. PT match-up that's considered one of the entire bowl lineup's most attractive games. ESPN will televise the action to the rest of the country.

The Southwest winter weather has been warm and inviting, and a welcome change from the rest of the country.

San Antonio has a bustling, vibrant holiday feel to it with tourists from throughout the region drawn to the meandering Riverwalk and the historic Alamo fortress downtown.

Whereas most bowl games have trouble drawing half as many people as this outing does — and Roberts' 1987 postseason Louisiana letdown attracted barely a quarter of the amount — the Alamo Bowl expects to deliver a crowd of 60,000, with everyone advised to arrive early to avoid the traffic jams.

It's tradition here. Texas' second-largest city likes to host everyone and annually comes out and supports this game. More often, a Texas school is involved and brings a lot of fans with it.

In 29 previous games, the Alamo Bowl has averaged a 58,324 in attendance. The game has surpassed a crowd count of 65,000 on eight occasions. In 2007, its biggest gathering topped out at 66,166 to watch Penn State beat Texas A&M 24-17.

What's unusual about this game is the head-coaching match-up of the Longhorns' Steve Sarkisian against DeBoer — it's a former Husky football leader (2009-2013) against the first-year UW guy. Sarkisian, in fact, brought a Montlake team here in 2011 and lost to Baylor 67-56 in the highest-scoring FBS bowl game on record.

Over the past two seasons, both schools felt the need to change coaches and start over, and are working hard to return to power after falling off some as successful college football brand names.

These high-achieving Huskies are now trying to become just the fifth team in program history to win 11 or more games in a season; Sarkisian's Longhorns are attempting to win at least 9 games for only the second time in a decade.

"That's one of the things we've talked about earlier on," DeBoer said of the potential for a milestone victory. "It's certainly a great opportunity for our guys. They're proud and we're proud of what we've accomplished this year and really looking forward to putting our product out there for the country to see."

UW TEAMS WITH 11 WINS OR MORE

1984, 11-1 — The Don James-coached Huskies reached the 11-game victory level for the first time by beating Michigan 20-11 in Ann Arbor early in the season and closing with a 28-17 Orange Bowl win over Oklahoma, with perfection spoiled only by a 16-7 loss to USC in Los Angeles.

1991, 12-0 — James' best team in school history ran the table to a co-national championship that it shared with Miami in the respective Coaches and Associated Press polls. Of the tougher teams on the schedule, the Huskies beat Nebraska 36-21 in Lincoln, California 24-17 in Berkeley, USC 14-3 in L.A. and Michigan 34-14 at the Rose Bowl.

2000, 11-1 — Rick Neuheisel's Huskies beat Miami 34-29 and Oregon State 33-30 at home, and topped Purdue 34-24 in the Rose Bowl, with its only blemish coming in a 23-16 midseason loss to Oregon in Eugene.

2016, 12-2 — The UW advanced to the College Football Playoff after taking resounding 70-21 and 44-6 victories over Oregon in Eugene and Stanford at home, respectively, plus beating Colorado 41-10 in the Pac-12 title game in California. The Huskies lost to USC 26-13 at home and to Alabama 24-7 in the Peach Bowl semifinals in Atlanta.

2022, ? — After a dozen games, DeBoer has the Huskies position for 11 wins after beating Oregon 37-34 in Eugene and Oregon State 24-21 in Seattle on last-minute field goals, plus Michigan State 39-28 at home in a game that wasn't that close. The only setbacks have been close ones on the road, 40-32 to UCLA and 45-38 to Arizona State.

The Huskies enter this Alamo Bowl as 3-point underdogs yet they're nearly at full strength, more so than most college teams in the postseason. No one in a purple shirt opted out of this trip to Texas. Just a handful of players — defensive backs Julius Irvin, Davon Banks and Vince Nunley to be specific — previously were lost for the season and/or this outing with injuries. There are no UW what-ifs for this game. Everyone else wanted to be here and is ready to go.

In his first season since arriving from Fresno State, DeBoer has completely turned the Husky program around and won over the fan base. He's relied mostly on a prolific offense designed by the much wealthier offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, he of the two contract extensions in 30 days and bumped-up $2 million annual salary, and triggered by Indiana transfer quarterback Michael Penix Jr. to settle things on the scoreboard while the staff patiently considers a defensive rebuild.

With all of this sudden Husky football success, a half-dozen NFL-worthy underclassmen have announced plans to play again for the UW in 2023 to return and make a run at everything. Foremost has been Penix, who set everything in motion by being the first to declare his intentions and make himself a serious Heisman Trophy candidate. Everyone is still waiting on wide receiver Rome Odunze to determine his future plans.

The signing of a Top 25 recruiting class further has people in and around the program now suggesting the Huskies should be in the conversation next season for a national championship.

That's fairly heady stuff, certainly a far cry from the disastrous 4-8 season of 2021 that led to the firing of coach Jimmy Lake and almost all of his staff and left no postseason possibilities at all.

Eleven years after visiting Shreveport for his bowl game, the aforementioned Jay Roberts sadly died in an Interstate 90 car accident, rolling his vehicle late at night in 1998. The former linebacker was just 35.

If he were in this Texas city today, Roberts no doubt would offer his ready postseason approval. This bowl game, with its big crowd, fancy facility and all of its trappings, would be much more his style.

However, no offense to these hospitable San Antonions, but if the Huskies wind up here again next season, considering the newfound program expectations and serious momentum building, that might be a profound bowl game disappointment, too.

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