Huskies Made Great Sacrifices to Reach Houston

It was 15 football games spanning five months, a season that began in Seattle and finished up in south Texas, touching University of Washington football followers everywhere.

The Huskies took down Michigan State, but they couldn't handle Michigan.

Still, they came so close to winning a national championship, all of the program's legendary figures dating back to Sonny Sixkiller, plus bringing Steve Emtman out of seclusion, had to come to Houston to see everything unfold.

This Kalen DeBoer team played seven times during the regular season at Husky Stadium before advancing to the postseason where they took on all comers in three consecutive NFL venues — the Las Vegas Raiders' Allegiant Stadium, the New Orleans' Saints Superdome and the Houston Texans' NRG Stadium — where down went Oregon and Texas, but Michigan provided push-back.

Chances are, some of the departing Huskies might find regular pro football homes in those impressive facilities, all either new or remodeled to meet modern times. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. probably owes to himself to join the Texans to show he can win big in the Texas town.

UW offensive tackle Troy Fautanu emerges from pregame smoke at NRG Stadium in Houston as the Huskies run onto the field.

UW guard Gaard Memmelaar grew up on an Idaho farm, so this might be typical attire for him, but either way he was dressed for a Texas visit.

Alphonzo Tuputala wraps up Michigan's Blake Corum during the CFP national championship game at NRG Stadium in Houston.

UW wide receiver Jalen McMillan makes sure everything is connected before he runs through another play in the CFP championship game.

With hair flying, UW safety Kam Fabiculanan looks for his helmet after having it pulled off against Michigan in the CFP title game.

Husky long snapper Jalen Green prepares to send one back to holder Jack McCallister while guard Nate Kalepo (71) sets himself next to him.

UW freshman Tybo Rogers breaks a tackle in the CFP championship game, leaving a Michigan defender sprawled on the turf.

Grady Gross looks like he's levitating, but the Husky kicker is actually just getting loose before sending a kickoff downfield against Michigan.

With Michigan fans looking on, UW linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio runs step for step with Michigan's Roman Wilson and breaks up the pass.

UW quarterback Michael Penix Jr. stops and takes a moment to look back at NRG Stadium after his college football career comes to an end against Michigan.

Skylar Lin is a UW student and a talented photographer who traveled on red-eye flights and arrived on the morning of each of the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans and the College Football Playoff championship game in Houston in order to capture images of these historic Husky moments. He next turned around and traveled back to Seattle on overnighter flights those same evenings, budget-minded and conserving his time.

No matter the circumstances, his photos are extremely creative and always in focus, giving no evidence of his lack of sleep or amount of miles involved.

Loaded here are 10 Lin images from the UW-Michigan game, showing different plays, different players, different emotions.

Even though it fell short of a national title, this Husky football team in the 134th season of the program's existence was inspiring to a tremendous amount of people, capturing everyone's attention in the Northwest and beyond, making them wonder what will come next from DeBoer's team.

As for Lin, he said he would be ready to go for spring practice — which won't require an overnight flight for him to attend and begins in just a matter of weeks. Plenty of time for him to catch up on his sleep.

Check out his accompanying gallery from Houston.

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