Inside The Huskies

Huskies' William Inge Played in First Alamo Bowl in 1993 and Another in '96

A lopsided defeat and a teammate's tragedy surrounded the games.
Dan Raley|
Huskies' William Inge Played in First Alamo Bowl in 1993 and Another in '96
Huskies' William Inge Played in First Alamo Bowl in 1993 and Another in '96

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Washington Huskies

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — William Inge can tell you all about the Alamo Bowl, and not just from this week's up-close experience.

Inge, the University of Washington's co-defensive coordinator, played for the Iowa Hawkeyes in the very first postseason game held at a brand new Alamodome in 1993 as a freshman inside linebacker, and again as a senior starter in the 1996 game.  

Tough times surrounded his Big Ten team in each of these post-Christmas match-ups in the riverwalk city.

In '93, Inge and his Iowa teammates faced a California Golden Bears team coached by Keith Gilbertson, the former UW offensive coordinator and later the Huskies' head coach, and were thoroughly embarrassed 37-3. 

"We got humbled," Inge said. "It was something, as a young player, as a true freshman, that was great to experience as a freshman because if we got in that scenario again, [another loss] was not going to happen."

Three years later, the Hawkeyes returned to San Antonio and beat Texas Tech 27-0, yet the game proved to be a difficult one because of what happened in advance of it. 

The family for one of Inge's fellow linebackers, Mark Mitchell from Iowa City, was in a van that flipped over and crashed in the state while on its way to the Alamo Bowl. Mitchell's mother, Diane, was killed. 

The team dedicated the Alamo Bowl to Mitchell's mom by removing their Tiger Hawk logos and wearing just black helmets. A game ball was presented to Mark Mitchell. 

"That makes you really appreciate what you have as friends," Inge said. "There was nothing going to stand in our way as a team on a mission."

Inge is preparing for Thursday night's 30th postseason game in San Antonio against the Texas Longhorns, hoping for an Alamo Bowl game that doesn't test everyone in so many ways.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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