Inge Had His Day in the Sun ... Against Huskies

Amid all of the seriousness of fall camp, University of Washington football players have found time for some levity in recent days after learning new co-defensive coordinator Bill Inge once had his way with the Huskies as a player and kidding him about it.

Twenty-seven years ago, their often animated coach lined up as an Iowa defensive end and shared in a one-sided 38-18 Sun Bowl victory over a favored Husky team that quite possibly was distracted by its surroundings on the Mexican border in El Paso.

"Iowa didn't beat us," a UW athletic department official allegedly said after the game was over. "Jose Cuervos beat us."

There were denials by everyone else involved that the Huskies had hangovers and hence didn't come ready to play. Yet the level of ineptitude — such as a muffed punt on the first exchange and a punt snap that went out of the end zone a short time later — would seem to indicate it played some role.

Iowa had its way with this Jim Lambright team. From an aesthetics standpoint, this game might stand as the UW's worst postseason performance of modern times, with a 21-0 halftime deficit not getting much closer after two more quarters.

As CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz and former UCLA coach Terry Donahue called the action from the TV broadcast booth, Inge wore No. 9, got down in a left-handed stance on the left edge and spent the game going head to head with then-Husky tight end Ernie Conwell.

The game matched the UW's co-league championship team against the Big Ten's sixth-place entry. The Huskies were ranked 20th in both polls and Iowa was unranked. The UW, playing in a bowl game for the first time in three seasons because of program probation, was a five-point favorite that proved to be far too generous. Iowa came ready to play.

"The one thing we'll always remember was the level of preparation we had to go through to play the football game," Inge said "We were going to give it our best shot. We were playing a better team."

At the end of the third quarter, Inge and fellow Iowa defender Aron Klein came through to sack UW quarterback Damon Huard. The following day, a photo of the play appeared on the sports cover of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer showing the future Husky defensive coordinator and his teammate lying on top of Huard.

The irony of this was Huard's son, Sam, is now a Husky quarterback who answers to a coaching staff that includes Inge.

The coach remembers a Husky standout named "Lawler" missed the game with an injury. Indeed, it was Lawyer Milloy, the UW's starting free safety who would enjoy a 15-year NFL career, out with a toe issue that forced him to watch the uninspiring effort.

Inge said a lackluster Husky outing such as that one 27 years ago won't happen with the current players going forward.

"That's something as a program, that here, we're going to pride ourselves on not beating ourself," he said.

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