Against Purdue, Sonny Sixkiller Brought Husky Offense to a Full Boil

As the Washington and Purdue football teams got ready to play in a nationally televised game on ABC, the Astroturf at Husky Stadium felt like 100 degrees.

Sonny Sixkiller was even hotter.

If they didn't know him already, college football fans across America got to see the swashbuckling quarterback at his playmaking best on an unseasonably warm Saturday afternoon in Seattle.

Sixkiller brought the Huskies back from deficits on four occasions, the last time rifling a 33-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Tom Scott with 2:29 left to decide a fun-filled 38-35 shootout.

"It was my favorite game," Sixkiller said.

It had the three P's: Purdue, passes and plenty of points.

The Big Ten team showed up with a big-time offense that featured quarterback Gary Danielson, running back Otis Armstrong and wide receiver Darryl Stingley, all future NFL players and a star-crossed group.

Danielson is best known today as a college football broadcaster. Armstrong became Purdue's all-time leading rusher and a two-time Pro Bowler. Stingley tragically was left quadriplegic following a fearsome pro football hit from Jack Tatum and died from complications of his injury in 2007.

On this day, each Boilermakers standout had a long touchdown in him.

One of them was Danielson''s 80-yard scoring pass to Stingley in full stride behind the UW secondary with 3:39 remaining in the game, putting Purdue in front 35-31.

The Huskies turned to Sixkiller for a response.

He moved the Huskies 71 yards in five plays and 70 seconds, finding Scott in the right corner of the end zone.

Husky Stadium went delirious in the 72-degree heat.

"Sonny Sixkiller is just unbelievable," Danielson marveled.

Sixkiller got to fire at will again, completing 24 of 48 pass attempts for a school-record 387 yards, 27 more than the previous mark that also belonged to him.

This game had fireworks throughout. In the second quarter, Stingley took a pitch from his flanker position and ran one in from 17 yards out, Danielson went around the corner on a QB keeper and scored from 43 yards away and Scott took an end-around and raced 60 yards for a TD. After intermission, Armstrong broke free for a 39-yard score.

Always, these Huskies and their pop-culture quarterback had an answer.

"I think we showed we can come from behind and score from any place on the field if we have to," said Scott, who caught 6 passes for 160 yards.

Sixkiller delivered another 8 passes for 115 yards to the acrobatic and equally diminuative Jim Krieg.

In Scott and Krieg, he had these super gnats.

The victory would send the high-powered Huskies to No. 17 in the Associated Press poll, their first national ranking in seven seasons.

Jim Owens called it his most satisfying win in 15 seasons as the Washington coach because his team had trailed 14-7, 21-17, 28-24 and 35-31, and still won.

With his confidence at an all-time high, the big-play UW quarterback held court with reporters in the locker room and explained how he and his Huskies got it done.

Sixkiller told how he had the green light to throw from just about anywhere on the field from quarterbacks coach Jerry Cheek, shown in the accompanying photo. It didn't matter how low-percentage the throw was. Cheek implored him to go out there and make things happen.

Purdue, which deserved to win this game, tried every defense it had and couldn't stop this guy.

"All we had to do was stay cool and score," Sixkiller said. "And I knew we were going to do it. I just knew it. If I ever stop thinking that, I better quit."