Inside The Huskies

UW's Al-Uqdah Ready For Emotional Return to Pullman

The linebacker spent three seasons at the WSU before turning to the transfer portal.
Dan Raley|
Buddah Al-Uqdah will face have a Pullman reunion when the UW faces Washington State.
Buddah Al-Uqdah will face have a Pullman reunion when the UW faces Washington State. | Dave Sizer photo

Taariq "Buddah" Al-Uqdah has 12 days to think about it. Less than two weeks to prepare for what surely will be an heart-tugging moment for him. Just enough time to wrap his head around returning to Pullman, Washington.

On September 20, following this bye week, the University of Washington linebacker will show up on the other side of the Apple Cup, this time playing for his new football team against his old one, Washington State.

"I think about it a lot," he said in fall camp. "I'm excited to go back for sure. It'll be fun for sure."

Al-Uqdah will return to the Palouse where he spent the previous three years of his football life, departed when his WSU coach Jake Dickert moved to Wake Forest and most likely will be seen as the hated rival when in town.

Except that people, no matter where they live, can't really dislike this easy-going, hard-working player.

Buddah Al-Uqdah makes contact with a Colorado State player.
Buddah Al-Uqdah makes contact with a Colorado State player. | Dave Sizer photo

After all, Al-Uqdah learned long ago not to hold any grudges himself over any perceived slights.

Coming out of high school in Los Angeles, he received a scholarship offer from Jimmy Lake's UW coaching staff only to have the Huskies pass on him when he wanted to play in Montlake and it came time to sign the paperwork.

So three years later, Al-Uqdah has shown everyone he belongs in Seattle and pulls on a purple and gold uniform.

He starts at inside linebacker for the Huskies, further demonstrating how the Husky coaching staff earlier made a huge mistake in turning its back on him.

Rather than having his feelings hurt forever, Al-Uqdah has made it known to the UW and Jedd Fisch's staff he is a bonafide football talent.

"I wanted to play on a big stage," Al-Uqdah said.

For a lot of players in this situation, they would insist the Apple Cup is just another game. Not the man named Buddah. It means everything.

He was thinking about this match-up long before the season began, acknowledging as much when UW fall football camp began.

Washington State's Taariq Al-Uqdah (0) celebrates an interception return for a touchdown against Oregon State in 2024.
Washington State's Taariq Al-Uqdah (0) celebrates an interception return for a touchdown against Oregon State in 2024. | Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

A year ago, Al-Uqdah had 6 tackles and shared in WSU's 24-19 victory over the UW at Lumen Field in downtown Seattle, leading a defense that rose to the occasion at the end.

He's now considered the Huskies' top linebacker, turning in a 6-tackle, 1-TFL performance in the UW's season-opening 38-21 victory over Colorado State and following up with a team-best 5 tackles in a 70-10 rout of UC Davis.

Now it's back to Pullman for an afternoon of emotional football .

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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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