The Dawgfather
AlanFollowing the lead of our poised-beyond-his-years QB, Jake Locker, I wanted to take a few days to calm down after the heartbreaking OT loss to Notre Dame on Saturday before I addressed the public. Like Jake, I didn’t want to say anything I regretted while wrapped up in the emotion of such a hard fought game.
I am glad I never said things like “We would have won if…”:
- The Big 10 officials in the replay booth did not take 6 points off the board after Chris Polk scored a TD (note to refs, there must be “indisputable video evidence”)
- We would have scored on any of our 10 chances at 1st and goal to go
- We would have stopped the scrum on on a 2 point ND conversion late in the game (or if the refs would have ruled forward progress had stopped, or the player’s knee was down)
- We didn’t wear all white
Thankfully I didn’t say any of that because what we really need is some perspective three days removed from one of the best college football games in recent history. True, the Huskies defense gave up a lot of yards and made Jimmy Clausen look like a Heisman candidate. But they bent but didn’t break, forcing at least 5 field goals in the red zone. True, we lost the game. But we controlled the ball and kept coming back, including a late drive to tie the game. True, we couldn’t move the ball 6 inches when we needed it most. But we found a dominant running back in Chris Polk who ran for 130+ yards that included more than 90 yards after initial contact. That is Husky Football. And true, this one was heartbreaking. But that means that this team has a heart to break, and it is proving to be a mighty big one at that.
In the end, this one hurt…literally. At a point late in the game, I noticed the knuckles on my hand were bleeding – from punching a wall? Nope – it was the result of jumping up and down with pure elation during one of the many highlights in a room with 8 foot ceilings. Its been a long time since I did that. And yes, I did bleed purple.
Stay tuned for commentary on Arizona and their motto “Bear Down.” Its too good for one of us to “pass” up. Bleed Purple. Be Gold. GO DAWGS!
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