Good morning from Union Bay, where it is drizzling, I'm in a kayak, and my coffee is still hot because I've learned to drink it fast.
I'm Vangie Tollefsrud. I'm a Seattle native, I row crew, and I boat to every home game, because when your stadium sits on the water, you'd be silly not to. My friends say I rate every opponent's rain gear. They're right. I do. More on that later.
But first, the news: the Huskies won. Three straight losses, and then a Friday night in Indiana, and we're back. Bow Down to Washington.
Part 1: Five Turnovers and a Win
Washington 38, Purdue 26, Friday night, Oct. 16, at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette.
I'm going to be honest about this one, because Pacific Northwest people are honest to a fault. It wasn't pretty. Elijah Brown, making his first start for us after transferring from Stanford, threw an interception on the very first play from scrimmage. He threw two more later. We lost two fumbles. Five turnovers. Coach Jedd Fisch said afterward that you're not usually minus-4 in the turnover battle and win.
And yet. Brown completed 21 of 27 passes for 302 yards and three touchdowns, and he never let it rattle him. His first touchdown went to Decker DeGraaf from two yards out. After Purdue tied it, he hit Brian Bonner Jr. for a 25-yard score. Purdue tied it again after a punt bounced off one of our guys and the Boilermakers recovered at our 10, and then, with 27 seconds left in the half, Bonner ran in from one yard to put us ahead for good. 24-17.
Early in the fourth quarter, Brown found Dezmen Roebuck for a 4-yard touchdown. Purdue got within 31-26. And then Trey Cooley took a handoff and went 53 yards for a touchdown with 10:30 left. I stood up in my living room and spilled an entire Americano. Worth it.
The Box Score, With Coffee
Cooley ran eight times for 113 yards, which is 14.1 yards a carry, which is faster than the ferry. Chris Lawson caught six passes for 103 yards. Roebuck caught five for 97 and the touchdown. We outgained Purdue 488 to 371.
And the defense, oh, the defense. Purdue ran for 98 yards, most of them on a single 59-yard run. Fame Ijeboi, who'd run for 195 yards against Minnesota the week before, ran 13 times for 19 yards. Purdue coach Barry Odom said our defensive front won at the point of scrimmage. Rylon Dillard-Allen had an interception and seven tackles, Jeron Jones had another interception, and Alex McLaughlin made seven tackles with 1.5 for loss.
The Season So Far
We're 4-3 and 1-3 in the Big Ten. We started 3-0, beating Washington State, Utah State and Eastern Washington. Then came the rough stretch: 27-24 to Minnesota, 25-21 at USC, and 41-24 to Iowa. Two of those three were one-score games. Now we've got a win, a breath and a fresh pot of coffee.
Part 2: A Week Off, Then Lincoln
Washington has an open date this Saturday, Oct. 24. That's the honest schedule note. No game. A week to clean up the turnovers and maybe hold a team meeting about ball security. I'll bring muffins.
Then on Saturday, Oct. 31, we go to Memorial Stadium in Lincoln to play Nebraska. Kickoff time hasn't been announced.
Nebraska deserves respect. The Huskers are 5-2, they score 35.6 points a game, allow 15.4, and their defense just held Oregon to 242 yards. Anthony Colandrea has thrown for 1,570 yards and 14 touchdowns. Kwazi Gilmer has seven touchdown catches. Their fans have sold out every home game since 1962, which, I'll admit, is impressive. That's a crowd that shows up.
But here's my rain-gear rating for Nebraska: a nice-looking red jacket with a broken zipper. It looks great until the fourth quarter.
Because, friends, Nebraska has led in the fourth quarter in each of its last two games and lost both. Indiana beat the Huskers 20-17 in Lincoln, and on Saturday night, Oregon came back from 14-6 down in the fourth quarter to win 17-14, on a touchdown pass with 28 seconds left. And the quarterback who threw it, Dylan Raiola, played his first two seasons at Nebraska. Ouch. One Oregon field goal drive even got going after Nebraska's punter took a low snap and accidentally put his knee down.
And the Huskers ran for 78 yards in Eugene. Our defense just held Purdue to 98. I like that matchup.
Who to Watch
Elijah Brown, quarterback: 302 yards and three touchdowns in his first Washington start.
Demond Williams Jr., quarterback: 1,396 yards and eight touchdowns this season.
Dezmen Roebuck, receiver: 48 catches, 484 yards, three touchdowns, our leader.
Trey Cooley, running back: 113 yards on eight carries Friday. Feed him.
Alex McLaughlin: 47 tackles, our leader. Jacob Manu: 2.5 sacks.
Kwazi Gilmer, Nebraska receiver: 38 catches for 492 yards and seven touchdowns. Owen Chambliss, Nebraska linebacker: 15 tackles against Oregon.
The History
Nebraska leads the all-time series 5-4-1, according to Washington's athletics site, and won the last meeting, 51-38 in Lincoln in 2011. That's a long time between visits. We'll knock.
Dockside Report: A Tale of Two Towns
Seattle. The Emerald City, officially since 1982. Home of the Space Needle, built for the 1962 World's Fair, and of Pike Place, where the very first Starbucks opened on March 30, 1971. Yes, we have frequent rain. Wikipedia calls it a well-earned reputation, and we earned it. Husky Stadium seats 72,132 on the shore of Union Bay, and it holds the record as the loudest college football stadium ever recorded. Fans boat to the game, a tradition called sailgating, and our crew team runs shuttles from the boats to the docks. And we claim two national championships, including 1991, when Don James's Huskies went 12-0. Bow Down to Washington, the fight song says, and we mean it politely. Mostly.
Lincoln. Now, Lincoln is a fine town, and very proud of itself. Its state capitol, finished in 1932, is the second-tallest capitol in the country. Second-tallest. Friends, Nebraska's two losses were by three points each. Lincoln seems very comfortable in second place.
And Lincoln is about as far from a lake as I've ever been asked to travel. No water. No boats. I'll have to leave my kayak at home, which is a hardship I'll endure for the team. Their famous local food is the Runza, which started in Lincoln. I'm told it's a sandwich. I'm also told it's best eaten indoors, because it's late October in Nebraska and the wind can be serious.
One more thing. Nebraska's band plays the visiting team's fight song before every home game, and the announcer welcomes "our friends" from the other school. That's very kind. So I'd like to make sure the Cornhuskers know the words. It goes: Bow down to Washington. They'll be hearing it again at the end.
Final Stroke
Here's how I see it. We snapped a three-game skid on the road. We found a quarterback who can shake off mistakes, a running back who runs faster than the ferry and a defense that just shut down Purdue's run game. Nebraska has a great crowd, a stingy defense and a habit of letting fourth quarters get away. We have a week of rest and a whole lot of coffee.
Rain is a home-field advantage. On Halloween, we'll bring our own.
Bow Down to Washington.