Filed under: Nebraska, Washington, Pac 10, Bowl Games
In essence, Washington quarterback Jake Locker returned to Seattle for another year, put his NFL draft stock and his body on the line, for this experience. Locker and the Huskies are headed to a bowl game.
"It's really cool just to be able to be in there and have them explain this kind of stuff and look up at a schedule that in the past has been 'OK, this is when you guys can go home and this is when the quarter starts and we start winter workouts again,'" Locker said Sunday. "To be able to look at it and go, 'We are going to have practices here, these days are going to be off, you'll get money for this, we are going to visit these places while we are down there,' it just puts a smile on my face."
Washington (6-6) rallied to win three straight games and earn the program's first bowl berth since 2002. The Huskies faced down three straight elimination games and came away each time with a win they had to have.
They ended up with a third-place finish in the Pac-10 with USC, tied at 5-4. Now they are headed for the Holiday Bowl in San Diego and a rematch with Nebraska, which came to Seattle on Sept. 18 and dominated Washington 56-21. Nebraska finished the season 10-3.
But the Huskies are the ones with something truly momentous to celebrate. Two years ago on Monday, Steve Sarkisian met his team for the first time. They were coming off an Apple Cup loss and an 0-12 season, the program's first winless record in 119 years. At 6-6, Washington is not yet a winning football program. It is, in reality, only one win better than Sarkisian's first season last year. But the Huskies have come a long way. Certainly a long way from the 3-6 hole Washington was looking at in mid-November.
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Source: http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2010/12/07/washington-gets-jake-locker-big-finish/
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