College Football – “The Immaculate Footception” Will Live Forever In Washington Husky Lore – Part 2
(Editor’s note: This is Part 2 of a story about the life of a college football team’s season in just two games: one was abject heartache and the other extreme joy. The team was the University of Washington this season, and the events that unfolded reminded me of Charles Dickens’s novel “A Tale of Two Cities. Here’s What Really Happened and When).
As disheartening as Washington’s loss to Notre Dame was, what was about to happen was more than the Huskies could have expected or imagined. He will live forever in the Washington Husky football lore annuals.
With their season record now at 2-3, the Washington Huskies would return to their homeland and await the arrival of the Arizona Wildcat’s brilliant 3-1 record with wins over Central Michigan and Northern Arizona at home and over Oregon State in the highway. . Their only loss was by 10 points to the 12th-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes in another road game.
Arizona coach Mike Stoops (brother of Oklahoma Sooners coach Bob Stoops) had compiled an 8-5 record last year capped off by a win over Brigham Young in the Las Vegas Bowl. The Wildcats were finally getting national attention and they weren’t eager to back down.
Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian had been Brigham Young’s quarterback in 1995, leading the Cougars to a 13-1 regular-season record, beating Kansas State 19-15 in the Cotton Bowl and he became the Western Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year. His BYU team became the first in NCAA history to win 14 games in one season. Sarkisian’s 162.0 career pass efficiency rating is third all-time in the NCAA.
“Sark” needed to convince his players to keep playing hard and believing Notre Dame was just a speck on the screen on their march to success.
At game time, the Huskies seemed willing but not always capable. Arizona moved the ball at will, amassing 461 yards of offense and successfully throwing enough “bubble” passes to start a gumball manufacturing company.
Savage quarterback Nick Foles made a run taking the ball under center, backing up and sending rockets to receivers at the line of scrimmage. Arizona’s receivers responded by going for short yards before defenders could close in and take down, preventing a long gain.
Arizona had exposed a Husky weakness and was exploiting it like an insider stock trader. Washington just doesn’t have the talent right now to play receivers one-on-one, so they have to play off the line of scrimmage to avoid getting hit deep and allow for a long-yard play.
Foles would go 39 of 53 for 384 yards and a touchdown before the night was over, leaving Arizona with a total of just 77 rushing yards on 30 carries.
The Wildcats had built a 33-21 lead with less than 3 minutes remaining and it looked like Washington was floating dead in the water. But then again, this wasn’t last year’s 0-12 Husky team.
Washington’s offensive 11 was still playing hard and believing when Jake Locker found tight end Kavario Middleton in the corner of the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown pass to bring the Huskies within 5 at 33-28 with 2: 55 remaining.
Sark then did what many coaches wouldn’t, choosing to kick the Wildcats instead of going for an onside kick and possible immediate possession of the ball. That’s called believing in his defensive coordinator, Nick “The Wild Man” Holt, and bending him, but it doesn’t bend die-hards.
All night the Huskies had been beaten over and over and over again on the quick open bubble pass. You could hardly blame Arizona’s coaching staff for not calling the play back; Conventional wisdom says that you call a play that is working until the defense can stop you.
Then, once again, Nick Foles threw a pass to wide receiver Delashaun Dean, but Foles’ pass went low and behind the receiver, who fell to the grass trying to catch the pigskin. Linebacker Mason Foster had invaded the defensive end play on purpose, and words are a poor substitute for what happened next.
Foster’s aggressiveness had pushed Foles over the edge and his pass bounced off the receiver’s foot and went up into the air where Foster juggled momentarily, then turned and ran untouched for a 37-yard interception and a touchdown return, putting the Huskies up 34. -33 with 2:37 to play.
The Washington faithful, who had come to life when the Huskies scored earlier in the game, now went wild with frenzied excitement. And the players? Well, let’s just say the reaction was one of extreme joy. And the coaches? Perhaps frantic, joyful and overly unstoppable in their belief that the Huskies can and will win by playing hard, playing well and having fun.
There were no notable priests at the time, and the mythical “Touchdown Jesus” image visible from Notre Dame Stadium had not been transported from Notre Dame to Husky Stadium for the game, but before our very eyes, a miracle of the football gods. . They had had enough of Arizona’s bubble passes and it was time to redeem themselves.
Call it luck, call it the bounce of the ball, or call it as I do: “The Immaculate Footception”, a slightly awkward expression but quite accurate. Whatever you call it, it will forever remain in Washington football history for years to come. If the Huskies qualify and win a bowl game this year, it’s a happy event and Mason Foster will be cemented in legend.
Sark went for the 2-point conversion and Jake Locker teamed with second-year wide receiver (and budding star) Jermaine Kearse to pull it off, putting Washington up 36-33.
Mason Foster had an incredible night with 11 tackles, a couple of key stops on Arizona’s final drive and an interception and a moment of glory that will take him at least a lifetime to forget and a million years to exactly duplicate.
Washington’s miracle play brought back fond memories of “The Immaculate Reception” during a 1972 playoff game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland Raiders. Later in the game, a Pittsburgh receiver was hit hard when trying to catch the ball, the ball was deflected and just before it hit the ground, it was caught by Franco Harris, who picked it up out of the air and then ran inside. the touchdown that won the game for the Steelers.
Pittsburgh had struggled for 4 decades to win a playoff game, and The Immaculate Reception, called by NFL movies the greatest play of all time, led the Steelers to finally win 4 Super Bowls before the end of the decade. .
The icing on the cake came when Arizona got one last chance to pull off the victory that should have been theirs.
Husky’s defensive line, which hadn’t done much all night, came alive when their best pass-rusher, Daniel Te’o-Nesheim, got in touch with his Samoan roots and sacked Nick Foles on a critical play. On the next play, true rookie cornerback (and future NFL player) Desmond Trufant intercepted a pass from Foles with 36 seconds remaining to seal the Dawgs’ unlikely 36-33 victory.
Trust me when I say the University of Washington and Husky football craze is on the rise. Look for many missing Dawgs to return to Husky Stadium for upcoming home games.
Husky fans in the great Pacific Northwest aren’t drinking Kool-Aid as the expression goes, they’re enjoying the sweet taste of success. Even the football gods are so happy that they have decided to order the cable connection with high definition.
(Editor’s note: This is part 2 of a 2-part series.)
Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley
