Washington Huskies 2010 Holiday Bowl

Since their season two years ago, people knew the Washington Huskies football team couldn’t get any worse. In 2008, they had the worst record in college football at 0-12 and fired their coach. They got a new coach from USC, Steve Sarkisian, and had a respectable 5-7 record last season. Quarterback Jake Locker had the opportunity to leave college football and be the #1 (or top-5 at least) pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. Instead, Locker decided to come back to Seattle for his senior season so he could experience something new to him, a bowl game.

At the beginning of the 2010 season, many people had high hopes for Jake Locker and the Huskies. Locker was projected to be a Heisman candidate and lead the Huskies to an unlikely Rose Bowl appearance. In week 1 however, the Huskies lost an easily winnable game to BYU 23-17. Locker’s Heisman hopes were erase after he failed to lead his team to a late victory. The next week the Huskies rebounded to beat Syracuse and looked forward to a good game against Nebraska. The game did not go in the favor of Washington. The then #8 ranked Cornhuskers won 56-21 and limited Jake Locker to completing only 4 of his 20 passes and 2 interceptions. The game was a nail in the proverbial coffin of Locker’s hopes of being one of the best quarterbacks in college football. The Huskies were able to give #18 USC their first loss of the season the next week. The 2-2 Huskies lost 4 of their next 5 games. After their bye week, the Huskies won a nationally televised Thursday night game against UCLA and needed to win their next two games to be bowl eligible. Jake Locker, broken ribs and all, was able to lead his team to victories over California and Washington State, sealing their bowl hopes.

The Huskies clinched a berth in the 2010 Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl in San Diego, California against… NEBRASKA. The Huskies wish to avoid another terrible loss in their first bowl game since 2002. Since the loss to Nebraska in September, the Huskies have begin to rely less on quarterback Jake Locker and give sophomore running back Chris Polk more opportunities to shine. He finished the year with 1238 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns. For Nebraska, quarterback Taylor Martinez hasn’t been as good as he was against Washington earlier and the season and has been plagued by injuries. Currently, Nebraska is a 14 point favorite to win the game on December 30th. However, Washington is going to give Nebraska a run for their money and try for a win in Jake Locker’s last collegiate game.

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