For most football players being a team captain, the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year, an All-American, Husky Ring of Honor member, would be the crowning achievement to their career. But those accolades didn’t speak of his fierce loyalty to a man who recruited Jason Chorak, Don James.

The final victory of his collegiate career served as the exclamation point to his storied career on Montlake and what he called the greatest moment in the purple and gold.

Finishing that game, finishing the season, finishing his Husky career meant finishing what he and the other recruits from the 1993 class began.

“Coach James was the reason that so many of us wanted to be a Husky,” the man often referred to as  ‘the Croatian Sensation’ recalled. “It hurt when he stepped down. I understood, but I was still hurt.”

But amid their pain and disbelief, Chorak and the members of his recruiting class vowed to finish what they started.

There they stood on the AstroTurf in Honolulu’s Aloha Bowl in 1997, playing against Nick Saban a man who once played for their DawgFather, with a team that resembled their own.

Their goal would be to vaporize the Michigan State as a homage to the man they never got to play for.

Growing up on Vashon Island with a population of less than 10,000, Chorak had to earn all of his accomplishments and was able to do feats others haven’t.

It started with him being recruited to play football at the University of Washington by the DawgFather himself, Don James, to being a part of the only football team in Husky history to defeat a Nick Saban-coached team.

Saban, a member of the Don James coaching tree, had similarities in terms of scheme and the importance of emphasizing the size of the front seven and front four, which is something he took away from James.

“Everybody in the coaching staff and the ties to coach James talked about it and let us know that they will be prepared and they’re going to be physical and tough because coach Saban has the same philosophies as coach James,” said Chorak.

The lead up to the 1997 Aloha Bowl and the lead up to this weekend’s Michigan State game could not be any more different. Currently, Washington is coming into the game winning their last two, but in 1997, the team had lost to No. 9 UCLA in the Rose Bowl and then lost to No. 11 Washington State in the Apple Cup.

“Some people don’t know the truth about the Washington State loss,” said Chorak with a laugh. “It was beat Washington State and go to the Sun Bowl or lose to Washington State and go to Hawaii for 10 days. We already went to the Sun Bowl when we were sophomores, so we made an executive decision to go to Hawaii.”

It turned out to be the smart decision as everything went right that day for the Washington Huskies.

It started with a 33-yard touchdown run from running back Rashaan Shehee within the first minute of the game. Just 5 minutes later, Washington’s quarterback, Brock Huard, threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Fred Coleman, making it 24–10 in favor of the Huskies. An interception by Washington’s defense went 56 yards for a touchdown which gave the UW a 31–10 lead at halftime.

“It was a flat out beating,” said Chorak, “offensively, defensively, and on special teams.”

The Huskies made a comeback improbable with a fake punt that went 64-yards on a run from Mike Reed, giving the Huskies a 44–17 lead in the third. What really sealed the deal was Washington’s Lester Towns taking a Michigan State interception 66 yards to the house. The final would end up being 51-23 and a memorable UW victory.

Jason Chorak and the 93 class deserve their own spot in the Husky Hall of Fame as they made Washington history that year. The recruits of 1993 became the UW class with the most players going into the NFL in school history. They defeated Nick Saban and Michigan State in the Aloha Bowl which is one of the top 15 biggest losses in Saban’s career.

“We all could have left the school when coach James resigned, but we didn’t…we made a commitment that we were going to take this football program back to the top,” said Chorak in regard to everyone from his 1993 recruiting class staying at Washington. “Seeing all of their faces after a great win like that, beating coach Saban, and the excitement of ending the season on a big win like that was the most exciting thing that I remember of that football game.”