Former Washington head coach, Don James used to call the the Sun Bowl the “Fun Bowl” because of how the team was treated in El Paso, Texas.
The Washington Huskies will play Louisville in the Sun Bowl New Years Eve Day at 11 AM . That’s the 55th consecutive year CBS has had the broadcast.
It was a reward for a long, grueling season. Part of that is that there were so few bowl games in the Dawgfather’s day.
In fact, the Huskies’ strength of schedule ranking was 12th, overall in the nation with 21 new starters. The schedule included a White Out in Penn State, road games B10 road games? 6 and 6 was a great year. Bowl game? My guess is Sun Bowl vs Louisville.
These days a bowl game seems almost seems to be a burden to some players who want to get ready for the NFL. Why risk injury when there’s so much at risk financially?
Sitting at .500 an 8-4 season isn’t unthinkable for head coach Jedd Fisch in his first season at Washington.
For the bowl game he will be dealing with the lure of the NFL, the Transfer Portal and injuries that have left the Huskies with few options at several positions.
One player who will finish up his purple and gold career on the field is linebacker Carson Bruener.
It’s a huge reward for Fisch who, at the very last second, took over a decimated Washington roster.
“Honestly, it’s remarkable that the Huskies are even bowl eligible given the roster overhaul,” said RealDawg’s Trevor Mueller. “Every offensive playmaker, every offensive lineman was gone. It was a lot to overcome, but Fisch fielded a competitive team week in and week out.”
And that’s after taking the reins in the middle of January after the portal had been picked clean.
And to that point, the Transfer Portal opens Monday and the Huskies will be down to the 3rd-string punter Troy Petz, a walkon from Lynden, Washington. He has yet to punt in his collegiate career.
Washington’s depth has been challenged all year long in the offensive and defensive lines with an array of injuries. For those who are left in the cupboard, they will get 15 valuable practices to establish themselves as the coaching staff gets ready for rebuilding the roster.
How the bowl game roster iteration will look is anybody’s guess.
