Pregame report: BYU at Washington

Our travel party of three found a way to nudge behind the two BYU team buses that left the Hyatt Regency in Bellvue.

Because the team had a police motorcycle escort, we had a pregame plan of scooting in behind the team travel party in our black Ford SUV. In so doing, we were able to zip past intersections and red lights until we got on the bridge to Seattle. Once on the bridge, our speed dipped a little and we had to stop at times while the police got folks to move over to the left lane. Many motorists were not happy. Others were very demonstrative because they were either Washington or BYU fans.

The BYU fans honked and cheered as the buses passed them. The Washington fans held UW hats or jerseys out their windows and shook fists at the bus.

Husky Stadium is a historic piece of property located right off the shore of a lake where a lot of nice yachts and boats are anchored, having a tailgate experience. It is a beautiful setting. This stadium is old and the seats go almost straight up on the upper decks. The press box is old, very old, with an open air ceiling covered by a steel roof that hangs over the box and the north (I think it is north) stands. From our perch in the press box, we are looking almost straight down on top helmets and it’s tough to see the numbers on player jerseys.

The number of BYU fans attending this game is impressive. Some estimates place the number at 15,000 but I know a few fans like Dave Boyack from Spanish Fork who had a family buy a block of 20 seats at a discount from UW’s athletic department and will be sitting in Husky territory.

Everywhere we drove and walked in getting to press parking there were BYU fans decked out in school colors, wearing that Y logo.

One interesting game note I don’t think we’ve dwelled upon during the week, is the return of Fui Vakapuna to the lineup. This could prove key if the Huskies drop back into coverage and BYU’s offensive line opens up a run attack with Harvey Unga. To spell Unga and keep him fresh, Vakapuna could get a valuable chance to help this team with some carries as a tailback. I don’t know how much work J.J. Diluigi will get here on the road in Pac-10 territory since he fumbled at home against Northern Iowa.

On the other hand, if you’re going to get wet, you might as well have a guy jump right in and swim.