Huskies can’t wait to play at noisy Norman

SEATTLE – It’s common for teams to say no game is more special than another, but the reality is, they know better. There’s a difference between playing at Idaho and playing at Michigan.

So while the Washington football team said today’s game at Oklahoma is just another game on the schedule, they also acknowledge that Memorial Stadium in Norman is one of those places that gets the juices flowing just a little bit more.

“I’m sure it’s going to be an exciting place to play,” quarterback Isaiah Stanback said. “Any competitor gets excited about playing at a place with that much tradition and against a top team like that. It’s going to be fun.”

Stanback and many of his teammates know what it’s like to play in a college football atmosphere like they’ll face today. Washington did not have a non-conference road trip last season, but the year before they traveled to Notre Dame, and many of this year’s front-line Huskies were on the field against the Irish. A few played when Washington played at Ohio State in 2003.

They say it’s a special feeling to come out of the tunnel faced with 80,000 screaming fans set on trying to intimidate them before the game kicks off.

“We know there’s going to be a lot of people in the stands cheering against us,” said running back Kenny James, who played at Notre Dame and Ohio State. “But that’s great. That gets you going more than when there isn’t any kind of energy.”

Few of the Huskies coaches or players know what to expect in Norman, though. Backup quarterback Johnny DuRocher was a reserve for Oregon when the Ducks played at Oklahoma in 2004, and starting linebacker Scott White took a recruiting visit there in 2001. Washington running backs coach Trent Miles was a graduate assistant for the Sooners in 1990. The person with the most experience in Norman is tight ends coach/special teams coordinator Bob Simmons, who as head coach at Oklahoma State from 1995-2000 beat Oklahoma three times, twice in Norman.

Head coach Tyrone Willingham, who has never played or coached in Norman, said he will rely on Miles and Simmons to tell him what to expect. He said like Notre Dame, it is a place anyone would be excited to compete in.

“It should be one of those places that creates a great deal of excitement for our coaches and our players,” Willingham said. “With all of the things that come along with the game: the exposure, the national coverage, and just the opportunity to play a Top-10 team that is a good football team. This is a heck of an afternoon. It’s what little kids dream about.”

“This is what I came here for,” Stanback said. “Every game is fun, but to play against a team like this in a full, loud stadium, that’s what you love as a player. I can’t wait.”