Huskies playing for pride

SEATTLE – Going back to August, back to the days of two-a-day practices, there was one big goal everyone in the Washington football program was chasing.

Get back to a bowl game.

That meant winning seven games in a 13 game season, something that is no longer a possibility after Saturday’s tough 29-23 loss against Oregon State.

“It’s heartbreaking to tell you the truth,” said defensive tackle Jordan Reffett. “I’ve been on this football team a long time, and haven’t had a chance to go to a bowl game. In that locker room, it was a solemn, solemn day.”

For senior like Reffett, the loss was especially tough. On Saturday night, it became official that they will never know a bowl game or a winning season at Washington. Still, it hasn’t been all bad memories, the players say.

“It’s tough, but that’s how things happen,” said receiver Anthony Russo. “But I still had fun here. I still had fun playing for the Huskies. Things just happened that way.”

Now Washington is playing for pride, and playing to build momentum for the players who are coming back for a chance to get it done next season.

“We’re going to get after it these last three weeks, that’s for sure,” said Reffett. “We want to go out on a high note. We can’t go to a bowl game now, but we want to win these last three games.

“We don’t want to be lollygagging at practice or missing workouts. We’re going to go as hard as ever, because we want to send this football team off on a good note.”

So will it be difficult to keep playing hard when a bowl game is out of the picture?

The Huskies say no.

“It’s just pride now,” said Russo. “Pride in playing for the Huskies. We don’t want to let anyone down. We’ve still got three games left, so we want to get these last three and go out winning as seniors.

“That’s the motivation for us.”