SEATTLE — During the week, the UW coaching staff invited several ex-players to address the team about the importance of winning the Apple Cup. Head coach Chris Petersen declined to say who showed up — “I’d like to keep those (things) under wraps,” he said.
But by then his players already had identified the speakers. Among them, UW legends Sonny Sixkiller, Warren Moon, Michael Jackson, Jermaine Kearse and Lawyer Milloy.
“We brought some awesome guys in,” Petersen said. “They have a lot of passion with this program and they have a lot of history with this rivalry. We have so many young guys, we just wanted to make sure that they knew the importance of this thing.”
Interception and penalty
Washington got a penalty for sideline interference early in the third quarter. It came on the play when UW cornerback Sidney Jones returned an interception 69 yards for a TD.
In the excitement on the Washington sideline, “the official bumped into one of our guys,” Petersen said. “I thought it was some guys running onto the field, which is our PAT team, but he bumped one of our (other) guys. … We’ve got to stay back.”
Farewell seniors
Among 15 UW seniors honored before the game were two Snohomish County products — defensive tackle Taniela Tupou of Marysville and offensive guard Dexter Charles of Stanwood. Charles had to retire from football before the season because of a deteriorating knee condition, but participated in the pregame ceremony.
Injury update
Washington played without freshman offensive tackle Trey Adams, who has been dealing with a neck/shoulder stinger at times this season. Adams aggravated the injury during warm-ups, Petersen said, which meant backup Andrew Kirkland moved into the starting lineup.
Locker honored
The UW Legend honored between the third and fourth quarters Friday was former quarterback Jake Locker. After a productive career at Washington, Locker was drafted eighth overall in 2011 by the NFL’s Tennessee Titans and spent four seasons with the Titans before retiring, in part because of injuries in his pro career.
Married and living in his native Ferndale, Locker now has two children and a full beard.
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