EAST LANSING, Mich. — They arrived closer to sunrise than sunset, Washington’s team buses pulling up to the Crowne Plaza hotel around 3:30 a.m. ET, some 14 hours before the rescheduled kickoff time of the Huskies’ Saturday game against Michigan State.
Getting here was challenging. So was winning, though it rendered the whole travel thing a fun little footnote rather than an excuse nobody wanted to hear.
Delayed departure or not, another Washington road game ended with the Huskies in victory formation — again after a decisive fourth-quarter touchdown, again after Demond Williams Jr. found Chris Lawson, again after forcing a turnover — which this time sealed a 21-14 victory over a Spartans team now tied for last in the Big Ten standings.
For that reason, a loss here would have been something like disaster; with Indiana and Oregon awaiting in the season’s final two weeks, this was the Huskies’ most realistic chance at clinching bowl eligibility.
Call it the theme of the week: at least they got there.