Postcard Day Crowns Rose Parade, Game

At the high point in its championship football season, Washington didn’t forget the low point.

The Huskies defeated Purdue, 34-24, in the 87th Rose Bowl game Monday before 94,392 in Pasadena, then said they had dedicated the game to paralyzed teammate Curtis Williams.

“This was for you, C.W.,” Coach Rick Neuheisel shouted afterward, tears welling in his eyes as he lifted the Rose Bowl trophy toward the press box.

Williams, a senior safety from Fresno who was paralyzed from the neck down in a victory at Stanford on Oct. 28, watched from a suite high above the field as quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo led the fourth-ranked Huskies to the final win in an 11-1 season.

Tuiasosopo, who was voted the player of the game after running for one touchdown and passing for another, left the field because of an injured shoulder late in the third quarter but returned to help Washington give the Pacific 10 Conference its first Rose Bowl victory over a Big Ten champion since 1996.

The matchup was one of six New Year’s Day bowl games. Oklahoma and Florida State will play for the national championship Wednesday in the Orange Bowl in Miami.

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