Game Daily: This week in Husky history

Sep 10, 2015, 6:14 PM

In 1980, as former Washington quarterback Tom Flick was leading the Huskies to a 9-3 season and on the way to claiming the conference championship title, he was also breaking and setting records along the way. On Sept. 13, 1980, Air Force came to Seattle for the season opener against the Washington football team. It certainly did not take long for the record breaking to start. In the first quarter, Flick set the record for the longest touchdown pass with an 84-yard completion to receiver Willie Rosborough. “We’d have been in deep trouble if we hadn’t been able to throw,” then-UW head coach Don James told The Seattle Times. “We sure didn’t start off very well. I guess it was first-game jitters.” Flick critiqued his pass after the game, telling The Seattle Times that it lacked “spiral.” “I didn’t see anything;” Rosborough told The Seattle Times in regards to the lack of spin on the pass from Flick, “I was just concentrating on catching the ball.” Flick’s accuracy was on display against the Falcons and he went on to set the UW record later that season against Arizona, which he still holds to this day, for the highest single-game completion percentage with .941, completing 16-of-17 passes. In the same year, Flick set the record for most passing yards in a single season with 2,460, a record now held by former quarterback Cody Pickett. On that September day, 35 years ago, Air Force was only able to score a single touchdown and headed back home after a 50-7 defeat. After trailing the Falcons 7-6 early in the second quarter, the Huskies worked quickly to read their opponents and to correct what had been off balance in the beginning. “It was good planning on their part,” James told The Seattle Times concerning the Falcons’ linemen. “They lined up with the really big line splits. Once we saw what they were doing, we settled down. The more we saw of it, the better we got.” Three of the UW’s touchdowns came from running back Toussaint Tyler, who tallied 89 yards on 15 carries. With the highest number of rushing touchdowns in a single game since 1950, Tyler found himself in the record book alongside Flick and Rosborough after the game. Flick played under center for the Huskies from 1976-1980, redshirting his sophomore year in 1977. He finished his UW career with 3,510 yards passing and 25 touchdowns. In the fourth round of the 1981 NFL Draft, he was drafted by the Washington Redskins. Throughout seven seasons with the NFL, from 1981-1987, Flick played for the Redskins, New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns, San Diego Chargers, and the New York Jets. The majority of his playing time came in 1986 with the Chargers as backup behind Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts. In his sixth season as head coach in 1980, James went on to lead this record-breaking team to the Rose Bowl, where the Huskies fell to No. 5 ranked Michigan in a 23-6 loss, but ended the season as Pac-10 conference champions. Reach Editor-in-Chief Kathryn Altena at sports@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @kkaltena

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