It's been 18 years. Eighteen long, painful years. But as Rick Neuheisel said back in 2001, we're back where we belong. Back in Pasadena. The Washington Huskies are set to square off against Ohio State in the 2019 Rose Bowl, but before the Huskies move forward we thought it appropriate to look back at the last Rose Bowl UW played in.

That game had all the storylines. The No. 14 Purdue Boilermakers were actually slight favorites over the No. 4 Washington Huskies in the 2001 Rose Bowl. That was because of Texas gunslinger Drew Brees and Joe Tiller's high-powered 'basketball on grass' offense. No one was really talking about the Huskies, despite the fact that they had knocked off Miami earlier in the year and only had one loss to their name - at Oregon. The program had suffered some serious tragedies along the way to people like Curtis Williams and Peggy Watson. They overcame a lot of emotional hurdles to get to Pasadena.

And as with all stories, the one of the 2001 Rose Bowl has roots that go back well over a year. In this oral history, we talk to two of the participants - one coach and one player - and how they remember the events leading up to the game, as well as the game itself.

Keith Gilbertson, a Snohomish native, grew up around Washington football. When he joined Neuheisel's staff in 1999, it was his third stint with the Huskies. By the time the 2000 season came around, Gilby had been elevated to Offensive Coordinator, so he not only organized the game plan and the scripts, but he called the game as it was happening.

Woodinville's Marques Tuiasosopo, The Warrior, signed with the Huskies and joined the program in 1997. By 1999, the quarterback had become the unquestioned leader of the offense and famously ran for 200 yards and threw for 300 yards against Stanford, the only player in college football history to run for over 200 yards and pass for over 300 yards in a single game.

But it was in 2000 where the legend of The Warrior grew, culminating in a game MVP performance in the 2001 Rose Bowl. He out-dueled Brees and helped the Huskies secure a hard-fought 34-24 win in front of an announced attendance of 94,392.

Below are Gilbertson's and Tuiasosopo's words as they described events leading up to the 2000 season, what transpired in 2000 to get them to the Rose Bowl, and then the game itself and the aftermath.

We start in 1999, where Gilbertson - with help from other UW coaches, as well as Tuiasosopo and fullback Pat Conniff - was piecing together the rudiments of what would become the Huskies' option attack. Under Tuiasosopo's stewardship, their version of the option and the variations played off of it became a staple of Washington's offensive attack.

Keith Gilbertson: We had thrown a lot of passes the first two games (in 1999) and hadn't won. We had some meetings to see what we could do. I thought we had the offensive line to do (option). I'd seen Marques (Tuiasosopo) play it with Woodinville in high school with teammate Pat Conniff. We had some speed option stuff, and it just kind of evolved from there, kind of took on a life of its own. We saw what (Tuiasosopo) could do in high school and I don't know if we were that blessed skill-wise that year.

I remember Marques and Pat Conniff were in my office and I got on one knee and said okay, show me how you do everything. Show me the give, show me how you take it away if you're not going to give it. Then we just developed it from there. I had a background in speed option and then (receivers coach) Steve Axman had run arc option somewhere in his career, but we didn't do that until later (2000). Everyone kind of had a contribution to it. But the biggest contributors were Tuiasosopo and Conniff, period. They were so good at the inside part of that game. Then it got fun. Then we ran the dive, or veer option. We ran the trap option, we ran speed option, we ran arc option. And then we could check-with-me speed option and it evolved over the year with those guys. They were so proficient at it. Marques was a magician. Pat was a great football player. He did so much for that offense. So the combination of that offensive line and those guys - Elliot Silvers, Kyle Benn, Chad Ward, Kurth Connell, Wes Call, Matt Fraize, Rock Nelson - that was a good offensive line group. That's how that came around.

I remember the (option) play against Oregon State (Marques' pitch to Willie Hurst for TD). What was it, 42-0 at half? (It was 45-0) And they were good. We went into halftime and it was like wow. That's pretty good. (laughs)

Marques Tuiasosopo: That (UCLA loss in 1999) jump-started our offseason. We had beaten Stanford to take control of the pac 10 and then we went on the road to Arizona and won and then we went to UCLA who was coming off a bye and I think they were 2-6 at the time and, we had them and Washington State, in the Apple Cup, left and we were in the driver's seat and we lost that game in over time and we lost a chance to go to the Rose Bowl. That left a bad taste in our mouth. We took it with us and went to the Holiday Bowl and played the number three team in the nation, Kansas State, and played toe-to-toe with them and had a chance to beat them and it helped us to believe that we could play with anybody if we set our heart and mind to it. The game against UCLA and losing the chance to play in the Rose Bowl, that bad taste never left us and drove us all through the offseason and into the fall.

I don't remember there being a rallying cry, but we'd started the season 3-0, we'd beaten Miami, which was very talented and nationally ranked, and we went on the road I think to beat Colorado, so we had started well. We had the one hiccup at Oregon and that really dampened our spirits. I remember sitting on the airplane and we were bummed, you could hear a pin drop, it was devastating and we thought we'd really screwed up our season. I remember talking on the airplane to a few of the guys and we were like 'we're going to fight until the end' and through the middle part of the season there were times we were coming from behind and winning games. We had the critical juncture when we lost Curtis Williams and that was huge to the spirit of the team. We had to keep together and finally in the final couple of games, we were able to control the game from start to finish to get ourselves to the Rose Bowl. I think we were just going to be tough and and compete to the end and not going to quit.

Keith Gilbertson: That team, those kids were really tough and they were really competitive. If we got a lead it wasn't like okay, the game's over. They just kept playing. If we were behind it really wasn't that big of a deal. I remember so vividly the Miami game. Miami was loaded. Coming back at Stanford with some unbelievable circumstances, heartbreaking. And then recovering...I thought Rick did a really good job of everything when Curtis (Williams) got hurt. There's no handbook for that. I thought he did a good job of being respectful to Curtis and his family but at the same time we needed to go play. I thought the whole staff was good about that.

I remember we had a comfortable lead (at Stanford), and Stanford was all geared up because the year before we had run the G (guard pulls outside) option, so they had about 150 guys standing outside the tackle box on both sides, and we ran the inside zone, the inside zone, just really worked them over. And we really had a comfortable lead, and then they got a score and onside kicked and got and they had four or five onside kicks in a row and took the lead. And then we ran three plays and bang, touchdown. After that we took off. Tough games but one thing I'll say is that I think the skill guys really developed. You think of what a tremendous player Todd Elstrom was. Jerramy Stevens had a big year at tight end, big catches, scores, touchdowns. And then we kind of fit everything together. It was a thing that developed over time. The offensive line had a couple great years blocking, Marques and Pat played really well, and then guys like Willie Hurst, who would have big games. Rich Alexis really came alive and had some big games, and Braxton Cleman too. Things just came together, like they do when you make it to a Rose Bowl. I don't know anybody that goes unscathed. That '91 team was probably unusual. Typically when you get to the Rose Bowl, you've had to fight hard to get there.

Marques Tuiasosopo: It was just a crazy time. Obviously you were concerned about your teammate and not sure what was going to happen or what happened to him and what his future would be like and then on top of that we have this season we're playing for and we're still in a great position and then you're managing the emotions of it on the sidelines, trying to rally the guys, focusing on the one thing you could control and if Curtis was playing, he'd want us to win that game and the best thing to do for him is to win this game and then go see him and let him know we did it for him. We had a defense that was really close and that was a physical hit and that just attests to the defensive spirit because they had just lost their buddy and now they've got to go out there and hit somebody. I just remember, you wanted to keep playing, but on the other side of it, you didn't want to play anymore, so we had to come and regroup and finish the game and do what we thought was best at the time.

Keith Gilbertson: We were all devastated. And you're trying to play a game. We played Arizona the next week and they were a really physical team. I don't remember if we practiced well that week, but early in the game things weren't going well. And then Greg Carothers blasted somebody and it was like okay. Yeah, we can play. And then we kind of got going again.

That's a hard thing to live through. That's one of my worst memories coaching. But they kept playing, kept competing and got better. We improved all season. You throw a thing in front of those kids like, if you want to go to the Rose Bowl you have to win (the Apple Cup) - it's like okay, in that case... (laughs). Here we go. Those guys could really handle a challenge. They really could. They could respond to it.

It was my third Rose Bowl and I was happy to go back in '91 and '92 and those kids were great to coach. They were competitive. They were tough. It was a really good offensive football team.

One thing you learn about those games, it's not like some games where you go out there and maybe the other guys weren't excited about playing, or maybe your guys are more excited than the other guys...everybody that walks out there is excited about being in the Rose Bowl. Period. Know what I mean? There isn't anybody that isn't just out of their mind to play in that game when it starts. But the thing I've learned from the other Rose Bowls is that, after five minutes, it's just a football game. And then it's about who wants to win the most the longest, who is the toughest, who competes the best, who does their game plan the best the longest wins. But at first? Everyone is out of their mind. I remember telling them, you are going to be so out of your mind tomorrow, you're going to remember everything - breakfast, the bus ride, warmup, everything - that is unique about the Rose Bowl. But then after a while, it's a football game, and whoever does their functions and their game plan and executes the best and plays the hardest the longest, wins. That's one of the things I remember about it.

That group of kids, that group of guys, they were so great. Overcoming what they did...losing Curtis the way that we lost him. And those guys just grinding back, grinding out tough wins and how physical and tough we were, I really appreciate that group of guys. That was a really fun football team to coach. If you look at what they're doing in their lives, those guys are all doing well and have good lives. It's a testament to them.

Marques Tuiasosopo: There wasn't any (Rose Bowl) buildup, it was all one-sided. I felt that and I was like 'OK fine, I get it', but that was sorta what we used all season long. We were kinda that team that nobody believed in and we kept doing it and we had that chip on our shoulder. I know at every press conference I would do it was all about Drew Brees and the Purdue Boilermakers and I remember thinking 'shoot, all they're doing is talking about them and that's perfect, we'll come out and we'll get them.' It probably worked into our hands. We believed in ourselves, we set a goal for ourselves and we accomplished it and we wanted to go finish it by winning it, getting those Rose Bowl rings and upholding that Washington tradition.

I don't know if we snuck up on them, but there definitely was a difference. I feel like they felt they were a pretty good team. Most of the conversation was about (Brees) and probably rightfully so. As a team facing another team, we were like 'alright, we'll use whatever we can'. We felt strong about that game and if everyone wanted to talk about them more than us, we were fine with that.

Keith Gilbertson: They had a really good unit defensively. I just felt like our offensive line, our run game, we do enough in the pass game to keep them off-balance. I felt really good going into that game. We were going to beat them on the line of scrimmage, do just enough in the option game so they've got to pay attention to it. If Todd Elstrom and Jerramy Stevens have good games, Pat Reddick... so it all kind of came together.

I thought going in our offensive line, just the whole thing...we could run tailback runs: blast, pitch, power, counter. We could run the inside portion with the fullback and then by that time our passing game had come around so we could do enough things in the passing game we were tough to defend because of our balance.

We were going to run at their defensive front. That was first. Our offensive line was going to work on their defensive line.

Marques Tuiasosopo: We just wanted to take advantage of what they did whether it was running the ball, throwing it or using the option and the zone read stuff and just keeping them on their toes. We missed on a couple of shots, I remember missing Todd Elstrom on a post, I'm sure I had a couple of others, but we wanted to keep them honest and attack them down the field, use the width of the field and keep them on their toes.

We had a lot of things going on that year and I think Rick Neuheisel did a great job of managing us, keeping what was important to our program but allowing us to have some fun because he felt we deserved that too, and then getting us ready along with the rest of the staff, to go play a game and win it against a really good opponent. As far as 'Peggy's Play', that was Rick's idea to honor her that way (long-time administrative assistant Peggy Watson, who passed away from cancer three days before the game). We all knew her as players and loved her, she treated us like her own sons, and she was like a second mother to a lot of us, her smile and the support she showed us, so I think the credit has to go to Rick and the coaching staff in allowing us an environment to manage those things that are really emotional and can distract you in that way, so we were able to honor both, have some fun and go get ready to play the game and win.

Keith Gilbertson: (Peggy's Play) was our arc option. We would run the inside portion of what we would call our veer play, and we arc'd the tackle, pulled the tackle for the safety, and then blocked the split end on the corner. We read the defensive end, because we could combo up with the center and the guard on the inside 'backers. We'd ball-fake the fullback and then come around.

They had a little plan for that, so at halftime I went in and said okay, we're going to run arc dive with Pat. We were going to start that motion, because everyone was looking for the quarterback to come around. He went for about 16, 17 yards on his first play of the second half, so they couldn't defend it that way anymore.

So that was the play, (Peggy) enjoyed that. (Rich) Alexis had a big touchdown on it when we ran it against Miami. It was a tough play to defend when combined with the other stuff we were doing.

Marques Tuiasosopo: I think (running the option was) like any other play. It's a combination of coach Gilbertson putting us in the right position scheme-wise to run the play, so whether it was to run the speed option or some other type of schemed option, he just did a great job of making sure we were running that versus the right looks and I just focused on making sure I was reading the right guy and letting my feel for the game take over. We were just competing. I loved to attack the defense that way and I was able to use my legs as an advantage and my feel for the game in that way and I think coach Gilbertson did a great job of calling games and getting a feel for me and allowing me to work that way.

Keith Gilbertson: Our first possession was great. Marques made a few plays with his legs and Reddick made a nice catch to keep the drive alive. We scripted plays probably a lot different than what other people do. We didn't just script 15-straight plays. We had another way that we did it and I liked our scripts. It was a good script and it worked and we just had a really good day offensively. We were balanced, scored a lot of points. Would have scored more if Marques hadn't made that pitch...

Marques Tuiasosopo: I think it was just an overall attitude that we were going to do anything to win the game. Whether we were healthy or not, the guys were going to give whatever they could for as long as they could. It was 'we're going to die trying' and we just had that mentality. You're going to have to take us off the field. We really had the mentality. Coach Gilbertson would ask me what plays I didn't like and I would say to him, if you like them, I'll operate them. He'd get mad at me and say I needed to do a better job of running things in practice so he'd like them more and I said 'hey, I'm just figuring it out...if you call it, I'll get it right'.

Keith Gilbertson: All three (running backs) played. Rich (Alexis) had a bad shoulder, Willie (Hurst) was hurt. Braxton (Cleman) was probably the healthiest man. So we just rotated those backs, always tried to keep a fresh back in there. Willie had a big fourth quarter. Braxton scored the first touchdown. Rich had that big run. We were going to roll them, but we had kind of been doing that all season. It wasn't like we had a true starter. We played all of those guys a lot. You could come out with any of them and we were going to be fine.

When I was a youngster during the (Bob) Schloredt teams and those teams were going to the Rose Bowl, I heard the running backs coach named Chesty Walker talk about a tradition he had at the Rose Bowl. He had the Washington backs and receivers put a little bit of goal-line grass in their game pants. His thought was, if you do that you're going to get in the end zone.

So in '91, '92 and 2000, I told all the backs and receivers, put a little bit of that end zone grass in your game pants - either on the walk-through the day before or when you're out there warming up. That means you're going to get in the end zone during the game.

So hopefully Jake Browning and Myles (Gaskin) and all those guys put a little end zone grass in their pants before the game. It's a Husky tradition, man.

Marques Tuiasosopo: Going into the half, we felt strong in how we started the game and we wanted to continue to keep that pace up and keep the pressure on them. The option game was crazy all year, but for sure there in the Rose Bowl, my guys knew to stay with me. I was going to turn it up and if they guy came up to tackle me, I was going to try and pitch it because they didn't have anyone left. It really is a credit to the running backs and receivers who had to deal with me because I was the one playing, so it was probably different every single time, but they knew to stick around me and trusted that I would be able to get them the ball. So early, Rich (Alexis) was there, I looked, I pitched it to him and he did the rest.

Keith Gilbertson: In my own mind, I knew (Brees) could throw them back in the game. He's that good. They were a prolific offense. I think everyone did a great job. The defense played really good, special teams.

One thing I've always felt about that team, Toure Butler did a really great job. Early in the season we fumbled some punts - maybe at Oregon and somewhere else - and when he became the punt returner, that was all over. I don't know that he had a million returns - he wasn't Dante (Pettis) or Beno (Bryant), but the guy was sure-handed and consistent and you always knew when the other guys were punting we were going to have the ball. He was a courageous guy and I always thought one of the keys to that season what when he took over the punt returning job.

Todd (Elstrom) had gotten hurt in one of the Rose Bowl practices and his knee, he wasn't quite as fast. The kid could really run fast. We threw a double-post in the third quarter and it would have broken the game open then but Marques just overthrew him. Probably because he couldn't run as fast to get to the ball. If he had had a good leg he would have made that catch every time.

The guy we lobbed up to was Elstrom at the goal-line because they had a pretty small corner (Chris Clopton). We were like, if we get down by the goal line and he's out there, throw it. Lob it, catch it, move on. Kick the extra point, play the fight song, go to the next play.

Marques Tuiasosopo: We definitely liked throwing fades. I liked them, it was a throw I was comfortable in, Todd was a big, physical receiver, I believe it was the short side of the field. We always had a rule if it was "Sixes", meaning it was the same look on both sides of the field, let's choose the shorter throw, and we knew we had the height advantage, so I took that chance there and knew Todd was going to be in a great position so I kinda gave him a back-shoulder ball where he could jump up and catch it and we were able to execute it and it was a big play.

Keith Gilbertson: We didn't throw any lob balls to Jerramy (Stevens) in that game. They played a coverage to one-back sets where we felt we could get him down the middle. We missed a throw. I called it again - which I normally didn't do. We ran the very same play the next time and they hit him on a big play right down the middle. We always thought he could do things with option routes. He was really good at that. He was always a really good play-action target.

Marques Tuiasosopo: I knew right when I got tackled (late in the third quarter), something was wrong. I knew it was an AC Joint injury, I'd had that injury before in high school, I just couldn't believe it. I was on the side of the field and I let the training staff and coaching staff know it and the doctors wanted to check it out to make sure. They got me some pain-killers and I said 'I'm going to go back out and play, so get me ready' and I knew it was going to be numb, but I was going to play as long as I could and I ran back out and finished the game.

Keith Gilbertson: Cody (Pickett) went in and he was fine. I think he threw a completion and it wasn't like he was unnerved. It was fine. Cody wasn't Marques. We weren't going to run the same things with him that we would have with Marques. He had different kinds of skills. Nobody was unnerved. We ran some plays and then Marques came back and the rest is history.

You had to be concerned he wasn't coming back in the game, but it wasn't like he limped off the field or went off on a stretcher. He jogged off the field. So I was thinking, at least his legs are good. All I knew is that the only way that guy wasn't coming back is if one of his legs or one of his arms was missing. Other than that, I figured he was going to come back and play. That's just who he is. That's one of the things that makes him so special.

Marques Tuiasosopo: I know this, we were a pretty strong (headed) unit. If the guys up front and everyone in the huddle said 'let's go, we're going to get this, give us a chance' they would trust us. It was probably a combination of everything -- us believing we could get it, me coming back and Rick giving Gilby the green light to do it -- we didn't always get our way, but we were there to win the game and we weren't afraid of that. You could probably write a book about our sideline antics, we were always trying to lobby for ourselves, but if you asked any of the guys from the team, they'd agree.

We had one of the biggest o-lines in the country, I believe, and once they were able to put their weight on (an opponent) over the course of a game, you could really tell they were tiring guys out. We'd talk about it in the huddle, we could see it in their eyes, we could see how they were breathing, how they'd get up after runs, a little slower, not as eager, so they did a great job all game long. Purdue played hard and there was a reason they were there too, so that was a battle all game long, but as the game got down to the wire, we did get the sense that we were controlling the line of scrimmage.

Keith Gilbertson: The other thing about playing an outfit like Purdue, who is explosive like Ohio State - at the end of the game you don't want to give them any chances. If your running game is going good, you're melting clock. You're taking away chances for them to get back in the game.

Any time you can take the ball and just run at them and the clock is going and they can see that they aren't going to have many chances, it's a wonderful feeling as an offense. I think it's a testament to that offensive group - line, receivers, backs, quarterback. They were physical and were able to go out there and do that. They believed they could do that and we told them they could do it. I think it says a lot about the character of those guys wanting to win, being physical, tough, knowing how to finish games.

We had a pretty good lead and then Marques made that pitch-out to Elstrom, who was not part of that option game. We were going to score again, because by that time they just weren't going to stop us. Our offensive line had worked them down, the running game had worked them down and they couldn't stop us.

We shifted Willie Hurst out to trips formation, which changed the box count. We faked the dive. They had regular personnel in there. We faked the dive and everybody hits it. Marques comes out of there and Willie was supposed to be the pitch man. Marques got so far down there and I think Willie kind of got lost. That's a ways down the field to keep pitch relation. But it worked beautifully. That was one of our short-yardage, coming out packages. It worked great. I know he wished he hadn't pitched it, but at the same time hey man, that's what it is. That guy is going to go out there and make some plays with his feet and legs, and at the same time he's going to make more good plays than bad plays.

When you get down there you have to make a good decision. With all the things we did in the passing game and our other run game, it wasn't like we practice pitch relationship 35 yards down the field. It wasn't like that. Most of the time when a guy gets down there, he's got it, he's keeping it, he's running it. He makes so many good decisions in a game, that when that happened you're like stunned. That guy doesn't do that. That guy never makes a bad decision. That guy does nothing but make great decisions. But it's not like we practiced that either.

Marques Tuiasosopo: The play that we had designed it was actually in a nickel-formation so the pitch guy was actually the receiver. We had a single back set, so I faked it to the the back and then we had a third receiver set to the left and he was going to be my pitch guy, so it was a great scheme for the defense they were playing, they came down to try and take the dive away and I pulled it and ran. We'd talked about it, get the first down and get down, and I broke out in the open and I was going to do it and it was part of that 'chip on our shoulder' mentality we had, I wanted to go and score 40 points against them. I was trying to put it on them, that's how I felt.

All week long, all (the media) was talking about was Purdue and the other quarterback. I have great respect for Drew, but as a competitor, you notice those things and put it in the back of your heart so in essence that's why the pitch came out instead of me going down, because I wanted to put it on them so that was just the competitive side of me. It wasn't the smartest play. That mentality got us to that point and sometimes it comes back to bite you in the butt, but thank God our defense stepped up and we were still able to win.

Keith Gilbertson: I remember this vividly. I'm working on my next series when the defense was out on the field and I looked out there and I think there were at least three freshmen in the secondary. Roc (Alexander) and DJ (Derrick Johnson) and Greg (Carothers) out there. I thought, those guys are playing Drew Brees! Wow.

Marques Tuiasosopo: We had run the clock off, we were on the field and it was that moment you realized what you set out to do you just accomplished. The emotions set in and I was running around looking for my buddies to hug and they were running around doing the same thing and then the next thing I know, I see Rick and once you lock eyes with somebody you're going to finish it out, but it was an iconic moment. I remember it was in the paper in the Seattle Times and I got so much flak because everyone was saying that Rick jumped so much higher than me and I think it was just the timing of when that photo was taken.

Keith Gilbertson: I thought we had a chance to go again (in 2001), if we had stayed healthy. We had to replace a whole offensive line, but those kids played really well, really improved. By then, we had skill. We had Todd Elstrom and Jerramy Stevens and Pat Reddick. We were pretty skilled in 2001. Reggie Williams was on his way. Now all of a sudden we were skilled, we had a thrower at quarterback (Cody Pickett), we had the same guys at running back - so I thought we had a chance. But we went to the Holiday Bowl that year.

Starting in the spring of 2003, it was tough duty. All the investigations, all the trouble, all the changes, all the bad feelings...let me tell you something. It went from being the greatest thing in my life coaching-wise to, this is no fun. This is nothing but chaos and controversy every day for years. And I was out of there after the 2004 season. In fact, I knew at the start of the 2004 season I was told this was it. I was told in August or September. The whole thing was over. But you know what? You go from 2003 to 2004, you have three athletic directors and two presidents...a lot of things are going to change. Every group that could investigate you other than the CIA is investigating you. It was just an awful time. It was a shame.

People are always trying to bring down the champ, that's nothing new. But what really brought that thing down was off-field stuff. But think about this: from 1993 to 2004, that's 11 years of pretty good football except for one or two years. But just some off-field problems that never went away. There was always something. I wasn't there, so I can't tell you what happened much after me. I went back to the NFL and stayed away. Didn't go to games, didn't have much to do with the program. But I know there was a lot of stuff swirling around there for a lot of years. It was tough.

I'll say this: Sark (Steve Sarkisian) did a really good job. And you know how much I think of Chris Petersen and his guys. I enjoy them and love watching their teams play and I'll really enjoy January 1st.

Marques Tuiasosopo: I just think with Washington and the quality of that program, it wouldn't take (until 2019) to get back there, but things happen and it's hard to get there. It takes a special group to go through the season and get to the point where you're playing in the Rose Bowl because you either won all of your games or you at least only lost once. The Pac 12 is a crazy league. It's tough regardless of how it's perceived, so there's so many teams that do different things and the quarterbacks that play in this league, it's tough. I wouldn't anticipate it would be that many years between Rose Bowl trips, but it is what it is, so as an alum, I'm fired up for them that they're going.