DiAndre Campbell made plans to travel to Las Vegas because he was determined to witness the action up close on Friday night at Allegiant Stadium. The former Washington Huskies receiver just felt the good vibes, so he acted.

On the morning of the 2023 Pac-12 Championship Game, Campbell took a plane from the Bay Area to Los Angeles, where he rented a car and drove for more than three hours. Surrounded by former teammates like Shaq Thompson, Marcus Peters, Cory Littleton, and others on the sidelines, Campbell and all those in purple eventually celebrated the program’s return to the College Football Playoff, on a night when Washington defeated rival Oregon to continue this incredible 13-0 season’s relentless progress.

A large number of the ex-Huskies gathered that evening belonged to the generation that contributed to the revival of a program that, fifteen years prior, was the only losing program in major college football. They cheered for this frequently amazing brand of Huskies football inside Allegiant Stadium, but they also thought back to how they contributed to making this brand possible in the first place. Because without the 34-year-old head coach who was hired to lead a once-proud program following a 0–12 season in 2008 and had no prior head coaching experience, it is impossible to explain the revival of Washington football.

Texas led by Steve Sarkisian to the 2023 Big 12 title the morning after Washington’s 1,200-mile triumph over the Ducks in the east. Campbell kept an eye on the scores throughout the conference championship Saturday.