As remnants of the raucous crowd of 68,161 poured onto the field at Husky Stadium and Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’ blared over the loudspeakers, Kamren Fabiculanan could hardly believe what was happening.
“Surreal,” the sophomore safety said when asked to describe his feelings. “I’ve never been a part of anything like that. I’ve always seen it on television. It’s a surreal feeling. … Just a fun experience for sure.”
Fabiculanan, who is nicknamed “Kam Fab” according to Husky teammates, played a pivotal role in the festive celebrations following Washington’s 39-28 victory over No. 11 Michigan State on Saturday night, which was arguably the biggest win in two decades for UW.
Despite the absence of standout safety Asa Turner, who didn’t play because of an undisclosed injury, a makeshift Husky defense neutralized a high-powered Michigan State offense for three quarters and made enough plays in the final minutes to secure the 11-point win.
“I’m proud of what we’re doing defensively,” UW coach Kalen DeBoer said. “Short-handed there a little bit. Guys stepping up and going out there and making plays. Even at the end of the game, we were subbing for the subs defensively and on special teams.
“I really don’t feel like it’s phasing us if somebody goes down. Our team is just like ‘OK, now it’s this guy’s turn.’ Hopefully, when more guys are coming back and now you’re trying to build the depth of the program. That might be wishful thinking, but that could be the direction we’re going.”
In just his second start, Fabiculanan replaced Turner, who leads UW with two interceptions, and finished with eight tackles, including five solos and a pass broken up.
“Asa Turner … you can say he’s the heart and soul of our defense and Kam Fab had to step up and he stepped up really well,” UW strong safety Alex Cook said. “He switched from nickel to free safety and he played lights out. He did really well. That’s the standard that we have in the DB room. If somebody goes down, next man up. There’s no drop off. We’re just playing fast and whoever goes down, the next man carries the flag.”
Cook, who had a game-high nine tackles, including a tackle for loss, and Fabiculanan combined for 17 stops on a night when the Husky defense allowed just 174 yards and 14 points through three quarters.
Washington was particularly dominant against a vaunted Michigan State rushing attack that ranked 25th nationally while averaging 228.5 rushing yards in its first two games.
The Huskies held the Spartans to 42 yards on 29 carries (1.4 yards per play) while holding MSU running back Jalen Berger, who entered Saturday’s game with 227 rushing yards and four rushing TDs, to just 27 yards on 13 attempts.
“The first priority on defense is always stopping the run,” Cook said. “If we can’t stop the run, there’s nothing much we can do. We definitely made that a priority coming into this week. Safeties coming into run fits and playing downhill, linebackers playing fast.
“Tonight, it just clicked. It was clicking in practice, so evidently it will click in the game. We take a lot of pride in stopping the run.”
Fabiculanan credited the UW defensive line and the Husky coaching staff.
“I just want to say our D-line showed up today,” he said. “Those guys, that’s the defense right there. It starts up front. Shout out to all of them.”
Washington tallied two sacks, an interception and safety, but the Huskies bemoaned a sloppy fourth quarter in which Michigan State gained 191 yards, including 161 passing yards and two touchdowns.
“We knew from film that Michigan State’s passing game wasn’t that strong, so we were still going to play aggressive (against the run),” Cook said. “They got a few on us. It is what it is. That’s football. But it’s all good. We just got to clean up some details.”
When told Saturday’s game was UW’s biggest win in 21 years, the 22-year-old Fabiculanan said: “Again, I go back to surreal. It’s amazing to be a part of something like this.”