Commentary: The most deafening noise at Husky Stadium? One split second of relative silence

It was a moment, in many ways, frozen in time, before the Huskies road to greatness marched on.

There is nothing like the sound of more than 71 thousand fans at a fever pitch – the setting, the atmosphere, a hub of emotions concentrated in one place - leaving many with their ears still ringing from all the noise at Husky Stadium.

But what I’ll remember most from yesterday’s game… is the silence.

Before the pandemonium on the field after the Huskies win over Oregon, before the rush of students and fans, before the emotions overwhelmed Michael Penix Jr during an interview on national TV, there was a split-second of relative silence that engulfed that stadium. Take a listen, as the Ducks kicked what could have been the game-tying field goal at the end of regulation.

It was such an interesting moment right after that kick. All the words we could use to describe the stillness as that ball flew through the air – from a "calm" or a even a "peace" – are total juxtapositions of the powderkeg of emotions waiting to explode.

Last week, I failed to make a key distinction in the term "The Biggest Game in Husky Stadium History." Because normally there’s a difference in how something is viewed in anticipation of a game, and the way it’s perceived afterward.

Accuse me of recency bias: But yesterday will go down the biggest game in that stadium’s history in both senses of that term.

To beat Oregon, their biggest rivals, in a Top-Ten showdown, in a sold out stadium, in a back-and-forth battle that featured a game-winning drive, led by a Heisman Trophy candidate, with ESPN’s College Gameday in town? Give me a formula better than that. It was big-time football, played at a peak level, and it will be a game, whose magnitude will be hard to top for many years to come.

I don’t blame any Husky fan dreaming of a chance to play for a national championship this season, because the Dawgs are now in the driver’s seat to make that happen.

They’re only halfway through the year, but if we’re talking best-on-best, I don’t think there’s a team left on the schedule they should lose to. I’m not saying it won’t happen, because there are a ton of potential roadblocks with seven games left, and I know everyone from Coug fans to those supporting USC or Utah are drooling at the chance. But the Huskies have shown us what their capabilities are. And if it translates to consistent performance, it should also translate to an opportunity to do something special.

Which means there will be many more days at Husky Stadium where the volume reaches a fever pitch, where the cacophony of noise still lingers in our heads the very next day.

And also why that split second of silence will stick with me the most. Because it was a moment, in many ways, frozen in time, before the Huskies road to greatness marched on.