SEATTLE >> There are few September days when the Seattle sky is clear enough to see 38 years ago.

“It was a beautiful day, just like this,” said Pat Richardson, who was sitting in the Husky Stadium bleachers Friday watching the Hawaii football team’s walkthrough practice in preparation for today’s game against Washington.

Richardson was a defensive end on the 1973 Rainbows team that upset Washington 10-7 in one of the most astonishing road outcomes in the program’s football history.

“They had the (locker room’s) metal doors closed, and when they were opened, you could hear this roar,” Richardson recalled. “As we walked onto the field, the whole place was packed. It was all in purple. There were only 45 of us (on the travel roster) at the time. It was unbelievable. They were yelling at us, calling us ‘Pineapples,’ throwing apples onto the field. That was back in 1973.”

Back then, the 6-foot-2 Richardson weighed 225 pounds. “Those players,” he said, pointing to the current Warriors, “are much bigger and faster than we were. They have a lot of heart, too.”

Before the walk-through, UH head coach Greg McMackin noted there still is a gap between the Warriors and the Huskies. McMackin estimated the Huskies’ football budget probably is the same as UH’s overall athletic budget.

“But we’re only allowed to play 11 at time,” McMackin said. “That never changes.”

After the 1-hour walk-through, in which the Warriors worked on special teams and several players exchanged jerseys, they headed back to the hotel in Bellevue, Wash. The Warriors then had a 1-hour, noncontact practice in two ballrooms.

“They’ve got a good chance,” said Nuu Faaola, a former UH running back who went on to play in the National Football League. “The Warriors have a chance in every game.” Richardson is living proof. Of that 1973 game, Richardson recalls a crucial fourth-quarter possession in which the Huskies drove inside the UH 10. The Huskies ran twice to the right and once to the left without success. Instead of going for the game-tying field goal, UW’s offense remained on the field.

The Warriors stuffed the tackle box with 11 defenders. If the Huskies threw, it would be a likely touchdown. Instead, the Huskies ran it a fourth time. And, once again, they were stopped. The Warriors took over, then exhausted the clock.

“People were shocked,” Richardson said. “It was so quiet. The first three quarters the place was rocking, you couldn’t hear anything. It was so noisy. But when we left, they were in shock.”

Asked about the apples that were thrown onto the field, Richardson smiled, then said: “We ate them.”