In 1986, Pete Kwiatkowski was a junior linebacker at Boise State when the school, looking to attract attention, decided to rip up its green AstroTurf and replace it with a bright-blue surface. He was among the first to play on what has become one of college football’s iconic fields.
“I thought it would be cool,” said Kwiatkowski, now in his second season Washington’s defensive coordinator. “It was a novelty and it was like, OK, let’s do it.”
In their first game on the new surface, Kwiatkowski and the Broncos, then a Division I-AA team in the Big Sky Conference, held Division II Humboldt State to 35 total yards in a 74-0 victory before a crowd of 17,465.