A pair of fighter jets roared across the sky just prior to kickoff Saturday afternoon. But it was another kind of flyover, about three hours later, that created an unforgettable sonic boom in Husky Stadium.

When a football kicked off the foot of Erik Folk sailed over the crossbar of the goalposts in the north end zone, rendering Washington's stunning ambush of heavily favored USC all but official, the din was powerful enough to make the most indifferent cynic's heart race.

A few seconds later, when time expired on the scoreboard that showed the Huskies had beaten USC, 16-13, fans rushed the field to celebrate what had to be the greatest upset in school history.

A year after finishing 0-12, a week after snapping a 15-game losing streak that tied a conference record for futility, the Huskies found themselves three-touchdown underdogs to a USC team ranked No. 3 in the polls. A USC team, by the way, that had beaten the Huskies seven straight times since 2001, by a collective score of 282-112.

How does an upset get bigger than Washington 16, USC 13 — a year after the Huskies finish 0-12?

"This is the biggest one in a long time," said former assistant coach Dick Baird, a close observer of Husky football for more than four decades. "It might be the biggest upset ever.

"We'd never been 0-12 before."

Which helps explain a postgame scene best described, in one word, by Jake Locker.

"Pandemonium," said the Huskies' quarterback.

It could've been scary, this bolting from the bleachers by thousands of fans. But the mood was sheer jubilance. The damp, overcast afternoon was too heavenly for trouble to crash the party.

Fathers toted toddlers on their shoulders. Police exchanged high fives with bare-chested rowdies. There were tears — not unusual for the aftermath of recent Washington football games — only this time, the tears were of joy, of pride, of an epic accomplishment that surprised almost everybody not privy to the preparation required to make it happen.

"We believed," said middle linebacker Donald Butler, who led a defense that seemed to grow fangs and claws after allowing the Trojans to run by them, over them and through them during the first 10 minutes. "That's the difference between last year and this year: The belief in your heart."

Whenever a team fails to close the deal on an upset, there's an uh-oh moment: The field-goal snap that sails over the kicker's head, the pass dropped in the end zone, the punt muffed at midfield — there are dozens of ways to waste the opportunity of putting down a heavy favorite with a knockout punch.

For Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian, the uh-oh moment came early, after USC followed a touchdown with a field goal to increase its first-quarter lead to 10-0. The Trojans were clearing lanes with such ease, the most exhausted people in the stadium were the poor guys in charge of the first-down chains on the sideline. They were running wind sprints.

"On that first drive, after they made that touchdown, I kind of went, 'uh-oh, OK, what do we have to do?'" said Sarkisian. "How are we gonna settle back and play our game?"

The Huskies played their game by realizing they couldn't beat USC toe-to-toe. No, they would have to rely on defensive quickness, and offensive efficiency, and technically sound special teams, and controlling the turnover game (they recovered two fumbles and picked off a pass, while USC had no takeaways.)

Despite achieving virtually all of their pregame objectives, the Huskies still were tied, 13-13, with 4:01 remaining and the offense to beginning a drive at the UW 33. Through 56 minutes, Locker's work was less spectacular than serviceable — "he didn't have his best day," as Sarkisian would put it — but on the game's final possession, the redshirt freshman simultaneously drove the Huskies into scoring position as he milked the clock.

"I thought we kept him under wraps for a while," said Trojans coach Pete Carroll, "but when he had to have it, he made it. That's what a great player does."

That's what a great team does, too.

It's too to early to categorize the Huskies as anything other than a pleasant surprise — OK, a fabulously, outrageously pleasant surprise — but what they accomplished Saturday will be recalled by more than those 61,889 fans present at the elation.

"Hands down, the most incredible day I've ever experienced," Butler said. "My children and grandchildren will be talking about this game for a long time."

When the game is talked about, it will be impossible to exaggerate the noise of the crowd after Folk's winning field goal, or the giddy joy on the faces of those who mobbed the field.

Greatest upset in Huskies history?

All that, and then some.

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