UW Football | Huskies revel in victory
Afterward, the Washington Huskies used words like “happy” and “fun,” adjectives that had been missing for weeks now.
Not that it wasn’t obvious how they were feeling, watching them sing the fight song with their fans in the corner of an end zone, or hearing the cheers emanating from the locker room, other common football touches lacking much of this season for UW.
“It felt so good when I saw the clock ticking down and we got the ‘W,’ ” safety Mesphin Forrester said of the final seconds of Washington’s 27-9 win at Stanford on Saturday. “It was a great feeling.”
Sure, it was just a Stanford team that was picked to finish last in the conference in August and seems to have regressed since an upset win over USC that looks more unfathomable all the time. The beat-up Cardinal was also without its top two running backs and lost starting quarterback Tavita Pritchard to injury in the first quarter.
But the Huskies didn’t care.
“We’ve been waiting a couple of weeks for [a win],” said UW quarterback Jake Locker.
Six, to be exact.
The tasks get tougher now as the Huskies will play at Oregon State on Saturday, another must-win game if UW is to keep alive its hopes of a winning season and a postseason bowl. The Huskies have to win out to get to 7-6.
Although running the table is a longshot - home games with Cal and WSU follow the trip to Oregon State before the season concludes at Hawaii on Dec. 1 - there were lots of signs of hope for the Huskies.
The offense, for instance, put together its third consecutive superb game, ripping off 539 yards, and is averaging 34 points, 510.7 total yards and 262.7 rushing yards the past three weeks. UW is up to second in the Pac-10 in rushing for the season (192.8) and 26th in the nation.
Running back Louis Rankin had 255 by himself Saturday as the Huskies rushed for 388, their highest total since 1996.
“I’ve been happy with the way he has played for quite a while now,” running-backs coach Trent Miles said of Rankin. “It’s been showing, but just not in such big numbers. A lot of the credit has got to go to the offensive line. They were blowing up some big holes. It just clicked.”
Indeed, the line appears to be jelling, benefiting in part from being able to keep the group together all season.
“If you notice, on offense we’ve been rolling,” said center Juan Garcia.
Just how much the line has progressed will be revealed in Corvallis against Oregon State, which leads the Pac-10 in run defense, allowing 59.6 rushing yards per game.
The biggest revelation Saturday, however, was the defense, which has been threatening to give up the most yards per game of any defense in school history.
The Huskies, allowing 474 yards per game going in, cut that almost in half, with Stanford getting just 253, and only 97 in the second half.
The Huskies brought some more pressure at times and tried to give Stanford more varied looks than it had presented in past games.
But the Huskies said they also simply played with a lot of energy and passion, buoyed in part by a good week of practice that followed a players-only meeting, called by the seniors, Tuesday before practice.
“Everybody talked and shared how they are feeling and how we have to turn things around,” said defensive end Greyson Gunheim, who said one of the themes was to “listen to your coaches, because they are going to put you in the right spot. We were able to do that, and everything came together.”
Also different was that UW defensive coordinator Kent Baer coached the game from the press box after being on the field the first eight games. Baer said he thought being in the box would help him see the team’s alignment better, and that he’ll be in the box the rest of the year.
UW coach Tyrone Willingham said he thought the players simply played better.
“They made plays, that’s the biggest thing,” he said. “We tried to keep people off-balance, like we normally do, but they [UW’s defense] made plays, played with a lot of confidence, and that made a lot of difference.”
NOTES
• Locker took a hard hit to the right shoulder when scoring on UW’s last offensive play and had his shoulder and arm in ice afterward. Locker said he would be fine but his shoulder is expected to be evaluated this week.
• There was no line set for the Oregon State game with Beavers quarterback Sean Canfield uncertain after leaving late in the USC game with shoulder and head injuries. OSU lost to USC 24-3. OSU RB Yvenson Bernard sat out the USC game with a shoulder injury, but media reports indicated he is expected to be ready for UW.
Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com