Wood in right place at right time

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, October 21, 2006

BERKELEY, Calif. – Visions of Isaiah Stanback’s Hail Mary flooded back to the University of Washington Saturday.

And while Carl Bonnell’s 40-yard touchdown heave to Marlon Wood didn’t have the majesty that Stanback’s 69-yard bomb for a touchdown to Craig Chambers did, it had all the drama and more.

A year ago, Stanback connected with Chambers on the last play of the first half on one of the most unlikely passes in recent Husky history, sending Washington into the locker room at halftime in Tucson with momentum and sparking the Huskies to a victory over Arizona.

And if Bonnell didn’t outdo Stanback with the length of the pass, he certainly topped him with the significance.

Yes, Washington ended up losing to California despite the pass, but without the play that sent the game into overtime, the Huskies would have had no shot at a victory.

” (It was) desperation,” Bonnell said. “Everyone’s going deep. …I scrambled a little bit and threw it up in the air. I’m not sure who caught that ball but I’m thankful they did.”

At the end of the pass was the smallest receiver on the field, the 5-foot-10 Wood.

“The ball came to me really slow,” said Wood, who had just one catch entering the game. “I didn’t think I was going to be in that position.”

Washington was trailing 24-17 at the time, but Bonnell drove the team to the Cal 40-yard line with six seconds to play. With receivers spread wide, Bonnell took the snap, scrambled to his right and threw across his body toward the end zone.

The ball was fought for and tipped by three California players in the end zone. Wood snagged the tipped pass at the 3-yard line and lunged into the end zone as he was tackled by Cal’s Daymeion Hughes, sending the game to overtime.

“Usually watching Hail Mary’s, they bat it forward,” Wood said. “Other receivers were in the back anyway. I was thinking if they bat it forward I’d be right there to get it.”

Wood was on the field in part because receiver Anthony Russo was out with a knee injury. He said that when the play was originally called, the pass wasn’t intended for any specific receiver, but when Bonnell threw it, it was directed to him.

“I was coming at an angle,” Wood said. “I thought it was going to be tipped a little forward (and) a little outward. It came right to me.”

The play was not a typical Hail Mary play, according to Husky coaches. Normally, the offense would have a trailer receiver who would be responsible for catching the ball after it was tipped. This play did not have a trailer and instead was meant to go in the end zone as a jump ball.

“We wanted to stretch the seams, get the maximum amount of pressure as possible, get everybody to fly to the football and make a play and that’s exactly what happened,” UW coach Tyrone Willingham said.

Offensive coordinator Tim Lappano said he felt Washington was having success going for balls in the air and he felt this was a situation where the team could take advantage of that.

“We threw five verticals and told everybody to go down there and make a play on the ball,” Lappano said. “Go up and get the ball in the air. The biggest thing you have to do there is make sure you’re competing, that you get down field. It’s an easy situation sometimes not to hustle and get down there. But everybody hustled and got down there. … It was lucky.”

Indeed, normally in those circumstances the defense will bat the ball straight down but Cal’s players fought for the ball and batted it forward, allowing Wood to run over and get it.

Wood said at about the 15-yard line he checked to see where the other receivers were and at the 10 he looked to find the ball. He stayed at about the 5 in order to go for the tip. Once he caught it, he realized he still wasn’t in the end zone and ran forward to get in.

“I realized that as soon as I caught it,” Wood said. “I looked down and was like, ‘Oh, I’ve got to get there.’ There were still players right in front of my face. I had to get across the goal line as soon as possible.”