Rankin has fine homecoming
Published 11:16 pm Saturday, November 3, 2007
STANFORD, Calif. — In all likelihood, Louis Rankin woke up this morning in a lot of pain and a big smile on his face.
Playing about 90 miles from his hometown of Stockton, Rankin had a night to remember at Stanford Stadium, etching his name in Washington’s history books, while helping the Huskies end a six-game losing streak with a 27-9 win over Stanford Saturday night.
Playing in front of more than 60 family members and friends, the senior tailback had career-highs of 36 carries and 255 yards, placing him fourth on Washington’s single-game rushing list.
When it was over, Rankin said he wasn’t aware of his heavy work load, and that he felt fine.
“I really didn’t realize it at all, I feel really good,” he said. “Like my coach said, I’ll probably be a little sore tomorrow, but right now I feel really good.”
Rankin’s performance was due in part to tough running and good vision, and in part to a physically dominating performance by the offensive line.
“It starts up front at the O-Line,” said running backs coach Trent Miles. “They had a great day. The offensive line had a great day today. They were blowing up some big holes there.”
Rankin came up big when the Huskies needed him most, carrying the load on a second-half touchdown drive that gave Washington an 11-point lead following a Stanford touchdown.
His 43-yard run was one of four straight carries on the drive, the last of which was a one-yard touchdown.
“That was the answer that you need,” Tyrone Willingham said of the drive. “This year we’ve missed on some of those opportunities and kind of shot ourselves in the foot, and today we didn’t do that.”
Baer in box: Defensive coordinator Kent Baer moved from the sideline to the press box for the first time this year, and the move appeared to work well as the Huskies had their best defensive performance since a week 2 win over Boise State.
“There were some things that happened last week, just some alignment things that we didn’t do a very good job of seeing, so we just thought it would be better to go up,” said Baer, who plans to stay in the box for the rest of the year.
Baer spent last year working from above the field, but said in the past that he has usually worked from the field.
Locker breaks QB record: Jake Locker passed Dennis Fitzpatrick in the first quarter for the most rushing yards by a quarterback in a single season in school history. Fitzpatrick rushed for 697 in 1974, and Locker came into Saturday’s game with 694 yards. Locker, who now has 791 yards, is on pace to become Washington’s first 1000-yard rusher since 1997. He said he hadn’t given much thought to the record.
“I could have one yard rushing, negative yards rushing this year, and if we were 8-0 at this point, I’d be way happier,” he said. “I’m not worried about that personal stuff. I’m just looking to win ballgames.”
Long drives: Washington’s first touchdown came on a 98-yard drive, and the Huskies had a 99-yard touchdown drive against Arizona last week. The Huskies nearly had a 99-yard touchdown drive Saturday as well, but officials overruled what was originally called a touchdown pass from Locker to Anthony Russo.
Speaking of: Tyrone Willingham said he thought that play, a 23-yard pass to an open Russo, should have been ruled a touchdown. Russo appeared to have possession of the ball, but lost it as he went to the ground. A point of emphasis for officials this year is to make sure receivers possess the ball all the way to the ground on touchdown catches.
Willingham said he understood the ruling, but that “I still think that that was close enough that that should have been a catch.”
Kirton call: Jackson High School graduate Johnie Kirton had his first catch of the season in the third quarter, a 10-yard gain on third-and-eight that gave the Huskies a first down.
Murchison plays: Cornerback Jordan Murchison, who was suspended for the team from early August to Sept. 30 because of legal issues stemming from an assault charge, saw his first game action of the season during the second half of Saturday’s game. When freshman safety Nate Williams left the game with a hamstring injury, Murchison took his spot on Washington’s nickel defense.
Pritchard injured: Stanford quarterback Tavita Pritchard, who took over the starting job from T.C. Ostrander after Ostrander had a seizure earlier this year, left the game late in the first quarter with a shoulder injury. Pritchard, who is from Tacoma, was replaced by Ostrander, who completed 16 of 28 attempts for 133 yards.
