Thumbs down as Huskies sink to 0-4

Published 12:33 am Sunday, September 28, 2008

SEATTLE — Washington hoped that its loss two weeks ago was the low point of the season.

It wasn’t. Not even close.

Things got worse Saturday night. Much worse

Long before the game went in the books as a 35-28 loss to Stanford, the Huskies had already been hit with a major blow in the form of a broken thumb on the throwing hand of quarterback Jake Locker.

Locker hurt his hand blocking for Jordan Polk on a second-quarter reverse, then left the game two plays later after throwing an incomplete pass. He returned to the field in the second half in street clothes. A long-term prognosis was not available Saturday night.

When Washington walked off the field two weeks ago following a blowout loss to Oklahoma, the Huskies were 0-3 heading into a bye week, and it seemed there was nowhere to go but up.

Instead, the Huskies will continue to search for answers after starting 0-4 for the first time since they went 1-10 in 2004. The loss also marks the first 0-4 start of Tyrone Willingham’s coaching career. The loss was also the second straight home loss to Stanford, which also beat the Huskies 20-3 two years ago in Seattle.

“This one is very difficult for me to stand before you, because I felt like we had a football team that would be able to win this football game,” a somber Tyrone Willingham said after the game. “I don’t mean any disrespect to Stanford, they played a good game, but I thought we could win the football game, we could put ourselves in the right position to give ourselves enough stops to keep our offense on the field, to get it done. So, with that, we suffered a very disappointing loss and I’d probably say having lost to this team two times has been very difficult, very painful.”

Locker’s injury wasn’t the only costly one for the Huskies. Starting middle linebacker Donald Butler left the game with a concussion in the second quarter. Earlier in the game, Butler knocked Stanford running back Toby Gerhart out of the game with a concussion. Starting tailback David Freeman rushed for 66 yards on seven first-half carries, but did not play in the second half because of an ankle injury. Receiver D’Andre Goodwin, who led the Huskies with 83 yards on five catches, also left the game late with a rib injury.

Losing Butler, who had five tackles and a forced fumble before leaving the game, was a big blow.

“That was a very major loss to us tonight, because I thought Donald Butler was playing some of the best football that I’ve seen him play,” Willingham said. “He’s been physical and obviously he controls so much of the movement of our defense in terms of getting people in the right place, so his absence was huge.”

Stanford, however, didn’t miss a beat despite losing its starting running back. Even without Gerhart, by far the Cardinal’s biggest weapon so fart this season, Stanford’s offense had no trouble moving on Washington’s defense.

Stanford came into the game with an offense that ranked 111th nationally, and a quarterback that had thrown four interceptions and one touchdown through four games.

Against the Huskies, however, Tavita Pritchard and his offense looked great. Pritchard completed 16 of 24 passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns without throwing an interception. The Cardinal finished with 466 yards of offense, and for the fourth time in as many games, the Huskies failed to register a sack.

The Cardinal running backs filling in for Gerhart found plenty of room to run. The Cardinal finished with 244 rushing yards, including a career-best 157 yards on 15 carries from Anthony Kimbal. Kimbal, who had 83 yard run in the third quarter that gave the Cardinal a 28-14 lead, and also scored on 13-yard run in the first quarter.

Washington was able to answer Kimble’s 83-yard score with a seven-play, 69-yard touchdown drive. Ronnie Fouch connected with Jermaine Kearse for a 5-yard score to cap the drive.

Washington’s defense eventually forced a punt on the ensuing Stanford drive, but not before the Cardinal had driven to the UW 37, allowing punter David Green to pin the Huskies at the five yard line.

After three-and-out, the Huskies had to punt, giving the Cardinal good field position and a chance to build on their lead. Stanford did just that, driving 56 yards in eight plays, with Pritchard finding Ryan Whalen for an 18-yard score, Pritchard’s third touchdown pass of the game.

Washington made a final comeback attempt late in the game, driving 95-yards on 14 plays late in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to seven with 1:25 left to play. Fouch capped the drive with a one-yard keeper after two previous attempts from the one were denied. Fouch finished the game 13 of 27 for 186 yards and a touchdown in relief of Locker.

Any miraculous comeback hopes ended, however, when the ensuing onside kick went out of bounds, allowing Pritchard to take a knee twice to run out the clock.

The game got off to an odd but positive start for the Huskies. Washington drove deep into Stanford territory on the opening drive of the game, but lost the ball on a fumbled exchange between Locker and Freeman. Two plays later, however, the Huskies got the ball right back when Gerhart fumbled after catching a short pass. Butler caused the fumble, which was recovered by safety Tripper Johnson at the Stanford 34 yard line.

Five plays later—all runs—Brandon Johnson scored from one yard out to give the Huskies a 7-0 lead.

That drive highlighted a running game that, in the first half anyway, was the bright spot for the Huskies. One of Washington’s goals in the bye week was to improve its running game, and in the first half the Huskies ran the ball well, gaining 112 yards on the ground. Freeman, making his second start, had seven carries in the half for 66 yards.

The second half, however, was not nearly as productive for the Huskies, who managed just 28 rushing yards.

Asked if this was the toughest spot he’s been in as a coach, Willingham did not hesitate to answer.

“Without question,” said Willingham, who was already facing questions about his future at Washington before the latest loss. “Without question. Because there are so many things flying around my young men right now, and we’re trying to keep them focused on that next task, that next goal. Because they’re frustrated, the coaches are frustrated. Everyone’s frustrated, the fans are frustrated. We want to get this thing right.”

On this night, very little went right.

Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on University of Washington sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com /huskiesblog

Stanford 35, Washington 28

Stanford71477—35

Washington7777—28

@5. FBbox lead:First Quarter

Wash—B.Johnson 1 run (Perkins kick), 7:35.

Stan—Kimble 13 run (Zagory kick), 4:16.

Second Quarter

Stan—Dray 11 pass from Pritchard (Zagory kick), 8:34.

Wash—B.Johnson 1 run (Perkins kick), 3:11.

Stan—Baldwin 61 pass from Pritchard (Zagory kick), 1:36.

Third Quarter

Stan—Kimble 83 run (Zagory kick), 9:36.

Wash—Kearse 5 pass from Fouch (Perkins kick), 6:14.

Fourth Quarter

Stan—R.Whalen 18 pass from Pritchard (Zagory kick), 10:22.

Wash—Fouch 1 run (Perkins kick), 1:25.

A—61,968.

StanWash

First downs2127

Rushes-yards36-24438-140

Passing222237

Comp-Att-Int16-24-018-36-0

Return Yards40

Punts-Avg.3-33.34-39.5

Fumbles-Lost3-13-1

Penalties-Yards12-1155-46

Time of Possession28:5031:10

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Stanford, Kimble 15-157, Stewart 11-67, Gerhart 2-14, Pritchard 4-12, M.Thomas 1-6, Team 2-(minus 4), Baldwin 1-(minus 8). Washington, Freeman 7-64, J.Polk 2-30, B.Johnson 10-21, Locker 10-17, Griffin 3-7, Fouch 4-3, Kravitz 1-0, Team 1-(minus 2).

PASSING—Stanford, Pritchard 16-24-0-222. Washington, Fouch 13-27-0-186, Locker 5-9-0-51.

RECEIVING—Stanford, R.Whalen 7-76, Gerhart 2-24, Kimble 2-17, Baldwin 1-61, Gunder 1-16, Dray 1-11, W.Reuland 1-10, Marecic 1-7. Washington, Kearse 6-52, Goodwin 5-83, Gottlieb 4-65, Chidiac 1-14, Freeman 1-12, Aguilar 1-11.