SEATTLE – Because the University of Washington lost again, it was easy for quarterback Isaiah Stanback to dwell on his mistakes, such as a drive-killing interception in the end zone in the second quarter of Saturday’s game against Notre Dame at Husky Stadium.
Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
“That was a bad throw,” he said with disgust. “I had a guy open, but instead of just throwing it there for him, I tried to aim it. And whenever you try to aim it, the ball doesn’t go where you want it to go. The ball just came out bad.”
Even his successes came with a postscript, like the 353 passing yards he totaled against a pretty fair Fighting Irish defense.
“No touchdowns,” he sighed, side-stepping praise with a rueful shrug.
For Stanback and his Husky teammates, moral victories are of small consequence. Sure, Washington went toe to toe with 16th-ranked Notre Dame through three quarters before finally bowing in the fourth. But the sting of a 36-17 defeat – the UW’s third loss in four games this season – overshadowed what was plainly evident to a crowd of 71,473 at Husky Stadium.
That is, that Stanback is progressing nicely in his first season as the team’s starting quarterback.
Washington trailed the Irish 12-3 at halftime, but by rights the Huskies could have – perhaps, should have – been up 17-12. On the game’s opening drive, Stanback quickly guided Washington down the field, only to have wide receiver Craig Chambers follow a reception with a lost fumble at the 1-yard line.
Then, just under four minutes before halftime, Stanback was flushed from the pocket and rolled to his left. On the run, he tried to connect with tight end Robert Lewis, but the underthrown ball was picked off by defensive back Ambrose Wooden.
“We just have to stop hurting ourselves,” Stanback said. “Turning the ball over, and that means myself and everybody else on the team.”
There was another turnover midway through the third period, a fumble by running back Kenny James, and when Notre Dame cashed in a subsequent touchdown, the game was on the verge of getting away – which it did in the early minutes of the final period, with the Irish tacking on a field goal and another touchdown against the now-disheartened Huskies.
Afterward, there was plenty of wondering what might have been.
“We’ve lost some games this year, but we don’t feel like we’ve been beaten,” Stanback said. “There’s a difference between losing and being beaten, and we’ve been beating ourselves because of turnovers. If you take all those turnovers today and make them touchdowns, which is what they should have been, this is a totally different game.”
Offensive coordinator Tim Lappano, who said the Huskies “left a lot of touchdowns out on the (field),” said the team’s game plan against Notre Dame was to throw the ball down the field – which Stanback did well, highlighted by a dandy 69-yard toss to wide receiver Marlon Wood in the second quarter.
“But what I told (Stanback) after the game is that he needs to use his feet a little bit better,” Lappano said. “There’s opportunities when he can pull it down and run, and he has the green light to do that. I’m not telling him, ‘Don’t do that.’ And I think the interception was a really good example. (The defensive secondary) stayed back in coverage, and with his acceleration he had a good chance (to make a good gain on the ground).”
So why does Stanback hesitate?
“He took so much flak a year ago about running around out there,” Lappano said. “I think now he wants to prove to everybody that he can stand back there and throw it. He’s doing that and he’s getting better, but he also has to learn that he has some God-given ability with his legs. He’s like a tailback out there. He’s got great running skills, and when he has the opportunity to pull it down, he has to take it.
“But he’s getting better. He’s made some nice throws today and he’s managing the game plan pretty well. Sure, he’s not where we want him to be yet, but he’s making some progress. And his leadership skills are starting to show now. He’s getting more vocal out there.”
After Stanback threw the second-quarter interception, Lappano related, Stanback returned to the sidelines and was on the telephone to the press box.
“He was good. He was positive,” Lappano said. “He said, ‘Coach, we can get these guys. I know I can throw it better. I know where to go.’ He stayed positive throughout the whole game, and that wasn’t always the case.
“Sometimes in the past he’d hang his head a little bit (after a mistake). Even in the spring game he wouldn’t say anything. But you can’t act that way as a quarterback. So he’s made a lot of growth there. He was very positive throughout this whole game, and that’s good because that’s the way it’s got to be.”
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