By John Sleeper
Herald Writer
SEATTLE — Larry Tripplett wasn’t finished.
Not 20 minutes after his 11th-ranked Washington Huskies disposed of 10th-ranked Stanford 42-28 Saturday, Tripplett, Washington’s fireplug of a defensive tackle, was ready to strap it on again.
"This is huge for us … HUGE," Tripplett said. "But you know, as soon as we got done with this, I was ready for Oregon State. I was telling the guys that I wish we could start practice right now."
The Huskies (7-1, 5-1 in the Pacific-10 Conference) took a huge step toward a Pac-10 title and a possible Fiesta Bowl bid by outgunning the Cardinal, which came into Husky Stadium off victories over two top-5 teams in the last two weekends in UCLA and Oregon.
The Huskies have two conference games remaining — next week at Oregon State and a home game against Washington State Nov. 17 — before heading off to Miami for what is shaping up to be a clash of the titans, possibly a crucial matchup for a high-octane BCS bowl bid.
Certainly, that was the feeling among the vast majority of the 72,090 who jammed Husky Stadium, many of whom stayed around to greet their heroes outside the tunnel that leads to the dressing room. More that a few screamed maniacally for Husky players to throw them anything sweaty, from gloves to sweat bands to items even less savory.
But hold it, UW coach Rick Neuheisel said. It all could come crashing down Saturday if the Huskies take OSU for granted.
"I like our position, Neuheisel said. "We’ve still got a chance, and that’s all I can ask for in the month of November. Now, we have to focus on Oregon State."
Still, the significance of the victory wasn’t lost on the UW players, who filled the post-game meeting room with borderline hysterical cheering.
After all, the Cardinal posed a grave threat. Not only did Stanford stuff Oregon and UCLA in successive games, it also came in with the best rushing defense in the conference and an alternately explosive and grind-it-out offense that led the Pac-10 in time of possession by far.
"We beat a very, very good team," Tripplett said. "I’m just glad we had them in Husky Stadium. It was a big, big win for us."
Offensively, the Huskies brought an attack that stunned Stanford early with the run and stunned it later with the pass. Tailback Willie Hurst ran for 108 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries. His 2-yard plowing up the middle for a touchdown with 3:48 left gave Washington the lead for good at 35-28.
And when the Cardinal caught up with the run, Pickett zapped it with 291 yards worth of passing on 15 completions. One went for an 8-yard scoring strike to wideout Reggie Williams, who finished with three catches for 74 yards. Paul Arnold led the receivers with 84 yards on four catches, including an acrobatic, leaping grab in front of corner Ruben Carter that went for 47 yards.
This, after Arnold blew a certain touchdown catch in the second quarter that could have given the Huskies a 28-13 second-quarter lead.
"We joke with him about it now, but during the game, we just want him to shrug it off," Pickett said. "I have confidence in all my guys."
Stanford came away, however, knowing that it blew chances to win.
Down 28-20 in the third quarter, Washington fumbled the ball away twice deep in its own territory — one by Pickett, one by tailback Rich Alexis — and the Cardinal came up with zero points.
"That’s known as hanging your butt over the line," UW linebacker Ben Mahdavi said. "That was fun."
After Alexis’ bobble on the Husky 30, the Washington defense held and Mike Bisselli pulled a 47-yard field-goal attempt wide right. After Pickett’s fumble, the Husky defense held again and Stanford’s field goal unit blew it again, this time on a muffed snap from center that holder Eric Johnson had to eat.
"Sometimes, the execution just fell a little bit short," Stanford coach Tyrone Willingham said.
Still, in the fourth quarter when tailback Brian Allen scored the second of his two touchdowns (the 8-yarder on the heels on an 80-yarder in the third quarter), and ex-Mariner High School megastar Teyo Johnson caught a two-point conversion pass, Stanford found itself in a 28-all tie with 10 minutes remaining.
But, as we all know by now, Washington owns the fourth quarter.
Hurst pinballed his way in the end zone from 2-yards out, capping the most important drive of the season, a 14-play, 77-yard death march that knocked 6:13 off the clock that gave the Huskies a 35-28 lead.
Pickett completed four of five passes on the drive for 44 yards. Two completions went to tight end Kevin Ware, who had two receptions all season coming into the game.
Ware’s last was a 11-yard catch that got to the Huskies to the Stanford 3-yard line. Three plays later, Hurst scored the go-ahead TD.
After the UW defense held Stanford on downs, Hurst scored on a 15-yard burst around left end for the final touchdown with 40 seconds left in the game.
"Somehow, some way, we came up with the big, big plays down the stretch," Neuheisel said.
At this point, does anyone expect anything less?
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