SEATTLE – A year ago, Isaiah Stanback wanted to tip-toe out of Husky Stadium, hiding from the shame of a 35-16 first-game loss to Fresno State. The University of Washington was pretty much awful that day, and no one more so than Stanback.
The Huskies dropped another season opener on Saturday, but among the few silver linings of an otherwise disappointing day was the impressive play of Stanback.
Under sunny skies at Qwest Field, the junior quarterback completed 19 of 27 passing attempts for 242 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. He was particularly effective in directing two second-half scoring drives – the first covering 65 yards in 12 plays and the second going 86 yards in 11 plays, capped by a terrific toss to wide receiver Cody Ellis for a 27-yard touchdown.
That Air Force came back to win 20-17 with two fourth-quarter TDs had little to do with Stanback, who seemed to solidify his hold on a starting spot that was up for grabs a week ago.
”I thought Isaiah played pretty well,” said Tim Lappano, Washington’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. ”He had a lot of poise and composure out there. He had good presence in the pocket and it looked like he was making all the right decisions about where to go with the football. He was pretty sharp.”
Stanback’s showing Saturday was decidedly better than last year’s opener against Fresno State, when he appeared briefly as a backup and completed just one of five passes for 10 yards. Another pass was intercepted and taken back 19 yards for a touchdown, and he later had a fumble that was returned 18 yards for a touchdown.
”I really try not to think about last year too much, especially the first game,” said the soft-spoken Stanback.
What he thought after Saturday’s game, he said, was that ”I did OK. I’m never really satisfied, especially when we have a loss. There’s always something I can do better. Now I just need to go back and see what I can do better.”
In recent days, Stanback emerged as the starter after weeks of indecision by head coach Tyrone Willingham and his staff. In part, Stanback got the job due to a thigh injury suffered by Carl Bonnell, who started two games last season, and the three-game ineligibility of Johnny Durocher, who transferred to Washington from Oregon this season.
Stanback has long been recognized as the most athletic of the bunch, and certainly he is the fastest – in the winter indoor track season he qualified for the conference championships with a 6.89 60-meter clocking, and he ran 100 meters in 10.93 in the spring outdoor season. But on Saturday Stanback carried the ball sparingly (five rushes, 12 yards), instead relying on a passing arm that was often on-the-button precise.’
One of his best tosses came late in the first quarter when he threaded the ball between defenders for a 38 yards on a post pattern to Corey Williams. Just as good was the fourth-quarter TD pass, with Stanback putting the ball exactly on Ellis’ fingertips in the end zone.
”(Stanback) played well,” Ellis said. ”(Even though) we didn’t get the win … I have confidence in him and I know all the players have confidence in him.”
”Isaiah did a great job,” agreed linebacker Joe Lobendahn.
Because of the loss, Willingham was grudging in his praise of Stanback. ”He managed the game pretty well,” the coach conceded. ”But please understand what is most pleasing is when we win, and we didn’t do that. And that is a criteria that I set for our quarterbacks and everybody in our program. We (need to) find a way to win, and we didn’t do that.”
The task gets tougher for Washington next week when California, a Pacific-10 Conference contender, visits Husky Stadium. Still, given Stanback’s steady play in the opener, the Huskies have a good chance to turn around last season’s 1-10 record.
”Isaiah’s got a lot of upside,” Lappano said. ”I think he proved to everybody that he can play this position. He’s going to get better and better every week as he gets more comfortable with this offensive system. And that could be scary if he keeps getting better every week.”
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