SEATTLE--In last year's matchup against the Stanford Cardinal, the Washington Huskies defense gave up 446 rushing yards in a 65-21 shellacking. On Thursday night, newly hired defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox and his defenders held Stanford to 235 total yards.
Early in the third quarter, the Huskies trailed the visitors by a 13-3 score. Washington running back Bishop Sankey scored on a 61-yard run as the quarter ran out to reduce the deficit to 17-10. Sophomore wide receiver Kasen Williams notched the go-ahead touchdown on a 53-yard pass from quarterback Keith Price with less than five minutes to play in the game.
The Huskies defense sealed the signature win when Desmond Trufant intercepted Stanford quarterback Josh Nunes' pass deep in Washington territory with 1:46 remaining.
Players of the game: Huskies defense
"At the end of the day, to get back to Justin and the defensive staff, their ability to be disciplined in what they had to do, when you were in a gap you leveraged their opponent and tackled, that is playing good defense against a power running team. I thought we stood our ground there all the way to the bitter end."--Steve Sarkisian, Washington head coach
"Last year they didn't adjust too much but this year they were on the ball. We made mistakes and they capitalized. They made plays and we didn't."--Stephan Taylor, Stanford running back
Beating Stanford
"I'm a senior, this is my last year and I have never beaten Stanford until now. Words can't explain it. For all the guys who left and all the guys that are here now, you can only imagine how it feels to take down a #10 team in all black on ESPN with all the fans rushing the field, it does not get any better than that."--Jonathan Amosa, Washington fullback
"They are a good team, but for us to come out and play this way just feels so good. It helps the team and brings up our morale for the next game."--Sean Parker, Washington safety
"Being 1-0 (in the Pac-12) feels great right now. I mean I can't even describe it. The way the crowd overwhelmed us was insane."--John Timu, Washington linebacker
Stanford's offensive woes
"I thought it was not his (quarterback Josh Nunes) best effort. I think he can play much better. I think we can all do a much better job."--David Shaw, Stanford head coach
"I feel like we didn't play as well tonight. Especially offensively, and a lot of that is attributed to me. We didn't play like we needed to."--Josh Nunes
They said it:
"Biggest thing is disappointment, because I know we could have played better than that, we should have played better than that, but this will kind of drive us further, we've just got to keep chopping wood and it will take care of itself."--Trent Murphy, Stanford linebacker
"Bottom line is we are in a great conference if you don't play your best football in the conference you lose. We lost tonight, we lost a tough road game, we are down one game in the Pac12 North and that's where we are."--David Shaw
"We didn't have holdings, we didn't have false starts, we didn't line up wrong, we protected the football for the most part until their great play by their kid 93. We covered our kicks, we punted the ball, we tackled really well and at the end of the day we had a chance to win in the fourth quarter and converted on a couple of really critical fourth down plays that ultimately changed the momentum of the game."--Steve Sarkisian
Source: gohuskies.com
Zielonka has been reporting on the Huskies for the past three years.
