Pac-10 Honors WSU’s Moore

Washington State linebacker Brandon Moore is the Pac-10 defensive player of the week.

Moore, a senior, had 14 tackles, 10 unassisted, in WSU’s 38-28 football victory over Stanford on Saturday. He also returned an interception 21 yards.

UCLA tailback Skip Hicks is the offensive player of the week after rushing for 147 yards on 25 carries, with three touchdowns, in a 52-28 victory over Washington. He also had three catches for 106 yards, including a 67-yard TD reception.

USC’s Adam Abrams won for special teams after kicking field goals of 46, 23 and 32 yards in a 23-0 win over Oregon State.

Huskies play the spoiler

The Washington Huskies have been reduced to Rose Bowl spoilers in Saturday’s Apple Cup against Washington State in Seattle.

Instead of being in Pasadena, Calif., on New Year’s Day to possibly face No. 1 Michigan with a shot at the national championship, the disappointed 17th-ranked Huskies could wind up in the Insight.com Bowl, the renamed Copper Bowl in Tucson, Ariz.

It’s a negative ending to what had such a positive beginning.

So what happened to the team that was rated No. 4 in The Associated Press college football poll before the season began, climbed to No. 2 after a 2-0 start and was No. 6 before Oregon ambushed it as a three-touchdown favorite in Seattle?

“I don’t think you can ever look at that accurately at the time,” coach Jim Lambright said. “I think you can look at it afterward and say, ‘What if?’ I think the only thing that’s real right now is, can we beat Washington State on Saturday?”

UW defense put to the test

If Washington’s defense couldn’t stop UCLA quarterback Cade McNown and running back Skip Hicks last Saturday when it had the Rose Bowl on the line, will it be able to stop Ryan Leaf and the Cougars in their bid to put Washington State in the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1931?

Leaf has thrown 31 touchdown passes to tie for the most ever by a Pac-10 quarterback. And he needs 198 yards of total offense to replace Timm Rosenbach as the Cougars’ single-season record holder.

These Huskies stayed the course

Washington will be trying to send its seniors out on a winning note. These are special seniors. They’re the ones who stuck it out when the Huskies were handed a two-year bowl ban before the 1994 season.

“Whether you’re a spoiler or not, it’s your last shot at winning for these players that were the key to keeping us strong through the sanctions,” Lambright said. Among them are Jerome Pathon, Fred Coleman, Tony Parish, Jerry Jensen and Jason Chorak.

UCLA’s McElroy disses Dawgs

Most UCLA players, coaches and fans treasure wins over crosstown rival Southern California more than any other. Wide receiver Jim McElroy in an exception.

It’s Washington he despises.

“This was a big win, the biggest I’ve had in my collegiate career,” McElroy said of UCLA’s 52-28 triumph over the Huskies two days earlier. “If we would have lost this game, I would have been so depressed. I’d have died to see them in the Rose Bowl.”

But McElroy acknowledged that Saturday he’ll be the Huskies “biggest fan.” If UW beats WSU and UCLA takes care of USC, the Bruins will represent the Pac-10 in the Rose Bowl.

Huskies lauded

Washington placed three starters on the 1997 GTE Academic All-District VIII first team - quarterback Brock Huard (3.48 grade-point average in pre-med), offensive lineman Aaron Dalan (3.63 biology) and defensive back Nigel Burton (3.47 business administration).

No WSU players were named.

, DataTimes MEMO: Changed from the Idaho edition.