Huskies Learn Thing Or Two From Huskers
Washington has proven it can win with offense - 42-38 against Arizona State.
Or with defense - 20-10 against BYU.
Now there is just the matter of winning with consistency.
For a model on how to do that, the No. 9 Huskies need look no further than their opponent this week, No. 2 Nebraska.
“Nebraska’s program and the substance that runs year to year in that program is one that you admire and when you go back is one that you build your kids up with,” said UW coach Jim Lambright. “They usually replace an athlete with another athlete that is better than the one before.”
That’s led to a record of 49-2 over the last four years and three national championships for the Cornhuskers.
Included in that run is a 27-14 win over the Huskies last season.
But Washington, which beat Nebraska in 1991 and ‘92, is one of only two teams to defeat the Huskers in Lincoln in the ‘90s. Colorado is the other.
In order to accomplish that feat this year, Lambright knows his young troops will have to take to the air.
“We hope our passing game can give us some edge, and that’s probably about it when you look at what Nebraska’s done this year in shutting down other programs up to this point,” he said.
The one program the Huskers did not shut down was Louisiana Tech. Receiver Troy Edwards set an NCAA record with 405 yards on 21 catches, including scores of 52, 94 and 80 yards.
“It does give you some clues,” said Lambright. “And it gave Nebraska a whole lot to work on immediately after that.”
The film from UW’s game with BYU also give the Huskers a lot of ideas on how to pressure the Huskies. BYU blitzed Washington with effectiveness, limiting the Huskies to one touchdown on offense, a 52-yard pass from Brock Huard to Chris Juergens. The only other highlight on offense was Marques Tuiasosopo’s 46-yard run. Toure Butler had a 35-yard fumble recovery for a score and a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
But the biggest problem for Washington might not be the offense, it might be the wide eyes of its players. Only one player, Nigel Burton, has ever played in Lincoln.
“I don’t think they let anyone buy a season ticket without having a closet full of red,” said Lambright.
Burton, a rover back who is questionable with a sprained ankle, played at Memorial Stadium as a freshman, when he was with University of the Pacific.
“In one way, it was the greatest day in my college football career to that point; playing in Nebraska and in front of 76,000 people,” said Burton, whose team lost 49-7 that day. “But in another, it almost made me want to throw up.”
That’s just the feeling the Huskies are trying to avoid.
Spartan existence
San Jose State, which earlier beat Stanford, was handed its worst loss in 30 years by Oregon on Saturday, 58-3. The No. 20 Ducks, who are fourth in the country in scoring at 46.3 points per game and eighth in total offense (502.7), scored three touchdowns in the first quarter but only had the ball 71 seconds.
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Oregon coach Mike Bellotti. “I looked up at the scoreboard once and they had all the statistics.
“It happened so fast.”
So if San Jose State beat Stanford and Oregon crushed the Spartans, that means bet the house on the Ducks over the Cardinal this Saturday when the two meet, right?
Not so fast. Stanford has won six out of the last seven meetings with Oregon, including the last three at Autzen Stadium, the site of Saturday’s game.
New look, same result
Arizona State shook up the defensive lineup in its 35-14 win over North Texas. And while Bruce Snyder believes Eric Flowers, Junior Ioane and Eric Field “all did some things that I think improved our defense,” the statistics show otherwise.
The Sun Devils, who allowed 68 points in the first two games, gave up 373 yards to North Texas. The Eagles gained 264 total yards in losses to Oklahoma and Texas Tech.
One more candidate
Arizona’s Trung Candidate finally found out how to score from inside the 10. Before the running back’s 1-yard plunge in Saturday’s win against Iowa, the junior had scored from 96, 67, 66, 38 and 28 yards. Arizona finished the game with 191 yards on the ground.
Staying with the numbers theme, all three times Arizona has started 3-0 in the ‘90s, the Wildcats have made it to a bowl game (1990, ‘93 and ‘94).
PAC-10 THIS WEEK By Carter Strickland, Staff writer
League Overall W L PF PA W L Arizona 1 0 31 14 3 0 USC 1 0 40 20 3 0 Washington 1 0 42 38 2 0 Oregon 0 0 0 0 3 0 WSU 0 0 0 0 3 0 UCLA 0 0 0 0 2 0 California 0 0 0 0 2 1 Oregon St. 0 1 20 40 2 1 Stanford 0 1 14 31 1 2 Arizona St. 0 1 38 42 1 2
No. 16 Arizona (-14) at San Diego State (Thursday) TV: 5 p.m., ESPN The Wildcats limited Iowa to 28 yards on 27 carries. The Aztecs will be lucky to get that many. The pick: Wildcats 36, Aztecs 14
No. 18 USC at No. 10 Florida State (-15.5) TV: 12:30 p.m., ABC Seminoles are riding a 35-game home win streak. The Trojans have yet to win a game in the state of Florida. Both streaks will continue. The pick: Seminoles 45, Trojans 23.
Washington State at Cal (-4.5) TV:4 p.m. ABC The Bears held Nebraska and Oklahoma, two Big 12 teams, to 36 points. The Cougars allowed Boise State and Idaho, two Big West teams, 37 points. Still, the Cougars will probably find a way to win. The pick: Cougars 17, Golden Bears 16.
No. 3 UCLA (-6.5) at Miami TV: 9 a.m., CBS Hurricanes are still trying to figure out just what in the heck a Hokie is after last week’s 27-20 overtime home loss to Virginia Tech. Meanwhile, McNown’s will be trying to figure out who to throw the ball to now that Freddie Mitchell is out for the season with a broken leg. The pick: Bruins 29, Hurricanes 23
No. 9 Washington at No. 2 Nebraska (-12) TV: 12:30 p.m., ABC Huskies don’t even have enough running backs to practice the option. And as Lambright said: “If you can’t stop the dive, the first part of the option, you’re going to be in trouble all day long.” The pick: Huskers 45, Huskies 21
Oregon State at Arizona State (-12) Welcome back to .500 Beavers. The pick: Sun Devils 42, Beavers 21
Stanford at Oregon (-17) Two-man quarterback attack against no-QB attack. The pick: Oregon 44, Stanford 16