Huskies offense one-man show in past two games

Maybe there is something to the notion that experienced quarterbacks always fare better in the Pac-10.

Take Washington, a team left for dead by most pundits before the season. The Huskies were picked to finish last for a third consecutive season in the preseason poll, and a squeaker of a win against San Jose State, followed by a loss to Oklahoma, did little to dispel that thinking.

But Washington is starting to get some regional and even national attention after back-to-back wins against Fresno State and UCLA. While neither of those two opponents are beating the doors down on the BCS bowl picture, second-year head coach Tyrone Willingham can finally point to some real on-field progress for the first time.

“Our young men are buying into the process,” Willingham said. “Our biggest improvement is our willingness to continue to grow and learn the steps necessary to become a good football team.”

But don’t credit the entire roster with getting things going. On offense, quarterback Isaiah Stanback has been the Huskies’ one-man show.

Against Fresno State, Stanback accounted for 242 of his team’s 279 total yards. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, he then had a role in passing for or running for 248 of 249 yards against UCLA.

That means that Stanback alone has accounted for 92.8 percent of the Washington offense in both wins.

Rebuilding Carpenter

Arizona State coach Dirk Koetter appears to have grown more frustrated with the criticism aimed at quarterback Rudy Carpenter, especially after the sophomore struggled in last week’s big game against Cal, a blowout loss.

“He had the worst day of his career,” Koetter said. “He’s 7-2 as a starter. I look at it as everyone has a bad day, and he had one.”

Tutiama probable

Arizona coach Mike Stoops said his quarterback, Willie Tuitama, should be able to play this week against Washington after getting dinged up against USC last week.

Notes

Oregon’s starting fullback, Jason Turner, is out with a torn ACL that he suffered in a bye-week scrimmage. … Stanford coach Walt Harris guessed that he has more than 20 freshmen playing this season.