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Udub dances on the "W" Sampson, James, Williams, Paus take up slack By: Malamute, 1 November 2003
On a cold, wet night at Husky Stadium, Washington thrashed Oregon 42-10 in a game that lost its starting quarterback Cody Pickett to injury. Down 10-7 at the half, Washington roared back with 35 unanswered points on big plays, a swarming defense and the arm of reserve QB Casey Paus who threw two touchdown passes. With Cody Pickett sitting out the second half, RBs Shelton Sampson and Kenny James, along with a 63-yard touchdown hookup featuring WR Reggie Williams and Paus, took up the slack for the missing cowboy. Sampson and James combined for 245 yards rushing on the night, against a team that held Michigan to -4 yards rushing. On a big play night, Sampson ran 77 yards for a touchdown and LB Greg Carothers returned a fumble 55 yards for a touchdown. James had a 56-yard run, while Charles Frederick caught a touchdown pass from Casey Paus, the first he'd thrown as a Dawg. Pickett who might have suffered a concussion was too woozy at halftime to remember anything that had transpired in the first half. He's missed very little action since the shoulder separation he suffered against USC two years ago and when Taylor Barton filled took over the helm against UCLA the next week. The seldom used Paus, a redshirt sophomore, led the team with poise and a direction that befits his role as a backup quarterback who has been around the team for almost 3 years. Isaiah Stanback who backs up Paus took a few snaps in the fourth quarter. As in last year's game between the two, when it bolted to a 14-point lead, Oregon took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter and seemed headed for a repeat of the 35-0 pasting it gave Stanford the week before. In the second quarter, Washington narrowed the gap to 10-7 on a one-yard run by Sampson to cap a 17-play, 83-yard drive. With 1:58 to go in the first half, Washington drove from its own 28 to the Ducks' 27. With 1 second left on the clock, after two Oregon time outs, Evan Knudson, attempted a 44-yard field goal that was wide to the left. Oregon led the Huskies in total yards at the break, 205 to 161. The UW took the lead to start the third period on a 5-play, 80-yard drive, capped by a Shelton Sampson 1-yard TD. Clinging to a 22-10 lead, in the fourth quarter, the UW broke the game open on a 63-yard play when Paus drilled Williams on a skinny post and he outraced the Oregon defenders to the goal line. Washington's defense was all over Oregon quarterbacks Jason Fife and Kellen Clemens most of the night, sacking them 7 times for 51 yards. In the fourth quarter, Carothers scored on a fumble return when the ball came loose as Clemens pulled his arm back to pass. Carothers caught the ball in mid-air as it slipped behind Clemens and raced 55 yards for a score that put the game out of reach, 36-10. Sampson's 77-yard run capped the scoring, to center the finale at mid-field, where the Huskies would dance on the block "W" after the game. Before the game, stories in the local press made mention of the Huskies’ prolonged, 30-minute celebration after they had thrashed the Ducks 42-14 at Autzen Stadium last year. Visages of that raucous party haunted Oregon’s players and coaches all week, according to a mini-hurly-burly raised in the press. During the week, there were quotes from several Oregon players. "It wasn't ... how would I say this?" QB Kellen Clemens said. "I don't know. We will use it as motivation. It wasn't something that showed a whole lot of class." Oblivious to the proverbial bulletin board, Oregon free safety Keith Lewis took some swipes at a number of Huskies and essentially guaranteed his team would be dancing on the "W" at the end of the game. Regarding his comments about Pickett last season, Lewis said, "Anybody can have one good season. Cody Pickett was overrated, bottom line, in my opinion." He went on to say that no one knew about Charles Frederick until after his game with OSU and, in the past, he has called Reggie Williams slow. Along with Lewis, Oregon coach Mike Bellotti had added his two-cents during week, saying he thought the Huskies' behavior in last season's game was in "very poor taste." At the end of the game, the Husky team did the dancing--on its "W" at midfield. This time it was all in good taste.
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