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Articles
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A Sonny night in
Tucson Sonny Shackelford caught 5 passes for 103 yards and a touchdown, all in the first half, as Washington (4-1) scored 21 points in the second quarter to beat Arizona, 21-10. UW held Arizona to -7 yards rushing. With all deference to Shackelford, it was the Isaiah Stanback show once again, as it was in UW's last two games against Fresno State and UCLA. We can't headline Stanback every week, can we? However, ahem.
"They (the Huskies) are gaining some confidence and
believing that we are a decent football team, and when you believe that, it's
amazing what it does to you," Washington defensive coordinator Kent Baer told
Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. "You start being more aggressive and not
sitting back." Going back to last season, the Huskies have won 5 of their last 7 games. Not since 2003 has Washington won three games in a row. In fact, the Dawgs (4-1, 2-0) are tied for first place in the Pac-10. Coach Tyrone Willingham has doubled his win output from last season, 4 wins against 2 last year. UW needs two more wins to become bowl eligible. Last season, Willingham doubled Keith Gilbertson's 1-win season from 2004. So, if the wins stop at 4 this season, will Tyrone win 8 games next season? Games against Stanford, Arizona State, Oregon State, USC, and Washington State appear winnable. Oregon and Cal, games on the road, have too much fire power for the Dawgs. Yes, the USC game is winnable -- but it probably won't be won since the game will be played in Los Angeles this Saturday. Traditionally, the Dawgs have played poorly in L. A. Sean Douglas' 62-yard punt. Stanback's pass efficiency on the game: 172.8. Over his career, Stanback has tossed 20 touchdown passes and has been intercepted just 12 times, which is a remarkable stat when you consider the Huskies' won/lost record over that time (7 wins, 20 losses). The defense accounted for -54 yards in sacks, which went against the Wildcats' rushing total. The Huskies had 11 tackles for a loss. It has been a privilege to have watched Sonny Sixkiller, Don Heinrich, Bob Schloredt, Bill Douglas, Warren Moon, Billy Joe Hobert, Mark Brunell, Marques Tuiasosopo, and Cody Pickett quarterback the Dawgs over the years. Add Stanback to that list. LB Scott White, one of Rick Neuheisel's "soft recruits," according to more than one Internet message board poster, led all tacklers with ten, three of them for a loss. In fact, Rick's recruits have played prominent roles in all the Huskies' wins this season, Stanback, who has been an Internet whipping boy, too, being one of them. "Shack" is one of Rick's recruits also. So far, though, Shackelford hasn't endured the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, in this case, that being unfair criticism from fans. The Bad: The offense's jejune second half. The UW was trying to run out the clock in the second half and play conservatively, relying on its defense to get the job done. But at one point in the second half, Washington had consecutive rushes of 1, 2, 1, 3, -7, 3, 3, 1, 0, 2, 1, 0 yards (12 rushes, 10 yards). Three of fourteen third-down conversions. Kicker Michael Braunstein missed field goal attempts of 39 and 22 yards. Braunstein is 2 for 4 in field goals this season. Our subhead, "'Cats are Shackel-(ford)-ed and quartered." (That is, shackled and quartered. The headline puns (Sonny) Shackelford's name and the phrase "drawn and quartered," the quartering referring to UW's second-quarter outburst). ------------ Mal's word of the week: jejune (dull, insipid) Richard Linde (a.k.a., Malamute) can be reached at
malamute@4malamute.com |
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Against the Wildcats, Isaiah threw for 293 yards and two touchdowns
and rushed for 47 yards, accounting for 340 of the Huskies' 447 total net yards.
It was a big-play night for Stanback, who threw a 55-yard touchdown pass to
Quintin Daniels (photo left) and connected with Shackelford on a 50-yard pass. On his
touchdown catch, Daniels put a nifty move on a defender, faking right and going
left. Isaiah also connected with Anthony Russo on a 44-yard pass and with Marcel
Reece on a 29 yarder.