Nineteen-point underdog Stanford came into Husky Stadium and broke an 11-game losing streak, upsetting Washington 20-3. Last in the nation in rush defense, Stanford held Washington to just 39 yards rushing on 28 attempts.

Ironically, kicker Michael Braunstein, who has not been invited back to finish his fifth year with UW, scored its only points, booting a 28-yard field goal in the second quarter. (Braunstein, photo above).

Washington had excellent field position for the first 16 and one half minutes of the game, but managed just 3 points -- which held up for the rest of the game.

Stanford received the opening kickoff and was held to a three and out. After a 24-yard punt which gave the Huskies possession on the Stanford 41, UW worked the ball to the Stanford 27. However, after two plays that went for losses, one a sack on QB Carl Bonnell, the Huskies punted the ball away.

The Huskies’ second possession started on the Dawgs’ 48, but once again they failed to score, moving the ball to the Stanford 40.

A third possession started on the Huskies’ 49, which ended on the Tree 11-yard line, from where Michael Braunstein connected on a 28-yard field goal with 13:32 left in the second quarter.

In for the drive that led to the field goal, Johnny DuRocher took over for Bonnell, who suffered a thigh bruise late in the first quarter.

The field-position advantage continued, when, with 5:03 left in the half, the Dawgs began a drive starting on the Tree 23. After a penalty took them back to the Stanford 38-yard line, the Huskies punted the ball away.

Feeding off Washington’s offensive ineptness, Stanford capped a 68-yard drive with a 29-yard field goal to tie the score at 3-3 on the last play of the half.

Except for some nice runs by Bonnell, Washington failed to run the ball effectively in the first half -- against a team that ranks last in the country in run defense. In the first half, the UW managed just 38 yards rushing and 77 yards in total offense. Its defense, however, limited the Tree to minus 11 yards on the ground.

Offensively in the first half, the Huskies’ mirrored their running game against Stanford two years ago, when the Huskies managed just 91 yards rushing in a 27-13 loss at Palo Alto. As it turned out, that comparison held true for the remainder of the game.

Johnny DuRocher started the second half and was intercepted on the first play from scrimmage, giving Stanford the ball at mid-field. Not surprisingly, the Tree went three and out, in a game featuring offensive ineptness up to that time on behalf of both teams. 

Another DuRocher interception was run back 49 yards for a touchdown by Bo McNally to give Stanford a 10-3 lead with 6:49 left in the third quarter.  A key interception, momentum swung to the Tree for the rest of the game.

After the touchdown, Bonnell replaced DuRocher on the next series, but managed just one first down. DuRocher was held out of the game, thereafter, having suffered a concussion.

After a botched punt attempt by the Tree, UW got the ball back on the Stanford 34 near the end of the third quarter but, after going backwards, had to punt the ball away at the Stanford 46.

Washington had zero total yards during the third quarter.

Stanford took a 17-3 lead early in the fourth quarter after freshman Richard Sherman hauled in a 74-yard touchdown pass from T. C. Ostrander.

On UW's next series, Stanford got the ball on the UW 26 after Chris Horn intercepted Bonnell and happily settled for a 37-yard field goal to take a 20-3 lead, the final score of the game.

So much for the game.

After losing QB Isaiah Stanback to injury, this team has looked very much like the 2004 team that finished 1-10 on the season under former coach Keith Gilbertson, pass efficiency offense and rushing numbers being key indicators for this comparison. Because of Stanback’s elusiveness and exceptional athleticism, he emboldened the offensive line, masking its deficiencies during the team’s 4-1 start on the season. With his running and passing, Stanback accounted for most of the Huskies’ offense up until the time he was injured. Most importantly, Stanback was not interception prone, surrendering only 3 picks in his 7 games.

Although the offensive line as a unit has played almost all of the season, the backups to its five mainstays have to be well rested. In part, I guess, you could make an excuse for the line’s being worn down by the rigors of 11 games, but still it wasn’t expected to do much before the season began.