Oct. 28, 2000
Postgame Audio (Coach Willingham)Final StatisticsPostgame QuotesPostgame NotesStanford SnapshotsSend a Cardinal FANcard!Visit Stanford Football Today!Ask the CoachSTANFORD, Calif. - With a teammate in the hospital and time runningperilously short, Washington scored the last improbable touchdown in a fourthquarter full of them.
Justin Robbins caught a 22-yard TD pass from Marques Tuiasosopo with 17seconds left as the ninth-ranked Huskies blew an 18-point lead with six minutesto play and then drove 80 yards in the closing seconds to beat Stanford 31-28on Saturday.
A driving rain at Stanford Stadium made scoring difficult until the freneticfinal six minutes, when the teams combined for five touchdowns. The small,soaked crowd - equally divided between Washington and Stanford supporters -might have got neck aches from watching the teams drive up and down the field.
But the Huskies' celebration of an amazing win was dampened by the loss ofsafety Curtis Williams, who was removed from the field on a stretcher late inthe third quarter with a neck injury. Williams remained at Stanford Hospital onSaturday night for evaluation.
"Right now our thoughts are with Curtis Williams," Tuiasosopo said."We're happy with the win, of course, but our thoughts are elsewhere. We justhope it's not too serious. It's an emotional time."
All season long, Washington and Stanford have been at their best in thefourth quarter. The Cardiac Cardinal, who have beaten two teams in the closingseconds at home already this year, were good again - but Washington was evenbetter.
Tuiasosopo needed just three plays to erase nearly five minutes of amazingfootball from Stanford quarterback Randy Fasani, who ran for two touchdowns andpassed for another in the final 5:32.
"I couldn't believe they made a comeback," said Fasani, who scored on a2-yard bootleg with 53 seconds to play that put Stanford up 28-24. "I thoughtit was the end of the game. They just had a great comeback, just like we did."
Washington (7-1, 4-1 Pac-10) came from behind for the sixth time in theirseven victories.
"Give all the credit to Marcus. Our two-minute offense is second to none,"receiver Todd Elstrom said. "It's hard to come back from an injury like that,but you try to play with some extra emotion."
The Cardinal (3-5, 2-3) put themselves in position for a remarkable comebackby recovering three onside kicks - one was negated by a penalty - in the finalminutes and scoring three electrifying late touchdowns. Stanford had just 178yards of total offense until racking up 170 more in its final three drives.
"It was devastating, but we're all men and we'll bounce back," Fasanisaid. "Everybody said Washington was a good fourth quarter team, but we showedwe're good in the fourth, too."
Tuiasosopo, who got 80 of his 216 yards passing on the final drive, marchedthe Huskies down the field with three long completions after scrambling out ofthe pocket. The final touchdown came on a broken play as Tuiasosopo stumbledtoward the Stanford sideline and picked out Robbins all alone in the end zone.
"I told him the same thing I tell him every time," Washington coach RickNeuheisel said of his instructions to his quarterback. '"Use the field, useyour legs.' He made three perfect throws. He scrambled out and found Robbinscoming out of the back side.
"It was a tough day to play offense, given the weather, but we had enoughin the tank."
The victory kept Washington one game behind Oregon for the Pac-10 lead.
Stanford beat Texas and Southern Cal earlier this year on last-second scoresat home. Fasani, who was knocked out of both of Stanford's previous last-secondwins with knee injuries, stuck around for this one - and he was phenomenal,passing for 166 yards and rushing for 65.
Third-string tailback Willie Hurst had a 22-yard touchdown run with 5:57 toplay that put Washington up 24-6 and seemed to seal the game. But the fireworkswere only beginning.
Stanford scored its first touchdown of the game 34 seconds after Hurst'srun. A 60-yard pass to Luke Powell was followed by a 4-yard TD pass to DeRonniePitts, who also caught a 2-point conversion pass from Fasani.
The Cardinal recovered two onside kicks - the first was erased by anoffsides penalty - and Fasani led a 58-yard drive capped by Fasani's 4-yard TDkeeper with 2:33 left.
Stanford then recovered yet another onside kick at Washington's 48. Fasani,looking more like an option quarterback than Tuiasosopo ever did on Saturday,got Stanford to the Huskies 6 with 1:59 to play on a dangerous 30-yard scramblethrough the heart of the Washington defense. He rushed for 6 more yards with aminute to play and then scored the go-ahead TD on a naked bootleg.
Stanford lost for the fourth time in five games and has only a mathematicalchance of defending its Pac-10 title. The Cardinal must win their final threegames against UCLA, Arizona State and California even to qualify for a bowl.
Hurst had 96 yards rushing and two TDs, while Rich Alexis added 56 yards andanother score. Elstrom had six catches for 94 yards, while Pitts caught eightpasses - including the 200th of his career - for 71 yards.
By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer