Washington Rides the Support of Blacked Out Crowd at the Clink, Shocks No. 8 Stanford 17-13

Sept 27, 2012; Seattle, WA, USA; Washington Huskies tight end Austin Seferian Jenkins (88) celebrates a 17-13 upset victory over the Stanford Cardinal at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-US PRESSWIREThe script from the first half indicated this game would be won on defense. And given the 6’4” 284 lb. height/weight average of the Stanford defensive line, you’d assume the Cardinal defense would be the squad that would shine during this nationally-televised, Thursday-night, Pac-12 matchup.If that’s what you thought, well, you were woefully mistaken.

Behind the most inspired defensive effort since the 2010 Holiday Bowl, the Washington Huskies shocked No. 8 Stanford 17-13 at CenturyLink Field in Seattle. Despite allowing Stanford 446 rushing yards a year ago, and 1,045 yards rushing total during the last three games between these two teams, Washington held Stanford to just 65 yards rushing while racking up 136 yards of their own on the ground against the top rushing defense in the country.

“I’m a senior, this is my last year and I have never beaten Stanford until now. Words can’t explain it,” senior fullback Jonathan Amosa said following the upset victory. “For all the guys who left and all the guys that are here now, you can only imagine how it feels to take down a #10 team in all black on ESPN with all the fans rushing the field, it does not get any better than that.”

It was the Huskies first victory against a top 10 ranked team since knocking off No. 3 USC in 2009 during head coach Steve Sarkisian’s first year running the program. Then, and up until the end of last year, the defense was lead by defensive coordinator Nick Holt. But after one of the worst statistical defensive years for a team that made a bowl game, Holt was fired.

If this victory over Stanford is any indication, new defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox is already putting his mark on the program. Not only did Stanford gain just 65 yards rushing, but quarterback Josh Nunes completed just 18-of-37 passes for 170 yards. Combined, that’s a 380-yard improvement over last year’s debacle that ended in a 65-21 Stanford victory.

Both Stanford and Washington both had last weekend off in preparation for tonight’s game in Seattle. With that much time to prepare, you’d assume the Cardinal would’ve talked non-stop about not coming out flat, taking it to the Huskies from the get-go, and using their significant size advantage up front to control the line of scrimmage and dominate the Huskies like they did a year ago.

Was this a trap game for the Cardinal? Considering the amount of time each team had to prepare and that the Huskies were playing their first conference game of the season, you’d assume Stanford would not overlook Washington. However, that doesn’t mean they would be prepared for the blacked-out, raucous crowd at CenturyLink Field.

The last time the Huskies played a nationally televised game on Thursday night it was two years ago, the same year they beat Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl, when they dismantled UCLA 24-7 on senior night. Although it was another blackout for Washington fans, the outcome tonight wasn’t decided until Desmond Trufant intercepted a Josh Nunes pass on 4th-and-four with 1:46 remaining.

Sept 27, 2012; Seattle, WA, USA; Washington Huskies running back Bishop Sankey (25) rushes against the Stanford Cardinal during the second half at CenturyLink Field. Washington defeated Stanford, 17-13. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-US PRESSWIREThroughout the first half, the script indicated defense would win the game. Despite a 6-3 Stanford lead at the half, the stats were pretty even across the board. Both teams converted just two of nine third downs, Washington gained only four more yards than Stanford, 138 to 134, and neither starting quarterback was particularly efficient.

Price completed 8-of-18 passes (44%) for just 4.2 yards per completion while Nunes completed 6-of-17 (35%) for an average of 5.1 yards per completion. In fact, the time of possession was nearly identical as well, with Washington holding the ball for 15:23 while Stanford maintained possesson for 14:27.

It was evident that the team who completed the first big play would most likely go on to win. Late in the third quarter, it looked like the Huskies had the big play they needed when Marvin Hall appeared to return a punt for a touchdown. The referees determined he stepped out of bounds and on the first play after Stanford’s punt, a Keith Price swing pass was intercepted by Stanford outside linebacker Trent Murphy and returned 40 yards for a touchdown and 10-point lead.

On the very next possession, the Huskies faced 4th-and-1 from their own 39 yard-line and needed a conversion in order to stay in the game. On the conversion attempt, Bishop Sankey, who finished with 151 yards rushing, took the handoff off right tackle, got deep in the secondary, shook the Stanford safety, and took it 61-yards for a crucial touchdown.

Stanford was unable to get past their own 39 yard-line on its next possession, hindered by offensive mistakes and penalties. After trading three and outs, which including Stanford’s sixth 3-and-out of the game (not counting their first lost fumble of the year), Washington finally caught the offensive break they needed when Price connected with receiver Kasen Williams for a 35 yard score. It gave Washington its first and only lead. So long as they could keep Stanford out of the end zone on their final possession the Huskies would secure the victory.

The Cardinal’s final drive started at their own 34 yard-line and included four plays that gained yards. The only problem was that the drive stalled out at Washington’s 34 yard-line when Stanford faced 4th-and-four and Nunes overthrew 6’8” tight end Levine Toilolo resulting in an interception and a Husky upset.

Although Stanford is familiar with travelling north to play Washington, they must have forgotten that the game wasn’t being played at Husky Stadium and, instead, at nearby CenturyLink Field, one the loudest stadiums in the country. The Cardinal committed three delay-of-game penalties and it was clear that the crowd added to the aggressive nature of the Husky defenders.

“The crowd brought great energy. We feed off of that energy, and they were great tonight.,” junior safety Sean Parker said. “They helped us a ton on third down, and that helped us in a huge way tonight. That is a main reason why we won the game.”

It was a shocking victory for Washington against the No. 8-ranked team in the country. At 1-0 now in the Pac-12 conference, you’d imagine the Huskies are hoping for a repeat of this defensive effort next week against No. 2 Oregon. If Washington can contain the Ducks’ rushing attack as well as they did the Cardinal’s tonight then we might be talking about a different “favorite team” to win the Pac-12 championship this year.