University of Washington
Stanford
No. 9 Huskies Sneak By Cardinal, 31-28
October 28, 2000 | Football
Oct. 28, 2000
STANFORD, Calif. - With a teammate in the hospital and time running perilously short, Washington scored the last improbable touchdown in a fourth quarter full of them.
Justin Robbins caught a 22-yard TD pass from Marques Tuiasosopo with 17 seconds left as the ninth-ranked Huskies blew an 18-point lead with six minutes to play and then drove 80 yards in the closing seconds to beat Stanford 31-28 on Saturday.
A driving rain at Stanford Stadium made scoring difficult until the frenetic final 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 of safety Curtis Williams, who was removed from the field on a stretcher late in the third quarter with a neck injury. Williams remained at Stanford Hospital on Saturday 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 just hope it's not too serious. It's an emotional time."
All season long, Washington and Stanford have been at their best in the fourth quarter. The Cardiac Cardinal, who have beaten two teams in the closing seconds at home already this year, were good again - but Washington was even better.
Tuiasosopo needed just three plays to erase nearly five minutes of amazing football from Stanford quarterback Randy Fasani, who ran for two touchdowns and passed for another in the final 5:32.
"I couldn't believe they made a comeback," said Fasani, who scored on a 2-yard bootleg with 53 seconds to play that put Stanford up 28-24. "I thought it 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 their seven 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 comeback by recovering three onside kicks - one was negated by a penalty - in the final minutes and scoring three electrifying late touchdowns. Stanford had just 178 yards 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," Fasani said. "Everybody said Washington was a good fourth quarter team, but we showed we're good in the fourth, too."
Tuiasosopo, who got 80 of his 216 yards passing on the final drive, marched the Huskies down the field with three long completions after scrambling out of the pocket. The final touchdown came on a broken play as Tuiasosopo stumbled toward 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 Rick Neuheisel said of his instructions to his quarterback. '"Use the field, use your legs.' He made three perfect throws. He scrambled out and found Robbins coming out of the back side.
"It was a tough day to play offense, given the weather, but we had enough in 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 scores at home. Fasani, who was knocked out of both of Stanford's previous last-second wins 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 to play that put Washington up 24-6 and seemed to seal the game. But the fireworks were only beginning.
Stanford scored its first touchdown of the game 34 seconds after Hurst's run. A 60-yard pass to Luke Powell was followed by a 4-yard TD pass to DeRonnie Pitts, who also caught a 2-point conversion pass from Fasani.
The Cardinal recovered two onside kicks - the first was erased by an offsides penalty - and Fasani led a 58-yard drive capped by Fasani's 4-yard TD keeper 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 scramble through the heart of the Washington defense. He rushed for 6 more yards with a minute 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 mathematical chance of defending its Pac-10 title. The Cardinal must win their final three games 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 and another score. Elstrom had six catches for 94 yards, while Pitts caught eight passes - including the 200th of his career - for 71 yards.
By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer
