A Closer Look at the Huskies
Today's football notebook gives Duck fans a glimpse of this weekend's opponent, the University of Washington Huskies (7-1/5-0).
The Huskies enter the game atop the conference standings, boasting the Pac-10's top rusher (Rashaan Shehee, 7 games, 136 carries, 846 yards, 6.2 avg., 8 TD) and second-rated passer (Brock Huard, 168.2 efficiency, 90-152, 16 TD, 2 INT, 59.2 Comp. Pct.)
Read up on the Huskies in today's notes.
1997 WASHINGTON SCOREBOARD @Brigham Young - W, 42-20 San Diego State - W, 36-3 Nebraska - L, 14-27 ARIZONA STATE - W, 26-14 @CALIFORNIA - W, 30-3 @ARIZONA - W, 58-28 @OREGON STATE - W, 45-17 USC - W, 27-0 N8 - OREGON N15 - @UCLA N22 - WASHINGTON STATE
SCENE SETTER . . . Oregon looks to snap its four-game Pac-10 skid against the conference leader, also seeking its first win against a top-25 foe in seven tries. Two of the nation's top all-purpose threats -- Oregon's Saladin McCullough and UW's Jerome Pathon -- lead their respective teams in the 91st renewal one of the most intense rivalries on the West Coast. The Duck offense will face its stiffest challenge of '97 while Mc Cullough will face a rushing defense allowing only 102.4 yards per game.
ABOUT THE HUSKIES . . . The sixth-ranked Huskies have recovered from an early setback to No. 1-ranked Nebraska to extend their Pac-10 winning streak to 12 games. Quarterback Brock Huard has set the pace, leading the country in passing efficiency for much of the year. He threw for 194 yards and two touchdowns last Saturday vs. USC in a 27-0 blanking of the Trojans, before exiting early in the second half with an ankle sprain. Washington could be forced to play without conference rushing leader Rashaan Shehee but sports plenty of other offensive weapons. Jerome Pathon leads the Pac-10 in punt returns (13.9 avg.) and ranks second in receiving yards (116.0) and all-purpose yards (163.0). Washington ranks tops in the league in scoring defense and total defense while reigning second in rushing defense, pass efficiency defense and quarterback sacks (32). Heading the surge has been free safety Tony Parrish and linebacker Lester Towns, who have each recorded 57 tackles, while linebacker Jerry Jensen has posted 14 tackles for losses of 62 yards. Returning Pac-10 defensive player of the year Jason Chorak owns more than five QB sacks.
THE COACH . . . Jim Lambright is in his fifth year as head coach of the Huskies as well as 29th season on the Washington coaching staff. Ranking sixth on the school's all-time victory ledger (37-16-1), he posted more wins (30) in his first four campaigns than any of his 21 predecessors. He has split his first four meetings against Oregon.
THE SERIES . . . Oregon won its last visit to Seattle (1995, 24-22) but trails in the all-time series which started in 1900, 55-30-5. The Ducks have seen more success on the road, sporting a 20-31-4 (.400) slate while registering a 10-24-1 (.300) tab at home. Oregon has not been victorious in consecutive trips to Seattle since 1964 (7-0) and '68 (3-0).
LAST MEETING . . . In 1996, Washington relied on big plays as well as Corey Dillon's 259 yards and three rushing touchdowns to hand the 23rd-ranked Huskies a 33-14 win. Washington's ground game controlled the football almost 10 minutes longer than Oregon, which was forced to fight back from a 33-7 third-quarter deficit. The Ducks actually accumulated more first downs (23-22) but UW benefitted from five plays of 30 yards or longer to hand Oregon its fifth straight setback of the season. The Ducks threw for 276 yards against the Huskies' defense but were handicapped by two interceptions and three sacks.
WASHINGTON PROBABLE STARTERS Offense SE -- 24 Jerome Pathon (5-11, 180, Sr.) WT -- 67 Tony Coats (6-7, 300, Jr.) WG -- 76 Benji Olson (6-4, 310, Jr.) C -- 77 Olin Kreutz (6-4, 290, Jr.) SG -- 71 Chad Ward (6-5, 310, Fr.) ST -- 75 Aaron Dalan (6-7, 320, Jr.) TE -- 85 Cameron Cleeland (6-4, 275, Sr.) QB -- 11 Marques Tuiasosopo (6-1, 200, Fr.) FB -- 47 Pat Conniff (6-1, 220, Fr.) TB -- 32 Maurice Shaw (5-11, 215, So.) FL -- 22 Fred Coleman (6-1, 190, Sr.) PK -- 19 Nick Lentz (5-11, 170, Fr.) Defense DE -- 95 Jabari Issa (6-6, 300, So.) DT -- 78 Mac Tuiaea (6-6, 290, So.) NT -- 67 Sekou Wiggs (6-4, 280, Sr.) SLB -- 46 Jason Chorak (6-4, 255, Sr.) ILB -- 27 Marques Hairston (6-2, 235, So.) ILB -- 17 Lester Towns (6-3, 240, So.) WLB -- 40 Jerry Jensen (6-2, 230, Sr.) ROV -- 8 Nigel Burton (5-9, 180, Jr.) CB -- 1 Jermaine Smith (5-11, 195, So.) FS -- 7 Tony Parrish (5-11, 205, Sr.) CB -- 25 Mel Miller (5-11, 190, So.) P -- 15 Sean O'Laughlin (6-0, 190, Jr.) WASHINGTON STATISTICAL LEADERS Rushing Att. Yds. Avg. TD Game Rashaan Shehee, tb 139 862 6.2 8 107.8 Maurice Shaw, tb 88 367 4.2 5 45.9 Passing Att. Comp. Yds. Pct. TD Int. Brock Huard, qb 171 103 1586 60.2 18 3 M. Tuiasosopo, qb 34 22 389 64.7 2 0 Receiving No. Yds. Avg. TD Long Jerome Pathon, se 49 928 18.9 6 54 Fred Coleman, fl 25 452 18.1 6 48 Cam Cleeland, te 15 224 14.9 2 43 Rashaan Shehee, tb 15 146 9.7 1 34 Tackles UT AT FR INT TFL Tony Parrish, fs 43 14 1 3 1-3 Lester Towns, ilb 40 17 1 0 7-33 Jerry Jensen, wlb 38 16 0 2 14-62
