Second-half football comeback short in 35-29 loss at Washington

Seattle, Wash.-----The legs of the University of Washington quarterback Isaiah Stanback and tailback Louis Rankin led the Huskies to a 35-29 win over San Jose State in the season football opener for both teams.

Rankin, the Huskies’ number-two tailback raced for 145 yards on 10 carries including touchdown runs of 34 yards in the second quarter and 68 yards with 5:02 left in the contest which proved to be the game-winning score. Stanback accounted for 268 yards in total offense rushing for 102 yards and passing for 168 yards completing 16-of-25 pass attempts. The Husky quarterback scored on a 6-yard third-quarter run and took advantage of his 10.3 speed in the 100 meters to keep two scoring drives alive with third-down scrambles out of the pocket.

“WE WIN AND LOSE AS A TEAM”

San Jose State, which had the ball with a chance to tie and/or win the game on the final possession, had career bests from quarterback Adam Tafralis and wide receivers James Jones and John Broussard. Tafralis played the entire game at quarterback and completed 80 percent of his pass attempts (28-of-35) without an interception for 323 yards and three touchdowns.

“It’s not good enough. It is that simple. We win and lose as a team. It is tough, but the only thing we can do is use it to make us better,” said Tafralis, the first Spartan quarterback since Steve Clarkson from 1980 to 1982 to start in three straight openers.

JONES & BROUSSARD A ONE-TWO RECEIVING COMBO

Jones, one of three senior wide receivers for the Spartans, was on the receiving end of the Spartans’ three second-half touchdowns. A 3-yard third-quarterback play opened the second half scoring to pull San Jose State to 21-15. Late in the fourth quarter, Jones took a Tafralis pass over the middle, veered to his left and raced to the end zone on a 50-yard scoring play narrowing the deficit to 28-22. The two hooked up again with 2:03 remaining on a 6-yard fade-and-stop in the left corner of the zone for the game’s final score.

“...In the first half, it wasn’t like we weren’t clicking, we just weren’t taking advantage of our opportunities. The defense gave us a couple of turnovers and we didn’t come out with any scores,” said Jones, who had never caught more than six passes in a game previously.

Broussard added eight receptions and kept drives alive with three catches that resulted in first downs.

“They came out with some changes we weren’t expecting and we had to adjust on the fly,” said Washington linebacker Chase Stevens, who was credited with two of the three sacks of Tafralis and eight overall tackles.

DEFENSE TAKES THE BALL AWAY THREE TIMES

Looking for their third straight win dating back to the 2005 season, the Spartans created opportunities for themselves with three first-half takeaways. Cornerback Dwight Lowery intercepted a Stanback pass on the opening series of the game. Safety Marcus Harper and linebacker Damaja Jones each recovered a Washington fumble. San Jose State scored after each takeaway, but only produced nine points on Jared Strubeck field goals of 40, 32 and 45 yards.

The Spartans only mustered 103 of its 373 yards of offensive output in the first half. Washington contained the San Jose State ground game yielding just 50 yards. Tailback Yonus Davis, who averaged 6.7 yards a rush last season, had 33 yards on nine carries.

“We knew their little runner (Davis) had been very explosive and created some problems for other teams, so it was good to keep him under control,” said Washington coach Tyrone Willingham.

HUSKIES FIRE BACK WITH STANBACK

Washington tailback Kenny James, who rushed for 188 yards against San Jose State in the 2004 game between these teams, finished with just 53 rushing yards, but scored on a 17-yard run in the first quarter and a 21-yard pass 21 seconds before halftime. The Huskies, who needed a 14-yard third-down scramble for a first down from Stanback to keep retain possession, went into the locker room at halftime with a 21-9 lead. Washington finished with 300 yards rushing in the opener.

“He (Stanback) was more than advertised. He was very fast. A lot of times, we had a linebacker spying on him and he made it to the corner before we could get to him,” said linebacker Demetrius Jones, who was credited with nine unassisted tackles.

SPARTANS ARE LOOKING FOR MORE

“The first thing I said to the team is we have to change the attitude people have about this team. Too many times a year ago, we’d play a game like this and everyone would be excited. We can be proud of our effort, proud of the fact we got better as we played, proud of the fact we won the turnover battle and had the least number of penalties, and other things, but we were trying to win. Give Washington the credit, but we need to understand, we can’t feel good inside about that even though the intention is good,” remarked San Jose State coach Dick Tomey.

”Last year, we got beat by seven by Hawaii and Nevada. We just fought hard. And, we’re going to fight hard. Sometimes, our players felt good. They should be proud of their effort, but we’re looking for more. We’re looking for a better result.”

The Spartans’ next opportunity for that better result is Saturday, September 9, in the home opener against Stanford. Game time is 3:00 p.m. in Spartan Stadium. Tickets are still available. Comcast SportsNet provides live cablevision coverage. KLIV (1590 AM, San Jose) starts the afternoon off with a pregame radio show at 2:30 p.m. (PDT).