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Friday, December 13, 2002
Huskies impressive in opener against Idaho
Associated Press
SEATTLE -- Bring on No. 4 Miami. The No. 15 Washington
Huskies look ready to play with the Hurricanes.
"I'm excited to be 1 and 0," coach Rick Neuheisel said. "I'm
excited about a lot of good things that I saw on the field."
After giving up a long touchdown run on the game's first play,
the Huskies bounced back to beat the Idaho Vandals 44-20 in their
opener.
Kicker John Anderson missed two field goal attempts and an
extra-point try, Washington's defense allowed 256 passing yards by
Idaho quarterback John Welsh and Willie Alderson stunned the
Huskies with his 82-yard TD run 21 seconds into the game Saturday.
The Huskies still looked impressive.
"I know it certainly beats where we were a year ago," said
Neuheisel, whose first Huskies team started off 0-2 last season.
"We don't take the victory lightly."
Washington rolled up 24 first downs and 474 total yards against
Idaho, a team that was 7-4 last season. The Huskies recovered four
fumbles, intercepted a pass and blocked a punt.
The Huskies scored their most points in a season opener since
they shut out Texas-El Paso 55-0 in 1982.
Washington's inexperienced receiving corps, which was supposed
to be the team's weak point, caught 17 passes for 325 yards,
including six for 104 yards and a touchdown by Todd Elstrom.
The Huskies' powerful offensive line, headed by 6-foot-5,
335-pound Chad Ward, wore down Idaho in the second half, when the
Huskies outscored the Vandals 24-7.
Paul Arnold, Washington's highly regarded sophomore tailback,
was held to 14 yards rushing in the first half, but had a 27-yard
run in the second half and leaped into the end zone from 1 yard out
for his team's final touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The Huskies, who had a Pac-10-worst 13 sacks last season, had
three sacks against Idaho; one each by inside linebacker Derrell
Daniels, nose tackle Ossim Hatem and defensive Marcus Roberson, a
junior college transfer who was recruited away from Oregon to
Washington by Neuheisel.
Freshman Derrick Johnson returned punts and kickoffs, and also
scored on a 22-yard reverse that put Washington ahead 34-13 in the
third quarter.
"I thought that we were fine," Neuheisel said.
Of course, this week's opponents, the Miami Hurricanes, will
provide a major test for the Huskies. Miami was a 61-14 winner over
McNeese State Thursday night.
But the Hurricanes will be playing in Seattle, not Miami, this
week. Washington won 38-20 in Miami in 1994 in the schools' only
previous football game. And the Pac-10 already has impressive
nonconference victories this season by USC over Penn State and UCLA
over Alabama.
"We're just playing to win games," said Arnold, who had 46
yards on eight carries in his first career start.
"Our young receivers did a great job against Idaho," added
quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo, who had a touchdown pass and a TD
run in the opener. "They don't have the experience, but they can
play."
Neuheisel is expected to start Anthony Vontoure at cornerback
this week after Vontoure started the Idaho game on the bench and
didn't play until late in the contest. He returned to the Huskies
last week after leaving the team for a week for personal reasons.
Miami has one of the top receivers in the nation in Santana
Moss.
"I look forward to the challenge of facing Moss," said
Vontoure, who started last season as a sophomore. "I have only one
direction to go and that's up."
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