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Friday, December 13, 2002
Washington 34, Purdue 24
Associated Press
BOX SCORE
PASADENA, Calif. -- Washington didn't need another
fourth-quarter comeback to win the Rose Bowl.
|  | | Todd Elstrom's 8-yard touchdown catch was the game-winning score. |
Marques Tuiasosopo ran for one touchdown and passed for another
as the fourth-ranked Huskies beat No. 14 Purdue 34-24 Monday to
finish the season with eight straight wins.
Washington (11-1), which rallied for eight of its victories and
outscored the opposition 144-68 in the fourth quarter during the
regular season, held a 20-17 lead entering the last 15 minutes of
this game.
The Huskies gave the Pac-10 champion its first Rose Bowl victory
in five years and just its second in the last nine games.
Washington was playing in its first Rose Bowl in eight years.
Paralyzed Washington safety Curtis Williams was transported to
the Rose Bowl from his rehabilitation center in San Jose, Calif.,
and watched the game from a suite in the press box.
Williams, wearing his game jersey while sitting in a wheelchair,
spent about 10 minutes with his teammates in an emotional locker
room before the game. The Huskies wore his initials on their
jerseys.
A fifth-year senior from Fresno, Calif., Williams was paralyzed
from the neck down during Washington's 31-28 victory at Stanford on
Oct. 28. Carothers, a redshirt freshman, replaced him as a starter.
The Boilermakers (8-4), playing in their first Rose Bowl in 34
years and second ever, got off to a disastrous start, falling
behind 14-0 before the game was 11 minutes old. They contributed
to their problems by committing six first-quarter penalties.
But Purdue was within 20-17 as the third quarter ended and
Washington was without Tuiasosopo, who missed the last three plays
of the period with an apparent shoulder injury.
Tuiasosopo, who was voted the player of the game, was back for
the fourth quarter which the Huskies started with a 3-yard run by
Rich Alexis on fourth-and-1 from the Purdue 35. Six plays later,
Tuiasosopo threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Todd Elstrom,
extending the lead to 10 points.
A little over a minute after that, Greg Carothers forced and
recovered a fumble by Montrell Lowe -- the game's first turnover --
at the Washington 34. Lowe, who gained 79 yards on 20 carries, was
injured on the play and didn't return.
The Huskies then moved 66 yards on seven plays, scoring on an
8-yard run by Willie Hurst, to make it 34-17 with 7:25 left.
The Boilermakers drew within 10 points on a 42-yard run by
Sedrick Brown on a fourth-and-1 play with 6:37 to play, and got the
ball back a little over a minute later when Tuiasosopo threw a
lateral Elstrom couldn't handle at the end of a 26-yard run and
Ashante Woodyard recovered at the Purdue 49.
However, Travis Dorsch was wide left on a 42-yard field goal
with 4:54 to play, and the Huskies then ran out the clock.
Tuiasosopo gained five yards on a fourth-and-1 play from the
Washington 45 with a little less than three minutes left.
Tuiasosopo was 16-of-22 for 138 yards, and rushed for 75 yards
on 15 carries. Purdue's Drew Brees, like Tuiasosopo playing in his
final game, was 23-of-39 for 275 yards and two touchdowns -- both to
Vinny Sutherland.
Brees slipped on the game's first play for an 8-yard loss, and
was sacked two plays later -- just the ninth sack allowed by Purdue
all season. The Boilermakers punted, and Washington drove 64 yards
to take a 7-0 lead, scoring on a 1-yard run by Braxton Cleman.
Purdue then moved into Washington territory before having to
punt, but Tim Stratton's snap sailed over Scott Kurz's head for a
30-yard loss, and the Huskies needed only three plays to move 25
yards, scoring on a 5-yard run by Tuiasosopo.
The Boilermakers responded with a 90-yard, 16-play drive,
scoring on a 5-yard pass from Brees to Sutherland early in the
second quarter.
Dorsch kicked a 26-yard field goal with 26 seconds left before
halftime to cut Washington's lead to 14-10. The Boilermakers had to
settle for three points because John Standeford dropped a potential
27-yard touchdown pass from Brees 27 seconds earlier.
Alexis, who gained 78 yards on 10 carries, ran 50 yards on the
first play of the second half to set up a 47-yard field goal by
John Anderson, but the Boilermakers tied the game 17-all a little
over a minute later on a 24-yard pass from Brees to Sutherland five
plays after Sutherland's 51-yard kickoff return.
Anderson's 42-yard field goal with 6:55 left in the third period
put Washington on top to stay.
The game was played before a sellout crowd of 94,392. It was 72
degrees and sunny at kickoff time.
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Rose Bowl President Lorne Brown presents Rick Neuheisel and the Washington Huskies with the Rose Bowl championship trophy.
Rick Neuheisel is happy to be part of the Rose Bowl winning tradition.