Huskies hang on in opener

When a program is starved for victories the way the Washington Huskies have been the past few years, it doesn't matter if it's buffet or gourmet.

So while Washington's 35-29 win over San Jose State on Saturday contained enough gristle to give the 52,256 watching at Husky Stadium a good case of heartburn, UW players and coaches walked away from the table more than satisfied.

"The way the past two years have been going, getting a win, and being the first team to win a home opener since 2001, definitely feels good," said UW receiver Corey Williams. "But there's definitely some things we need to clean up."

Those things included a defense that fatigued in the second half, helping the 19-point underdogs stay in the game until the end. The Huskies allowed 270 yards in the final 30 minutes against a San Jose State team that was 3-8 last year, and the offense turned the ball over three times in the first half.

Spartans quarterback Adam Tafralis, starting because projected starter Sean Flynn is injured, completed 28 of 35 passes for 323 yards and three touchdowns to keep the visitors in striking distance all afternoon.

San Jose State scored twice in the final six minutes and it seemed reminiscent of last year's opener, when the Huskies gave up two long TD drives in the final 10 minutes to lose to Air Force.

But UW did just enough to hold on. Johnie Kirton recovered an on-side kick after San Jose State's final score with 2:03 left, and the defense stopped a last-gasp Spartans drive.

"We didn't want it to be this close, but in the long run, we can build on it," said Washington offensive coordinator Tim Lappano. "We did fight through some adversity and found a way to win the game at a critical time."

And counter to preseason expectations, the offense saved the day for the defense, which had been perceived as the strength.

Three times, San Jose State cut the lead to six points in the second half. Twice, UW responded with scoring drives. The clincher came when Louis Rankin, who rushed for a career-high 145 yards, ran 68 yards for a touchdown with 5:02 left to put the Huskies ahead 35-22.

That came on the first play from scrimmage after San Jose State had scored.

Stanback by the numbers

UW quarterback Isaiah Stanback was the leader in passing and total offense for the Huskies:

270 Total yards

168 Passing yards

102 Rushing yards

17 Rushing attempts

.640 Completion percentage

"I believe this is a more confident team," said UW coach Tyrone Willingham. "But you have to do it on the field. Today, we took one step in that process."

Even if the team might have been a little more timid than he had hoped.

For every good — the Huskies rushed for 300 yards — there was a bad. They lost two fumbles and an interception in the first half.

Despite those gifts, the Huskies seemed on the verge of blowing out the Spartans when they grabbed a 21-9 lead heading into halftime on a 21-yard Isaiah Stanback pass to Kenny James with 21 seconds left. Other than the turnovers, the Huskies dominated early, scoring on drives of 79, 48 and 81 yards in the first half. James scored two first-half TDs and Rankin had the other on a twisting, turning 34-yard run that might have been the day's most exciting play. All nine Spartans points in the first half came after UW turnovers.

But San Jose State, unable to run, responded by going almost exclusively to a spread passing offense out of a shotgun formation in the second half.

The Huskies countered with its nickel defense that included the likes of freshman linebacker E.J. Savannah and sophomore safety Jason Wells, each playing their first Division I game.

Defensive coordinator Kent Baer said the Huskies hadn't seen San Jose State use that offense in film it watched of last year's games, and hadn't worked on it.

"We played nickel the whole second half," he said. "We don't have many backups, so I think some guys got a little tired. Some guys who had never played before had to step up and some guys did a good job, but we have to learn to make tackles."

Lappano was likewise disappointed in the turnovers — fumbles by Rankin and tight end Michael Gottlieb and a Stanback interception on a tipped pass — saying, "I don't understand it."

Willingham admitted the secondary is a concern, especially "until we get ourselves completely healthy" — a reference to an injury that limited projected starting cornerback Dashon Goldson to a handful of plays.

He also said the game "was probably 20 points closer in both directions" than he wanted it.

"We probably gave up 20 more points than I am comfortable with and probably didn't score another 20 that I thought maybe we could," he said.

But as Baer concluded, surely cognizant that the Huskies have won four times in 23 tries since the beginning of 2004, "the bottom line is, you won a game."

And on this day, that was meal enough.

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com