The good: The Huskies played with a grit and desire not seen often in the past few years. If they continue to do that, a win or two is sure to come. Isaiah Stanback continues to mature and his progress is evidence that Tim Lappano is doing a lot of good things with the offense. Craig Chambers is re-emerging as the game-breaker he was at the end of last season. The effort of the defense, particularly the linebackers and safeties, was solid, led by the 17 tackles of C.J. Wallace.

The bad: The Huskies can't make the play that might turn things their way — fumbling at the wrong time, committing penalties at inopportune moments, etc. But there also are some bigger problems holding this team back — specifically the lack of a consistent running game or pass rush. The latter is exacerbating the personnel issues in the secondary.

Next up: at UCLA, Saturday, 7:15 p.m.

Offense: The 449 total yards were the most since the Huskies gained 452 in a loss at Arizona late in the 2003 season. The passing attack picked up big yards all day, going for 408, the most since late in the 2002 season. But it resulted in only 17 points because of mistakes and the inability of the running game to offer much of a counter attack to the passing game. The Huskies have to run better than Saturday (season-low 41 yards on 22 attempts) to win. Grade: B

Defense: On paper, it doesn't look too good — 36 points, 560 yards, 233 rushing yards. But for about 42 minutes, the Huskies played defense well enough to win the game, which is all that can be asked. Eventually, the defense just wore down after being on the field for 36 minutes and 56 seconds. Notre Dame scored 17 points in the final quarter, continuing a season-long trend — UW has been outscored 55-21 in the fourth quarter. Most disconcerting are the lack of a pass rush — UW had just one sack, that from a linebacker — and the rushing totals. Take out Idaho, and UW is allowing 245 rushing yards per game. Grade: C+

Special teams: Evan Knudson made his only field goal and continues to kick off well, a vastly underrated contribution. But the return units were non-existent, the Huskies allowed one decent-sized punt return and Sean Douglas had a punt blocked, the sixth suffered by UW since the beginning of last season. Grade: C+

Bob Condotta