Stanback, UW down and out

On the first play Saturday, Isaiah Stanback completed the longest pass of the season for the Huskies.

By the last play, Stanback was sitting in a cart, his right foot encased in ice.

In between, the Washington Huskies' season took a turn as gloomy as the weather, with the forecast for the future even murkier.

And when it was over, there was really only one play of Oregon State's 27-17 win over UW in front of 62,656 at Husky Stadium on Saturday that seemed important.

With 10:20 remaining in the game, Stanback planted his right foot near the end of a 24-yard scramble, landing awkwardly and grotesquely turning his ankle in the process. As he began to fall, he was slammed in the shoulder by OSU cornerback Coye Francies. Then he hit the ground, pointing at his foot as he lay on the turf.

UW coach Tyrone Willingham would say only that Stanback suffered a foot injury and offered no other details.

But other UW players and coaches all indicated that their on-field leader might be out for a significant length of time, possibly the rest of the regular season.

"It doesn't look good," said UW offensive coordinator Tim Lappano. "Not at all."

If Stanback is out, junior Carl Bonnell will take over as the team's starter and his first task will be a tough one — to stop a two-game losing streak in Berkeley against a powerhouse Cal team.

Bonnell played the final two series of Saturday's game. But by then, the game had long been decided as Oregon State shoved UW all over the Husky Stadium turf.

Oregon State outgained UW 488-256, recorded six sacks, forced eight punts, and allowed the Huskies to convert just 1 of 13 third downs.

"They played a physical style and got after it and we just didn't match it," said Willingham after UW fell to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in Pac-10 play.

UW scored first on a 45-yard Michael Braunstein field goal after a 56-yard pass from Stanback to Anthony Russo. But OSU took control from there, and the Huskies stayed in the game only by converting two interceptions — both by senior linebacker Scott White — into two short touchdown drives in the second quarter.

Stanback, who played with a hip pointer suffered last week at USC, ran for each of UW's touchdowns, giving the Huskies a 17-10 halftime lead.

The lead masked OSU's dominance up front as Beavers running back Yvenson Bernard gained 106 of his 144 yards by halftime.

"We kind of took it on the chin in that area," Willingham said when asked about the battle in the trenches.

Still, it was tempting to think that the Huskies had the Beavers on the ropes. Oregon State coach Mike Riley called the contest a "crossroads game" for his team after it had lost three of its past four amid conjecture in Corvallis that Riley's job may depend on how the Beavers finish out.

But the Beavers showed their psyche wasn't irreparably damaged, reasserting their control by scoring 10 points in the first 10:02 of the third quarter.

The go-ahead touchdown came on an 80-yard pass from quarterback Matt Moore to receiver Sammie Stroughter as the Huskies were caught in a blitz.

From there, the Beavers dominated as the Huskies had just 2 net yards in the fourth quarter and never got further than the OSU 32 in the second half.

Bernard capped a 78-yard drive with a 3-yard run with 12:32 left in the fourth quarter to all but sew it up.

"We were just really concerned about our effort and not having a letdown this week [after the close loss at USC last week] and taking the fight to them, and we didn't do that today for whatever reason," White said.

It was the third straight year OSU has won a game at Husky Stadium, and each game has had significance in Stanback's career. He played well in a relief role in 2004 to earn his first career start at QB the following week. Last year, Stanback was benched at halftime in favor of Johnny DuRocher, retaining the job when DuRocher was hurt in the second half, which Stanback said this week was something of a personal turning point.

Then came the injury Saturday, which arrived as Stanback tried to scramble to convert a third-and-26, coming up just 2 yards short.

"It's unfortunate for him, the type of year he was having and what he brought to this football team and what he brought to this offense," Lappano said. "We built this offense around him. He was the guy who made it go. We've got a tough task ahead."

Indeed, UW still needs two wins to attain its stated preseason goal of becoming eligible for a bowl, and without Stanback, nothing seems certain, especially with road games against Cal, Oregon and Washington State.

"We have to rally back together," said senior receiver Anthony Russo. "One man down is not going to stop us."

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