With less than five minutes left on the clock, the 2000 Washington football team was in need of a touchdown, trailing Arizona by four points. Quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo delivered, pulling off the fifth fourth-quarter comeback of the season for the Huskies, and snagging a 35-32 victory at Husky Stadium on Nov. 4, in front of more than 70,000 fans.
The win came one week after former safety Curtis Williams suffered a hit that paralyzed him from the neck down at Stanford.
To honor Williams, the Husky Marching Band spelled out “C-Dub” on the field before kickoff, the cheerleaders led a cheer of “C-Dub” to the traditional pattern of “Go Huskies,” fans wore buttons with Williams’ initials, and players had CW on their jerseys and helmets.
However, after this somber start, the Wildcats kept control in the first half, with 51 plays to the UW’s 19. Going into halftime, the then-No. 7 Huskies were down 16-10.
“The beginning of the game was hard with the tribute to Curtis,” linebacker Derrell Daniels told The Daily. “I think a lot of people’s minds were on that in the first quarter and part of the second quarter. After that, we were able to regain our focus and play a lot better.”
Falling even further behind, as the Wildcats took a 25-10 lead in the third quarter, the Huskies needed a comeback, and fast.
With 3:38 left in the third, kicker John Anderson, who still holds the UW record for longest field goal at 59 yards versus UCLA in 1999, scored a 38-yard field goal to put the score at 25-13.
Trailing by 12 points with less than 11 minutes to play, junior tailback Willie Hurst caught an option pass from Tuiasosopo and made a 65-yard touchdown run, sparking energy into the UW side.
“It’s amazing how that happens,” head coach Rick Neuheisel told The Daily. “You get a 65-yard touchdown run and everyone comes to life.”
Hurst ended the night with a season-high 116 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries after only one carry in the first half.
“It’s kind of difficult to have one carry in the game and then all of a sudden you are playing every play,” Hurst told The Daily. “You’ve got to just be on your toes and think on the run. You don’t have time to say, ‘Wait a minute, coach, I only had one carry.’”
With 8:31 left on the clock, Hurst scored his second touchdown of the night, able to avoid a tackle, spin, keep his knee off the ground, and regain balance for a stunning 23-yard run into the end zone.
“I love playing in Husky Stadium against the best competition in the country,” Hurst told The Seattle Times. “Anything else would be something less.”
The Huskies were now up 28-25, but the comeback was not yet over.
Regaining the lead, the Wildcats went up 32-28 with 4:38 left in the game.
After marching the ball down the field, and a face mask penalty called on Arizona near the 20, Tuiasosopo scored what would be the winning touchdown for the Huskies from the 2-yard line.
The Wildcats got the ball with just over a minute left, but their 51-yard field goal attempt to tie the score was blocked by defensive tackle Larry Tripplett, who had swatted down an extra point earlier in the game.
The UW outscored Arizona 22-7 in the fourth quarter on the way to the comeback win.
“They say someday you’ll remember all of this,” Tuiasosopo told The Seattle Times. “Right now I don’t have time.”
Tuiasosopo played quarterback in the NFL for eight seasons with the Oakland Raiders and the New York Jets. In 2013, he returned to the UW as the quarterback coach and filled in as interim head coach for the 2013 Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco. He is now the tight ends and associate head coach for the offense at USC.
The Huskies finished the season 11-1-0 (7-1-0 Pac-10) in Neuheisel’s second year as head coach. They defeated Washington State 51-3 in the Apple Cup and headed to the Rose Bowl to face Purdue and quarterback Drew Brees, with the Huskies earning a 34-24 win. Tuiasosopo earned Rose Bowl MVP and the Huskies finished the year ranked No. 3.
Reach Editor-in-Chief Kathryn Altena at sports@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @kkaltena
