Inside the Pac-10: Stanford’s Gerhart Mows Down UW’s Defense

Sun, Sep 27, 2009

One week after gaining national attention with an upset victory over USC, the Washington Huskies crashed back to the Pac-10 middle of the pack with a disappointing 34-14 loss to Stanford at The Farm on Saturday.

The defeat gave Washington a 1-1 record in the competitive, wacky Pac-10 standings, which looks headed for the final weeks of the season before any bowl bids are determined.

That shouldn’t be unexpected In a conference that features true round-robin play where every team plays each other during the season. Currently, Stanford sits alone in first place with a 2-0 in-conference record followed by 1-0 Oregon and 1-0 Arizona. UCLA (3-0 overall) and Arizona State (2-1 overall) have yet to play a conference game.

Preseason conference favorites USC and Cal are tied with Washington at 1-1, while Oregon State (0-1} and Washington State (0-2) are still seeking their first conference win.

“You never have a gimme in this conference,”‘ said Washington quarterback Jake Locker, a hero in the Huskies’ win over the Trojans last week but completed only 16-for-31 passes for 190 yards with three turnovers against Stanford. “You can’t sleep on anybody. We had a good week of practice and I felt good about where we were. We just couldn’t get it done.”

That was not a problem for Stanford power back Toby Gerhart, who dominated the Huskies’ overmatched run defense with 27 careers for a career-high 200 yards and a touchdown.

Gerhart’s physical style carried Stanford’s offense from the start. He had rushed for 89 yards in six …