Washington beefs up porous defense STANFORD

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In the game that Andrew Luck regarded as his best collegiate performance, he threw only 21 passes. That's because Washington couldn't stop Stanford's ground game.

With Luck adroitly calling the appropriate running plays at the line, the Cardinal rushed for a school-record 446 yards and had 615 overall while crushing the Huskies 65-21 last year.

Eleven months later, after four straight losses to Stanford and six in the past seven years, the Huskies will try to knock off the Cardinal (3-0) in Seattle at 6 p.m. Thursday on ESPN.

The Huskies are playing this season at CenturyLink Field, home of the Seahawks, while Husky Stadium undergoes an extensive renovation. Washington, which - like No. 8 Stanford - is coming off a bye week, is 2-1; the loss was a 41-3 rout at the hands of No. 3 LSU.

Even though junior quarterback Keith Price threw a school-record 33 touchdown passes last season, the Huskies were undone by their porous defense. They lost five of their last seven games, finishing with a 67-56 loss to Baylor in a duel between Price and Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III in the Alamo Bowl.

The Huskies then scuttled the defensive coaching staff, including coordinator Nick Holt. He was replaced by Tennessee coordinator Justin Wilcox, the son of 49ers linebacking great Dave Wilcox, a Pro Football Hall of Famer.

Wilcox switched the Huskies from a 4-3 to a 3-4 and installed some bigger bodies in the defensive line. The defenders are more physical and mature than they were last year, and it's tougher to find blocking angles on them in their new scheme, Stanford head coach David Shaw said.

"We're not going to blow these guys off the ball," he said. "I don't anticipate us running for 400 yards. I anticipate us being able to run the ball effectively, though."

BATON ROUGE, LA - SEPTEMBER 08: Keith Price #17 of the Washington Huskies drops back to pass against the LSU Tigers during a game at Tiger Stadium on September 8, 2012 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) less BATON ROUGE, LA - SEPTEMBER 08: Keith Price #17 of the Washington Huskies drops back to pass against the LSU Tigers during a game at Tiger Stadium on September 8, 2012 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Stacy ... more Photo: Stacy Revere, Getty Images Photo: Stacy Revere, Getty Images Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Washington beefs up porous defense 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Last year, Shaw said, "we had a really good passing game plan for that game, and we just put it in our back pocket. We don't anticipate that happening again. We think it's going to be more of a balanced attack from us."

In that wild Alamo Bowl, the elusive Price threw for four touchdowns and rushed for three.

"He's got a chance to be in the next group of superstars in college football in the next couple of years," Shaw said.

The 6-foot-1, 202-pound junior can buy time with his feet. If the average pass play is five or six seconds, Shaw said, defensive backs have to stay with receivers longer because Price might extend it to seven or eight seconds.

"We have to be disciplined in our rush lanes," Shaw said. "We can't let him escape outside ... That's when he can really hurt you."

His main target is 6-6, 266-pound sophomore tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins, who has 20 catches for 211 yards. He also helped Washington win the Pac-12 basketball title last season.

Classes started Monday at Stanford, and playing a game three days later is a problem. Shaw said he'd like Thursday games "a lot better if it was before school started. It's kind of contradictory to our educational mission. We'll be getting back at 2 or 3 on Friday morning and getting these guys to a 9 o'clock class."

Briefly: Because tailback Anthony Wilkerson is out with a lower leg injury, Stepfan Taylor will be backed up by redshirt sophomore Ricky Seale and redshirt freshman Remound Wright. ... Although the cast is off freshman Andrus Peat's injured hand, David Yankey probably will start again at offensive left tackle, with Khalil Wilkes again taking Yankey's place at left guard, Shaw said.