Washington rallies to upset No. 8 Stanford

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Seattle • Kasen Williams took a quick screen pass from Keith Price, broke a tackle and the line of scrimmage and raced 35 yards for the go-ahead score with 4:53 left, and Washington rallied from 10 points down to stun No. 8 Stanford 17-13 on Thursday night.

Trailing 13-3 late in the third quarter, the Huskies (3-1, 1-0 Pac-12) got a 61-yard touchdown sprint from running back Bishop Sankey for their first offensive touchdown against an FBS opponent since the first quarter of the opener against San Diego State.

Then Washington put together a nine-play drive that included another fourth-down conversion and was capped by Williams' catch-and-run that gave the Huskies their first lead.

It was Washington's first win over a top-10 ranked opponent since its upset of then-No. 3 USC back in 2009, Steve Sarkisian's first season at Washington. And it was thanks to an inspired defensive effort that was the opposite of a year ago when Stanford (3-1, 1-1) bulldozed the Huskies to the tune of 446 yards rushing and 65 points.

Washington's student section poured on to the turf of CenturyLink Field after Price took a knee for the final time. It was a crucial win for the Huskies in the first game of a schedule that only gets tougher next week at No. 2 Oregon before returning home to host No. 13 USC.

Price finished 19 of 37 for 177 yards and the touchdown toss to Williams. Sankey had 144 yards on 20 carries after Stanford's defense had allowed just 124 yards rushing combined in the first three games of the season.

Stanford's Josh Nunes finished 18 of 37 for 170 yards. But the most important factor was Washington's ability to control Stanford running back Stepfan Taylor.