Pac-12 Notebook: Washington wins with -- surprise! -- defense

Huskies shut down Stanford offense in prime-time upset.

By Jon Gold

Sep 28, 2012 at 6:21 pm ET • 2 min read

The Huskies’ defense stifled Stanford on Thursday night. Linebacker John Timu sacks Cardinal quarterback Josh Nunes during Washington’s 17-13 victory. (US Presswire)

Here is some news and notes from around the Pac-12...

It's one thing that Washington defeated Stanford, it's another story that the Huskies won with their ... defense? This defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox is pretty good, Jerry Brewer of the Seattle Times wrote. Remember, this is a defense that turned Robert Griffin III into a professional gymnast mixed with John Elway mixed with a cheetah.
Opposing teams are playing keepaway from Oregon's De'Anthony Thomas, and it's just not fair, Adam Jude of the Oregonian wrote. He's right. Every time we are deprived of seeing Thomas with the ball, it's a shame. He was held touchdown-less in the Ducks' 49-0 win over Arizona, and it felt as if the sun turned off.
Utah RB John White knows what's gone wrong for him in recent weeks. He's thinking too much. "I've just got to go back to that and stop thinking so much about the big play and scoring every time I touch the ball," White told Dirk Facer of the Deseret News. "It's just down and distance." But he's also smiling too much. And there's not much to smile about after his 14-carry, 18-yard performance against Arizona State. "I think I'm going to be more of a meaner guy because I can't have this," White told Facer. "I've got to come back with a higher confidence for this USC game. I'm going to be practicing hard every day and every week like I normally do. I'm going to come back."
It took all of three plays -- though they were delayed a week -- for the Oregon State Beavers to learn all they needed to know about their defense, Patrick Finley of the Arizona Daily Star reported. The Beavers have played dream-smasher with the Heisman hopes of Wisconsin's Montee Ball and UCLA's Johnathan Franklin in consecutive weeks. Up next: An Arizona running game that was bottled up by Oregon.

Colorado found itself a blue-chipper, although a few years later than expected, and its because he found himself, Tom Kensler of the Denver Post wrote. TE Nick Kasa, who played in the prestigious U.S. Army All-American game, had a 71-yard touchdown in the Buffaloes' 35-34 win over Washington State.