Dein erstes Forum » become a habit for the Illini.Lan

SEATTLE -- Chris Petersen would like this to be all about what David Shaw has done in building Stanford into the class of the Pac-12 Conference.Stanfords an awesome program. Ill start with that -- program, Washingtons coach said this week. This isnt just an awesome team. Theyve had an awesome program for a while now. They know how to do it.In reality, this is all about No. 10 Washington when the Huskies (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) face No. 7 Stanford on Friday night. Now in his third season in charge at Washington, is Petersen ready to have the Huskies enter the national conversation the same way his Boise State teams did when they were at their peak?Because if the Huskies knock off Stanford (3-0, 2-0) and take command of the Pac-12 North race, they wont just be in contention for a conference crown. Washington would immediately join a loftier conversation.This is a rare opportunity for Washington. Its just the fourth matchup of AP Top 10 teams ever at Husky Stadium and the first since the second-ranked Huskies were taken down by No. 7 Nebraska 19 years ago.It comes with all the trappings of a big game that have become standard for Stanford: prime-time national television audience; sellout crowd; star players all over the field.Obviously, it would be kind of ignorant to say theyre not the team to beat a little bit right now in the Pac-12, Washington quarterback Jake Browning said.No player is likely to shine brighter than Stanfords Christian McCaffrey, who was held to only 109 yards rushing by Washington last year, but made up for the lack of running production by catching five passes for 112 yards and a touchdown, and having 79 yards in kick returns to finish with exactly 300 all-purpose yards in the 31-14 win.McCaffrey is coming off a relatively quiet performance in last weeks comeback win over UCLA, rushing for 138 yards but only catching two passes for 13 yards.We are unbelievably spoiled that when this kid doesnt get 300 yards of total offense we say he got bottled up, Shaw said. He was phenomenal. He was phenomenal. Those 2-yard runs became 7-yard runs. Those 8-yard runs became 12-yard runs.The bigger concern for Stanford is who will be missing. The Cardinal will be without starting cornerbacks Quenton Meeks and Alijah Holder, starting wide receiver Francis Owusu and starting fullback Daniel Marx.Here are other things to watch as the Huskies and Cardinal meet for the 87th time with the series tied 41-41-4:MR. BURNS: Which Ryan Burns will show up for Stanford? The quarterback who was 5 of 8 for 66 yards passing on Stanfords final offensive drive as the Cardinal took the lead over UCLA, or the one who was 8 of 17 for 71 yards and an interception for the first 3 + quarters? Washingtons secondary is among the best in the country, led by safety Budda Baker, and will likely challenge Burns to beat them through the air with all the attention McCaffrey will receive.MONTLAKE JAKE: Browning can write his own little piece of history with a win over the Cardinal. In the past 20 seasons, Washington is 8-28 when facing Top 10 opponents. The Huskies last win over a Top 10 team came in a 2012 upset of then-No. 7 Oregon State.Browning leads the Pac-12 and is third-best in the country in pass efficiency. Hes thrown 14 touchdowns -- after throwing 16 all of last season -- and is completing nearly 71 percent of his passes. And now Browning gets to face a depleted Stanford secondary with Alameen Murphy and Terrence Alexander the likely starters in place of Meeks and Holder.GETTING DEFENSIVE: The top two scoring defenses in the Pac-12 reside at Washington and Stanford. The Cardinal are allowing just 12 points per game, the Huskies giving up 14.5 per game. But Washington showed a potential weakness against Arizona, giving up 308 yards rushing to the Wildcats last weekend.ON THE ROAD AGAIN: While Stanford has left the comforts of the Bay Area a number of times in the past year, this will be the first game outside the state of California for the Cardinal since Nov. 7, 2015, at Colorado. Theyll also be trying to get McCaffrey in the end zone for the first time on the road. In 12 career road games, McCaffrey has not scored a touchdown running or receiving. NMD Shoes NZ .Y. -- Canadas Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse have another World Cup gold medal after winning the two-women bobsled race on Saturday in Lake Placid, N. Adidas Y3 NZ . Vaives lawyer Trevor Whiffen claims the former 50-goal man wasnt provided with a copy of the claim beforehand and that he would not have agreed to the allegations made against the NHL had he been asked to review its contents. http://www.nmdshoesnz.com/adidas-stan-smith-cheap-nz.html . Capitals head coach Adam Oates said Ovechkin was injured in the first period against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday and clarified it was not a head injury. Superstar NZ Cheap . -- Three close looks at the bucket, three misses. Buy NMD NZ .com) - The women will also have a new champion at the Australian Open. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Down by a touchdown in the fourth quarter and 69 yards from the Illinois end zone, Purdue decided its best bet was to hand the ball to a freshman backup tailback.And why not?The Illini had shown no sign that they could stop Brian Lankford-Johnson, and they didnt on the game-tying drive. He had three carries for 41 yards before an 8-yard touchdown run by another backup, Richie Worship.Like Illinois three other losses this season, defense was a problem in the 34-31 overtime loss to the Boilermakers. And run defense in particular.Illinois (1-4, 0-2 Big Ten) is giving up 181.6 yards a game on the ground, 85th in the country and 11th in the 14-team Big Ten.Illinois started the season with talk about how its defense, and in particular its line, was its strength. All four of the starting linemen are seniors and at least one, defensive end Dawuane Smoot, is considered a likely NFL prospect.Coach Lovie Smith said this week that he still views the line as the teams strongest piece, but he noted that Purdue hit the interior of the Illini defense hard.They havent played well enough. That was our worst game that weve had, Smith said.Illinois is preparing for Rutgers (2-4, 0-3), which relies on the run to move the ball. The Scarlet Knights are last in the Big Ten in offense at 284 yards a gaame, but most of that, 166.dddddddddddd.3 yards, comes on the ground.Struggling against the run has become a habit for the Illini.Lankford-Johnson, who started only because Markell Jones was hurt, carried 18 times for 127 yards, 7.1 yards a carry. Two games earlier, an admittedly potent Western Michigan offense -- which is averaging 246.8 yards a game on the ground, 15th in the country -- rolled up 287 rushing yards on the Illini.Those big numbers might look better if the Illini defense was finding a way to get off the field when it matters most, but opponents are converting on 43.5 percent of their third-down conversions . Thats 12th in the conference.Smith was asked this week if, given his defensive background in the NFL and his teams struggles on that side of the ball, he should be more involved in coaching defense. The first-year Illinois coach said he is already doing enough.I am involved in the defense, all right? Smith said. As far as what I need to do, Im OK with figuring that out by myself, but I am involved in all phases of our team. So the things we dont like, its on me, and well continue to work to fix it.---Follow David Mercer on Twitter: (at)davidmercerAP ' ' '