Washington Looks Just as Husky, 42-7 : Pacific 10: Hobert replaces Brunell, and Don James’ team looks as good as it did last season in rout of Stanford.

The reign in Seattle may not end anytime soon.

Washington, which laid waste to the Pacific 10 Conference last season, picked up where it left off Saturday, opening the season with a 42-7 thrashing of Stanford before 45,273 at Stanford Stadium.

“We were outmatched,” Stanford Coach Dennis Green said.

Could it be that the fourth-ranked Huskies, whose bid for a national championship was ruined by an upset loss to UCLA in Seattle last November, are even better this year?

“We’ve still got a long way to go,” said junior tackle Steve Emtman, leader of a defense that limited Stanford to 28 yards rushing, “but it’s somewhere to start and something to build on.”

Not for Stanford, which has all but five of its starters back from last season and seemed to be in a favorable position to avenge last year’s 52-16 loss to the Huskies, especially considering that the defending Rose Bowl champions were breaking in a new quarterback.

But on a day when Stanford made six turnovers in the face of Washington’s relentless defensive pressure, sophomore quarterback Billy Joe Hobert led five touchdown drives before being lifted in the fourth quarter.

Filling in for Mark Brunell, who tore ligaments in his right knee during spring practice after earning distinction as the Rose Bowl player of the game last January, Hobert passed for 244 yards and two touchdowns in an auspicious debut, completing 21 of 31 passes, with one interception.

“His passes were crisp,” said split end Mario Bailey, whose six receptions went for 63 yards and a key second-quarter touchdown that gave the Huskies a 21-7 lead only nine seconds before the end of the half. “He had a couple of floaters, but most were right on the money.”

Considering that it was a conference game being played away from home on network television, Coach Don James said it was probably the most impressive debut by a Husky quarterback in his 17 seasons at Washington.

“A lot of times, a quarterback’s got to go out there and suffer for a quarter or two, but he helped the team right away,” James said. “And I think that helped our confidence.”

The only one not impressed, it seemed, was Hobert.

He chided himself for “mental mistakes” and described his 26-yard touchdown pass play to Bailey as a “knuckleball.” It was caught in the end zone after defender Vaughn Bryant, attempting to knock it down, seemed to mistime his jump, making it an easy reception for Bailey.

“Our defense won it,” Hobert said. “They played exceptionally well. They seem to be on the same page as they were last year.”

That they did, making Hobert’s job that much easier.

Washington’s longest touchdown drive measured only 55 yards. Two of the Huskies’ touchdowns were set up by Stanford turnovers, two others followed punt returns of 11 and 24 yards by Beno Bryant, who ranked second in the nation last season with a punt-return average of 15.6 yards.

“That’s exactly what happened for us against Stanford last season,” James said. “We had an excellent advantage in field position.”

How good was the defense, which added injury to insult on the first play of the fourth quarter, when roverback Paxton Tailele blindsided Stanford’s Jason Palumbis on a blitz, sending the Cardinal quarterback to the sideline (to stay) with a strained left knee?

“They were probably the best defense we faced last year,” said Stanford running back Glyn Milburn, who was limited to 16 yards in 11 carries, “and they’re probably better this year.

“They’re more aggressive and, overall, they’re just better.”

Even James seemed surprised that the Huskies, who outscored conference opponents by an average of 30 points a game last season, were able to dive into a new season without skipping a beat.

Washington was only a 20-17 winner over San Jose State in its opener last season at Husky Stadium.

“I would never have guessed it would have been like this,” James said. “We’re not near as far along--offensively, defensively, kicking game--as we were when we played (Stanford) last season (in the seventh game)--and we caught them when they were beat up (last year). That’s why I thought, in the first game, I would have taken a one-point victory.”

What message does that send to the rest of the Pac-10?

“I think they probably respected us anyway,” James said. “What it will probably do is get Nebraska ready to play us.”

The Huskies play the Cornhuskers Sept. 21 at Lincoln, Neb.

“We’re definitely going to have to pick it up,” Emtman said.

The Pac-10’s other nine teams must shudder at the thought.