PACIFIC 10 CONFERENCE FOOTBALL / DAN HAFNER : Stanford Looking for a Perfect Game

There have been seasons when Stanford would have been ecstatic about a 6-2 start. But since the return of Coach Bill Walsh, the sights have been set considerably higher.

Victories over Notre Dame and UCLA left Cardinal spirits high. But a stunning defeat by Arizona and an unimpressive victory over Oregon State have put a damper on the enthusiasm.

All of that, though, would be forgotten if Stanford ended Washington’s 21-game winning streak Saturday at Seattle. It would make the season a tremendous success.

Although Walsh is trying to play down the importance of this week’s game, he said no pep talk is needed.

“Even if we lose this game, by winning two of the last three, it would still be a fine season,” he said.

“We have yet to play a game in which we have been completely happy with the performance. Now would be the time.

“To beat the Huskies we will have to play just about a perfect game.

“We will need clean tackling and no mistakes on defense.

“We will need a big game from our key players, especially Glyn Milburn. Glyn will have to bring at least one return a long way back.

“We need major improvement in our pass protection and our special teams will have to avoid mistakes.

“The Huskies may or may not be as good as last season, that remains to be seen. But they are a great team and they have done an outstanding job of replacing some great players.

“They have two outstanding quarterbacks (Mark Brunell and Billy Joe Hobert). They are ideal college quarterbacks. They have size, strength, mobility and good arms. There’s really not much to choose. Fortunately, only one can play at a time.”

Historically, the two-quarterback system comes apart, according to Walsh. He said there simply isn’t enough practice time for both.

“Of course, the Huskies may be an exception,” he added. “They may be so good they don’t need to practice.”

Despite a 7-0 record and the lead in the drive to a third consecutive Rose Bowl trip, the Huskies are concerned about injuries.

Last season, they virtually escaped injury. This season, not even Coach Don James has escaped. James had to have surgery this week for a broken cheekbone. An Oregon player was blocked into James Oct. 17 and the helmet did the damage.

“It’s painful,” James said. “But I’m more concerned with some of our players. We avoided injuries last year, but we’re even getting players hurt in practice.”

Three wide receivers, Eric Bjornson, freshman Jason Shelley and Joe Kralik all were injured last week. James hopes they will be ready and that tailback Jay Berry, who has missed most of the season, will return.

Coach Rich Brooks of Oregon, whose Ducks lost to Stanford, 21-7, and to Washington, 24-3, thinks the Huskies will prevail.

“The Washington defense will stop the Stanford offense,” he said.

After four tough games, Arizona hopes to avoid a letdown this week when the Wildcats face New Mexico State at Tucson.

“We had our letdown early,” Coach Dick Tomey said after the 24-17 victory over California last week. It was the third consecutive triumph for the Wildcats since a one-point loss to No. 1 Miami.

“We have been playing with great enthusiasm,” Tomey said. “We know that if we have any hopes of playing in a bowl game, we have to keep playing that way.

“We aren’t even thinking about Washington (Arizona’s opponent Nov. 7 in Tucson). We just don’t talk about it. We know New Mexico State has won four games and we will have to be ready to play.

“When you aren’t, that’s when players get hurt. We have to pay attention to business.”

The Wildcats, one of the nation’s top defensive teams, have been showing steady improvement on offense.

“Eight of our 11 offensive linemen are new and they are improving every week,” Tomey said.

Oregon’s Brooks isn’t sure that the end of Washington State’s unbeaten streak will make it tougher on his Ducks Saturday at Pullman, Wash.

“I don’t think it would be any easier playing them if they were 7-0, “ he said. “Either way, I don’t expect it to be easy.

“We were showing signs of developing into a good team until we started giving the ball away two weeks ago against USC. In the last two games we’ve turned it over seven times to one for the opposition.

“Against a good team, we don’t have a chance doing that. We have to avoid giveaways and we have to run the ball to have a chance against the Cougars.”

The Arizona State defense, which ended UCLA’s record of scoring in 246 consecutive games, was named Pac-10 defensive “player” of the week.

Arizona quarterback George Malauulu, who completed eight of 15 passes for 112 yards against Cal, has been more maligned than praised throughout his career. But he impressed California defensive tackle Chidi Ahanotu. “It seems like he’s been playing 10 years, but he’s the toughest quarterback I’ve played against,” Ahanotu said.