Stanford Rallies Behind Backup, Upsets Huskies : Pacific 10: Stenstrom breaks a finger in second quarter, but Frost comes through in 46-28 victory.

Its passing game deflated by the loss of quarterback Steve Stenstrom, Stanford turned to the run and came away with a 46-28 upset of 12th-ranked Washington on Saturday night.

Playing on a field soaked by rain, backup quarterback Scott Frost led three second-half scoring drives and confounded Washington’s defense with his running, gaining 88 yards in 11 carries, including a 10-yard touchdown.

Stenstrom threw for two touchdowns and ran for one before breaking the pinky finger on his throwing hand on the scoring run late in the second quarter.

“The defense dedicated itself at halftime when we found out Stennie (Stenstrom) would not be back in the game,” Stanford linebacker Mike Hall said. “We thought maybe we wouldn’t be able to put as many points on the board so we had to settle down and shut down Washington. The biggest boost was watching Scott Frost go out and take charge. He took time off the clock 5-6 minutes at a time. That’s a great rest for the defense.”

Stanford’s Anthony Bookman ran for 119 yards and two touchdowns, the last on a 12-yard sweep with 1:44 left as Stanford, 3-5-1 overall and 2-4 in the Pacific 10, snapped a 10-game losing streak to Washington (6-3, 3-3). The victory was Cardinal Coach Bill Walsh’s first against the Huskies in five tries.

“We were due,” Walsh said. “Frost did an admirable job. The team rose to the occasion. They all rallied behind Scott.”

Napoleon Kaufman ran for 139 yards and two touchdowns, pushing his season yardage total to 1,313 and surpassing his school record of 1,299 set last year.

But Kaufman also had two fumbles that led to Stanford touchdowns, and the Cardinal limited the Huskies to a field goal after being pushed around for 25 first-half points.

“The defensive football in the second half was a revelation,” Walsh said.

Washington Coach Jim Lambright said the Huskies expected Stenstrom to return and had trouble coping with Frost, whose runs helped open lanes for other Stanford runners.

“We didn’t do a very good job adjusting,” he said. “All of their guys ran well. It wasn’t just Frost. They did a good job of blocking. They did a good job of shutting off our inside defense and then we couldn’t get enough people outside.”

The Cardinal came out running in the second half. All but 19 yards in a 74-yard drive came on the ground with Frost running three times for 23 yards, including his 10-yard touchdown scramble for a 36-25 lead.

Stenstrom will test his hand early this week to see if he can throw. His status for the Oregon game next week is questionable at best.