Stanback Presents Multiple Threats

Washington senior Isaiah Stanback is the type of athlete who could hurt UCLA with big plays when the teams meet in a Pacific 10 Conference opener Saturday at Husky Stadium.

“The biggest thing that the coaches have talked about is containment,” UCLA senior end Justin Hickman said about Stanback, who has started 18 games at quarterback for the Huskies. “He’s a real fast guy who will kill you if he gets out the pocket. We have to keep him between the tackles inside the pocket because that’s someplace that he doesn’t want to be.”

Stanback has been the true barometer for Washington’s success this season. When Stanback has played well -- as he did in victories over San Jose State and Fresno State -- the Huskies are tough to defend. When Stanback struggled-- as he did in a loss at Oklahoma -- Washington is very beatable.

“Hopefully, we’ll get some hits on him early and often,” Hickman said. “Because like all quarterbacks, he doesn’t like to get hit.”

Stanback, 6 feet 3 and 215 pounds, is an athletic marvel. He finished fifth in the 100 meters at the Pac-10 track and field championships this year and, despite never playing an inning in college, was selected in June by the Baltimore Orioles in the amateur draft.

But Stanback’s skills as a dual-threat football player are what have the Bruins’ attention.

“It’s going to be a challenge because Isaiah does a great job -- particularly in this last game -- of using his athletic ability with both his running and throwing,” Coach Karl Dorrell said.

Stanback -- who has played quarterback, receiver and kick returner for the Huskies -- has completed 40 of 73 passes (54.8%) for 458 yards and three touchdowns with only one interception and has rushed for 211 yards and two scores this season.

He was at his best in Washington’s 21-20 victory over Fresno State last week when he passed for two touchdowns and rushed for another. He finished 15 of 26 for 151 yards and had 91 yards in 12 carries.

“He can take off and make plays happen with his legs,” Dorrell said about Stanback, who had 233 yards in last year’s 21-17 loss to UCLA at the Rose Bowl.

“You can tell that he’s more comfortable and more confident in knowing and running their offense,” Dorrell said. “Our job is to make sure that he’s not given opportunity to be able to make big plays.”

Said Hickman: “We want to make Stanback beat us throwing the ball downfield. If we can do that, we will be in good shape because we feel that our defensive backs are more than capable of covering their receivers.”

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On UCLA’s defensive depth chart this week, junior Kevin Brown is listed as a starter at tackle next to sophomore Kenneth Lombard, with junior Brigham Harwell and sophomore Chase Moline on the second unit. But Dorrell expects all four linemen to continue to share equal playing time.

“You will probably see a rotation of people there all season long,” Dorrell said. “You want that type of competition from your team. We feel that we have really good depth there.”

Junior Bruce Davis and Hickman remain as starters on the ends, backed up by juniors Nikola Dragovic and William Snead.

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Starting offensive tackles Aleksey Lanis (knee) and Noah Sutherland (ankle), who played sparingly in most of last week’s practices, worked with the No. 1 line Monday....Junior cornerback Michael Norris (knee) might play this week after sitting out the first two games of the season....Senior receiver Joe Cowan, whose father, Tim, played quarterback for Washington from 1980 to 1982, has begun running on a treadmill but Dorrell said Cowan would be sidelined for at least another week....UCLA’s game against Stanford at the Rose Bowl will kick off at 7:15 p.m. on Sept. 30.

lonnie.white@latimes.com