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The Aloha Bowl 1997
Washington 51 |
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Rashaan Shehee rushed for an Aloha Bowl record 193 yards and two touchdowns and the Huskies defense returned two interceptions for scores as Washington destroyed Michigan State, 51-23, in Honolulu.
Shehee broke the Aloha Bowl record of 179 rushing yards set by Michigan State's Blake Ezor in 1989 and eclipsed the 1,000-yard plateau in the process. Despite missing the final three games of the season- all Washington losses- Shehee finished with 1,055 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Shehee opened the scoring with a 33-yard touchdown run 67 seconds into the game as the Huskies (8-4) capitalized on a Michigan State fumble on the first play from scrimmage. Shehee later scored from 15 yards out, giving Washington a 38-10 lead 5:50 into the second half.
The Huskies carried the ball 43 times for 298 yards, including a 64-yard touchdown run on a fake punt by Mike Reed, and outgained Michigan State, 298-47, on the ground. They also held a better than 12-minute edge in time of possession.
Washington dominated the game throughout, coming up with five turnovers, including two fumbles. The Spartans fumbled a total of six times but were able to fall on four of them.
With the Huskies holding a 24-10 advantage in the third quarter, Tony Parrish came up with his second interception of the game and returned it 56 yards for a touchdown with 18 seconds left in the period.
Lester Towns picked off Michigan State's Todd Schultz and ran 66 yards for a score, giving the Huskies a 51-17 lead with 10:02 to play, equaling the most points scored by a team in an Aloha Bowl. Kansas set the record by defeating UCLA, 51-30, in 1995.
Washington quarterback Brock Huard threw a pair of touchdown passes to Fred Coleman, including a 22-yarder 44 seconds into the third quarter which gave the Huskies a 21-7 lead. Huard completed 18-of-30 passes for 179 yards and Coleman finished with five catches for 68 yards.
Schultz completed 14-of-24 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions for the Spartans. He connected with Gary Scott on a pair of scores, the first of which cut the Huskie lead to 14-7 with 5:19 left in the first quarter. Scott had five receptions for 114 yards.
Washington snapped a three-game losing streak in bowl games, claiming its first victory since downing Michigan, 34-14, in the 1992 Rose Bowl, the last of four straight bowl wins.
Michigan State (7-5) has lost four straight bowl games by a combined score of 152-50 and two in a row to a Pac-10 school, falling to 5-9 all-time in bowls. Stanford blanked Michigan State, 38-0, in last year's Sun Bowl.
The Huskies, who improved to 2-1 all-time against Michigan State, played in a bowl for the 16th time in 19 seasons and for the 25th time overall, improving their record to 14-10-1. |
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Washington quarterback Brock Huard (7) is tackled by Michigan State's Ike Reese. |
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Reese (44) brings down Cameron Cleeland |
Washington's Bryan Pittman scores in first quarter |
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Husky media guide |
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Attendance- 34,419
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
UW- Shehee 33 run (Lentz kick)
Second Quarter
UW- Coleman 22
yard pass from Huard (Lentz kick)
Third Quarter
UW- Shehee 15
run (Lentz kick)
Fourth Quarter
UW- Towns 66
interception return (Lentz kick) Individual Statistics
Rushing UW- Shehee 29-193, Reed 2-70, Shaw 6-34 MSU- Irvin 15-59, McFadden 2-10
Passing UW- Huard 18-30-179 MSU- Schultz 14-24-220, Burke 6-10-76
Receiving UW- Coleman 5-68, Shehee 5-8, Pathon 4-54, , Cleeland 3-46 MSU- Scott 5-114, Richardson 3-42, Long 3-36, Renaud 2-24, Rance 2-33
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