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Friday, December 13, 2002
Cardinal yet to see Howard's end
By Mike Diegnan
BCSfootball.com
PASADENA, Calif. -- The outlook was grim. Stanford's
Willie Howard and Troy Walters were supposed to be in
civs on Saturday afternoon for the 86th Rose Bowl game.
Although rumors began circulating that both would play,
it still seemed doubtful either could make a positive
impact on the Cardinal.
Instead, both were in
uniform and helped
Stanford challenge
No. 4 Wisconsin in a
contentious game
that was supposed
to be a blowout.
"It was a great
inspiration," said
strong safety Tim Smith. "Like I said, it shows the
character that they have."
The last time Howard was seen on a football field, he was
walking off the field on crutches after damaging the ACL
and MCL in his right knee against Notre Dame on Nov.
27.
Two days after the victory over the Irish, Stanford held a
teleconference with Howard. He and head coach Tyrone
Willingham were pessimistic about his chances to play
again this season, although the team's trainer left a
smidgen of hope. Howard postponed surgery until after
the bowl game just in case there was an opportunity he
could play.
On Friday, he received word that he was going to start.
How the first play went would determine how much time
he would see.
"I didn't know how many plays I was going to play, I didn't
know how I was going to do," Howard said. "It just felt
good to be able to be out there and enjoy this
experience."
It was obvious after a few snaps that he was going to see
significant time. On the first two defensive plays of the
game, the 6-foot-4, 290-pound senior was in on the
tackle. First, he helped hold Ron Dayne to a two-yard
gain. Then he ran down Brooks Bollinger for a seven-yard
loss.
"My whole focus was to win the ball game, and to go out
there and give as much juice to the team as I could give,"
Howard said.
In the second quarter, Howard set up the Cardinal's lone
touchdown. With Howard closing in on Bollinger, he was
clipped, forcing a 25-yard penalty that pushed Wisconsin
back to its own 16-yard line. The Badgers never
recovered from the first-and-35. Stanford then went 45
yards on its next possession to take a 9-3 lead.
Although it looked like the Wisconsin lineman was going
for Howard's knee, Willie did not think it was a dirty play.
"He was just trying to keep me off the quarterback,"
Howard said. "He's a great player. That's what I expect
from somebody."
He finished the game with five tackles.
"I thought he played very well," Willingham said.
More importantly, his participation helped lift his other
teammates. Throughout the game, they checked up on
the defensive tackle, making sure he was still able to go.
"Everybody saw me over there (on the bench)," Howard
said. "They kept giving me thumbs up or thumbs down,
wanting to know if I was out."
"He had a good impact," said outside linebacker Riall
Johnson. "We pretty much knew that he was going to
come back. He was determined to play in this game. He
did a great job. He worked hard every day."
With Howard in the lineup, the maligned Stanford defense
-- one that was ranked 110th in the country coming into
the contest -- held Wisconsin to 17 points, its lowest
output since Bollinger became the starting quarterback in
the fifth week of the season. Wisconsin had been
averaging 37 points a game with Bollinger as the starter.
Nonetheless, Howard is not clear of his injury. On
Tuesday, he will undergo another MRI. Although he said
his "knee feels good" on Saturday, the doctors could be
leaning towards surgery this time. After all, when he hurt
himself in November, he had a grade-four sprain of the
MCL and tore ligaments in his ACL.
Stanford was everybody's laughingstock all season, but
true to the old cliché, the team persevered. And it was a
team that wouldn't let a serious ACL and MCL or
dislocated wrist prevent it from showing the nation that it
deserved more respect.
"I love my team," Howard said. "The loss kind of hurts
everybody, but after going out there and losing to a team
that was supposed to dominate us and lose by just eight
points, it shows a lot of character by everybody."
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