College Bowls 2000

Huskies QB looks forward to challenge
Associated Press

SEATTLE -- Marques Tuiasosopo of Washington will be the "other quarterback" in the Rose Bowl.

He won't take it as a slight.

Purdue's Drew Brees, a Heisman Trophy finalist and the Maxwell Award winner, will get most of the attention on New Year's Day. He has the press clippings.

"He's a great player," Tuiasosopo said Friday. "I have a lot of respect for him. But it's not a one-person game."

While Brees passed for 3,389 yards and 24 touchdowns this season, Tuiasosopo was the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year.

Compared with Brees' lofty statistics, Tuiasosopo produced modest numbers as a senior with 2,146 passing yards and 14 TDs. He also rushed for 394 yards and six touchdowns.

Those numbers were just fine for Huskies coach Rick Neuheisel, whose No. 4-ranked team went 10-1 and won its last seven consecutive Pac-10 games to earn a trip to Pasadena, Calif.

"On the football field, he can beat you throwing and he can beat you running," Neuheisel said. "But he will find a way to beat you."

The son of former NFL defensive lineman Manu Tuiasosopo helped engineer comeback Pac-10 victories in the fourth quarter against Oregon State, California, Stanford and Arizona. Time after time, the Huskies won when they looked beaten.

Brees has Purdue back in the Rose Bowl for the first time in 34 years. Washington will be there for the first time since 1993.

"How I do versus him I don't think has any effect on who's the better quarterback," Tuiasosopo said. "We've gone against a lot of good teams and a lot of good quarterbacks."

In two seasons as Washington's No. 1 quarterback, Tuiasosopo set 11 school records and one NCAA record by becoming the only player to pass for 300 yards and rush for 200 yards in a single game with a 509-yard effort against Stanford as a junior.

He's first at Washington in career total offense with 6,875 yards.

"Brees gets all the attention," said Rich Alexis, a freshman who will start at tailback for Washington in the Rose Bowl. "It don't matter. Tui don't really look at that. I don't think he cares about that."

Actually, Tuiasosopo doesn't mind glowing statistics. He'd just rather have team success first.

"I'm definitely happy where we're sitting," he said. "We're 10 and 1. I don't care if we did it with 4,000 yards or 1,000 yards. I love to win and that's all that matters to me. I'm happy with how the season went."

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Tuiasosopo didn't miss a start the past two seasons, a fact not lost on his teammates. There were bruises, but he never complained and was there for Neuheisel.

"I took some shots, but I've been fortunate enough not to have had any major injuries," he said.

Pat Conniff, Washington's starting fullback, played with Tuiasosopo at Woodinville High School northeast of Seattle. He admires how the quarterback soaks up pain.

"He's as tough as a nail," Conniff said. "It's obvious. He's taken shot after shot and he's bounced right back up."

When the Huskies are on the field on New Year's Day against Brees and the Boilermakers, guard Dominic Daste's money will be on Tuiasosopo. It has to be.

"When he's in the huddle, he knows he's going to get the job done," Daste said. "I wouldn't trade Marques for anybody in the world."

Because of Tuiasosopo's running ability, the Huskies can stymie opponents with an option attack. Alexis never knows when he's going to get a pitch from Tuiasosopo.

"Sometimes Tui catches me offguard," Alexis said. "You've always got to be focused. You've always got to watch him."

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