Marques Tuiasopopo rushed for 207 yards and threw for 302 against Stanford.

"I've got to thank my mom," says the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Marques. "I've got her side of the family in me to keep me a little slim and slender."

But thank dad for the toughness, which Marques showed during last Saturday's 35-30 win over Stanford in compiling 300 yards passing and 200 rushing -- the first player to ever have a 300-200 day in NCAA Division I history. The feat was itself impressive; that he did it with a deeply bruised derriere makes it the stuff of legend.

"I had no idea how bad it was until I saw him in the training room," said offensive tackle Rock Nelson. "It is a huge, deep, ugly-ass bruise."

Literally. On the second play from scrimmage, Tuiasosopo was knocked so hard on his behind that he got up stumbling around and "limping like Festus from the old Gunsmoke days," said coach Rick Neuheisel. "I'm screaming from the sideline, 'You OK?' "

Tuiasosopo pointed to his posterior.

"I said, 'Well, that's just a big muscle. You'll be fine,' " Neuheisel said.

Quarterbacks coach Steve Axman, however, realized that Tuiasosopo wouldn't be fine if he sat down and let the muscle stiffen. So he didn't. Not once.

"I started pacing the sidelines with Ax with me telling me the plays we were going to run, telling me what was going on," Tuiasosopo said. "And the guys were kind of keeping a big barrier in front of me so no one could tell. I tried not to limp because I didn't want Stanford to see that I was hurt and come after me."

At halftime, though, Tuiasosopo was in so much pain that just about everybody was concerned he wouldn't be able to finish the game.

"I couldn't quit because of a bruise," he said.

It would be a little difficult to explain that he left the game with a bruised butt.

"That thought kept recurring in my head," he said. "I just wanted to go out there and play my heart out for those guys and let them know that I wasn't going to go down without a fight."

His teammates were inspired.

"I told him during the game that this is one of the most inspiring, courageous things I'd ever seen," said wide receiver Dane Looker. "I knew how much pain he was in. And you could tell after the game how emotional he was because he started to cry when he realized what he had just done, how he had helped our team win."

Tuiasosopo didn't even know he had made history until long after the game was over and he was sitting down -- finally.

"Not a clue," he said. "I'm not one to look at stats and make a big deal out of them. I think it's great because it gives recognition to the University of Washington and the football program."

And when Neuheisel presented him with the game ball, he calmly flipped it to Nelson and said, "No, this goes to you guys (the offensive line)."

Said Nelson: "It was just, 'Wow!' He had just come off a really great performance. But he's a great guy to block for and for him to do that for us is just great. He's the type of guy you love to sell out for."

The first time Neuheisel met Tuiasosopo, he recognized his leadership qualities, but not his quarterback skills. Neuheisel, then the head coach at Colorado, was recruiting Tuiasosopo -- as a defensive back.

He told Neuheisel thanks, but no thanks.

"I've always loved the QB position, ever since I was little, playing on the streets with my friends," he said. "I've always loved to throw the ball. And I love the responsibility aspect of the quarterback and the control that they have. Sometimes I can't explain why I love it, but it's a great feeling to throw a touchdown pass and make plays and score points."

Tuiasosopo was raised in Woodinville, Wash., and played high school football alongside the current Husky fullback, Pat Coniff. They ran the option -- similar to what the Huskies are running now.

"There's something about Marq," Coniff said, "Anything he wants to do he can do. Really. I knew he could be a college quarterback. I knew right away."

And by the time Neuheisel was hired at Washington, he knew, too.

"I remember watching him in the Nebraska-Washington game, which was his first chance to get into a game," Neusheisel said. "And he went in there and hit a long pass, and I looked over at Bobby Hauck, who recruited this area, and I said, 'I thought you said he couldn't throw.' I've never recruited another quarterback without seeing him play in person."

Tuiasopopo's leadership ability was self-evident.

"To play quarterback and do it well, you have to be able to understand the occupational hazard of it," Neuheisel said. "The gift is to be able to accept the blame, internalize the blame, save your teammates from that, but deflect the credit and give that back to the guys. Most of them do a good job of acting to do that and get that accomplished. Marques truly believes that, and that's what sets him apart."

He even had a good laugh on Monday morning after the Stanford game when he opened up the student newspaper to see a photo of himself from the back under the headline, "Bad Ass."

By Tuesday he had heard "every butt joke imaginable," he said.

"He's a warrior," said Nelson. "He's just a soldier man. He's so tough, he's one of those guys you love. He's out there and he's gonna give you his all every down, playing his butt off."

And then some.