MVP

VITAL STATISTICS

Attempts--22. Completions--16. Yards gained--138. Touchdowns--1. Interceptions--0. Rushes--15. Yards--75. Touchdowns--1.

DEFINING MOMENT

When the quarterback left the field because of an injured throwing shoulder late in the third quarter, it appeared Washington’s hopes went with him even though the Huskies led by three points. He missed three plays, returned before the start of the fourth quarter and then guided the Huskies to two fourth-quarter touchdowns. Tuiasosopo ran for one touchdown, passed for another and accounted for 213 yards. “He is the absolute epitome of what a quarterback should be,” Washington Coach Rick Neuheisel said. “He hurt his shoulder, he came back in there and said he could play. The rest, as they say, is history.”

OTHER KEY PLAYS

Seven plays into the fourth quarter, Tuiasosopo threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to Todd Elstrom, extending the lead to 10 points. Tuiasosopo almost became the goat of the game with just more than five minutes remaining when he threw an ill-advised lateral that Elstrom couldn’t handle at the end of a 26-yard run, with the Huskies holding a 34-24 lead. Ashante Woodyard recovered for the Boilermakers at the Purdue 49, but Purdue couldn’t capitalize. After getting the ball back, Tuiasosopo helped Washington run out the clock by gaining five yards on a fourth-and-one play from the Washington 45 with a little less than three minutes left.

LITTLE-KNOWN FACTS

Tuiasosopo holds one NCAA record: He is the only player to pass for 300 yards and rush for 200 in the same game. He also is the first Washington quarterback to be named to the All-Pac-10 first team since Steve Pelluer in 1983. Only three other Husky quarterbacks have been named first-team all-conference: Don Heinrich (1952), Bob Schloredt (1960) and Bill Douglas (1963).

IN HIS WORDS

On his third-quarter injury: “I was mad. I was like, ‘Can you believe this, the Rose Bowl game?’ ”