Washington Wins in Aloha Bowl, 51-23
Shehee rushes for a bowl-record 193 yards.
HONOLULU (AP) - When they finally got healthy, the Washington Huskies put a
hurt on Michigan State.
Rashaan Shehee, who missed Washington's last three regular-season games with
a sprained knee, rushed for a bowl-record 193 yards and the No. 21 Huskies
returned two interceptions for touchdowns to beat the No. 25 Spartans 51-23 in
Thursday's Aloha Bowl.
Shehee scored two touchdowns, including a 33-yard run on his second carry of
the game. His 193 yards broke the Aloha Bowl record of 179 by Michigan State's
Blake Ezor in 1989.
"The offensive line takes care of me," said Shehee, who had 29 carries and
was one of the game's MVPs. "We were playing hard. We were having fun. That's
how you win games."
The Huskies (8-4) lost their last three Pac-10 games without Shehee, but
they dominated Michigan State (7-5).
"We play against some great backs in the Big Ten, but not with quite the
athletic ability and speed of Shehee," Michigan State coach Nick Saban said.
Washington quarterback Brock Huard, who also was plagued by injuries this
season, completed 18 of 30 passes for 179 yards and two TDs to Fred Coleman.
But Huard said the key was the dominance of the Huskies' linemen.
"We knew coming in, playing a Big Ten team, the emphasis would be up
front," Huard said. "We came out and established right away that the
offensive and defensive lines would be ours today.
Safety Tony Parrish picked off Todd Schultz's pass and returned it 56 yards
for a TD, and linebacker Lester Towns grabbed another errant pass by Schultz
and went 66 yards for another score.
Washington resorted to some trickery for its other touchdown. On
fourth-and-11, upback Mike Reed took the snap and raced 64 yards into the end
zone.
(Continued)
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1997 ALOHA BOWL
