Marques Tuiasosopo is the kind of quarterback defensive coordinators have nightmares about.
He loves to pass, and he can run. His unpredictability makes him a dangerous weapon because opponents don’t know how he will hit them.
“I love to throw the ball, that’s my passion,” Tuiasosopo said. “I’m fortunate enough to have the ability to run the ball, but I prefer throwing the ball.”
Athletic greatness flows in the Tuiasosopo family. His father, Manu, went to UCLA and had an eight-year NFL career until 1987. His younger brother, Zach, is a freshman linebacker for the Huskies. His sister, Leslie, played for the Washington volleyball team that reached the final 16 of the 1997 NCAA Championships. He had 10 cousins and one uncle who played college football, and four of them also went pro.
Now, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Tuiasosopo, a Heisman Trophy candidate, anchors the Pacific-10 Conference’s highest-ranked football team. He is the reason why many football analysts picked the Huskies to go to the Rose Bowl this season.
On the brink of rewriting several pages of the Washington football record book, this Tuiasosopo may surpass the achievements of any Tuiasosopo before him.
And he’s coming to Autzen Stadium on Saturday to try and derail the Ducks’ 17-game home winning streak.
“They have a really great, hostile crowd that’s really good at distracting and disturbing you,” Tuiasosopo said about the challenge ahead. “They’re in your ear all game long.”
In the last meeting of the two teams, Tuiasosopo racked up 234 all-purpose yards en route to a 34-20 Husky victory. He called plays that picked apart the Oregon defense piece by piece, keeping the football in Washington’s hands for 38 minutes, 26 seconds of the game. The Ducks’ offense spent less than 22 minutes on the field.
Tuiasosopo knows that this time, the going will get tougher.
“It doesn’t really matter what happened before this game because each year is different,” he said. “You always know you’ve got to strap on the chin-strap tight and be ready to go to battle. Nothing’s going to be easy this Saturday, we’re going to have to earn it.
“I did watch the Oregon game last week and they play with a lot of emotion. When you play Oregon, it’s going to be a battle.”
After Washington’s three nonconference games, Tuiasosopo has passed for 646 yards and three touchdowns, and carried for 168 yards and two touchdowns. He runs the option as good as anyone else in the country.
Statistically, he played the best game of his career last season against Stanford, decimating the Cardinal defense with a school-record 509 yards and carrying his team to a 35-30 victory. Tuiasosopo connected 19 of 32 passes in that game for 302 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 207 yards in 22 carries for two touchdowns.
But Washington head coach Rick Neuheisel believes that Tuiasosopo’s best game was four contests before the Stanford matchup.
“A year ago against Oregon he played what might have been his best game,” Neuheisel said. “I know everyone talks about the Stanford game and the numbers he put together, but against Oregon, he was 17-for-21, threw for over 200 yards and three touchdowns.
“He may not have had the total offense numbers, but there were very few mistakes and we are going to need that same kind of performance from him again if we are going to win.”
Despite a 3-0 record and being considered for the prestigious Heisman Trophy, Tuiasosopo said he has not lived up to his own standards this season. He points to the Huskies’ win over Colorado as an example, a game in which he threw two interceptions in the second quarter.
The buzz in Seattle is that Washington could find itself vying for a national championship this season — a feat that has little room for errors.
“I can play a lot better than I have been this year,” Tuiasosopo said. “Luckily, the small mistakes I’m making haven’t been effecting our wins, but they could in the future, so those need to stop. I have a lot, lot more room for improvement.”