Coach Tyrone Willingham opened the interview session after his team's 35-28 loss to Stanford with this statement:

“This one is very difficult for me to stand before you because I felt like we had a football team that would be able to go out and win this football game. Not being disrespectful to Stanford, because they played a good game, but I felt like we could win the football game.”

He was asked it this is the toughest spot he's ever been in as a coach.

"Without question," he said. "Without question. Because there are so many things flying around my young men right now, and we’re trying to keep them focused on that next task, that next goal. Because they’re frustrated, the coaches are frustrated. Everyone’s frustrated, the fans are frustrated. We want to get this thing right."

He was asked if "things flying around" means the speculation that he might be fired.

"Everything," he said. "There is enough stuff going around out there to probably cure our national debt right now."

Here are some additional notes and quotes that time didn't allow into my story in the Sunday paper:

WILLINGHAM on Jake Locker's injury
"He has a fracture of his (right) thumb and we'll see exactly what the dimensions of that are, so that will determine, once we figure that out, what kind of timetable he will be on."

WILLINGHAM on the Huskies
"We can't seem to get the right rhythm.We put pressure, but thon one pressure, they catch it in front of us, they break tackles, they do things. And then we don't put pressure, we don't stop them that way. We're just not where we'd like to be. We're trying to figure it out and get everyone where they need to be. And we haven't found that cure."

WILLINGHAM on the defense
"Obviously, we're playing a lot of young guys and to some degree that hurts you. But that's not an excuse and we won't accept that as an excuse. We need to get it right tomorrow and that's what our efforts will be. We've been trying to do that. At some point, I believe it will click and it will work and we'll have the kind of defense that we will be proud of and give us a chance to win football games."

DE DANIEL TE'O NESHEIM on no UW sacks yet this season
"We need to get to the quarterback. Already it's been too long. We've got to fix this. I'm not totally sure what it is that's causing this, but we have to fix it."

STANFORD COACH JIM HARBAUGH overview
"Our guys played their tails off tonight. We put in some new personnel groups, had some two tight end/two running back formations and had some different shifts and motions and guys were playing different positions than they were accustomed to, but we didn't have any penalties or time outs as a result of that and it really gave us a lot of momentum."

HARBAUGH on QB Tavita Pritchard
"This was his best night as a quarterback here at Stanford. ... He had a heck of a game. ... The (pass) to Baldwin for the touchdown today ... he threw it as good as anyone can throw it. You can't throw it better."

PRITCHARD (of Tacoma and Clover Park HS) on returning to his home state
"It's great to come back to Washington. It's clean air up here -- I love it up here. When I flew in here and saw all of the green, I was telling these guys it's God's country up here -- it's beautiful. I love coming back up -- a lot of family."

GAME NOTES
Brandon Johnson had his first two-touchdown game as a college player.

This was the first game of the season that QB Jake Locker didn't lead the Huskies in rushing. That honor went to tailback David Freeman who had 64 yards on seven carries.

This also ws the first game that D'Andre Goodwin didn't lead the Huskies in receptions. True freshman Jermaine Kearse had six catches, Goodwin five.

Ronnie Fouch had career highs in attempts (27), completions (13) and yards (186).

Good news: The Huskies haven't thrown an interception this season.

Bad news: They also haven't recorded a sack ... or, of course, a win.

They return to action at 4:45 p.m. Saturday at Arizona.

The Huskies fall to 0-4 overall and 0-2 in the Pacific-10 Conference.

I'll create a new post above with some quotes and additional notes.

However, coach Tyrone Willingham was unusually candid about his disappointment with the result of this game and with all that is surrounding his team and his program.

He had no prognosis regarding Locker but obviously Ronnie Fouch is the starter for now, and walkon Taylor Bean becomes the backup.

Willingham praised Fouch's play tonight and said Locker's injury is no excuse for this loss.

Injury report
UW quarterback Jake Locker left the game in the second quarter with a sprained thumb, suffered when he hit a Stanford helmet on a throw. … Linebacker Donald Butler also left the game after taking a head-on collision while trying to make a tackle. He suffered a concussion and did not return. … Starting UW tailback David Freeman suffered an apparent foot injury late in the game. … On the other side, Stanford tailback Toby Gerhart, who came into the game as the No. 3 rusher in the Pac-10, left the game late in the first quarter after apparently having his bell rung. He did not return, ending the game with 14 yard on two carries.

Players of the game
Stanford quarterback Tavita Pritchard completed 16 of 24 passes for 224 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Pritchard is a junior from Clover Park High School. Also, Cardinal tailback Anthony Kimble came on in relief of the injured Toby Gerhart and led all rushers with 157 yards on 15 carries. In a game where establishing the running game was the obvious key, Kimble got the job done.

Husky of the game
Redshirt freshman Ronnie Fouch took over the UW offense, subbing for the injured Jake Locker. Fouch completed 13 of 27 passes for 186 yards and one touchdown.

Turning point
In the final minutes of the first half, Pritchard hit receiver Doug Baldwin on a medium crossing pattern and Baldwin turned it up the sideline for a 61-yard touchdown. That allow the Cardinal to head into the locker room with a 21-14 lead that they never relinquished.

Extra points
Washington recorded no sacks for the fourth straight game. … Washington’s game captains were Butler, Locker, Juan Garcia and Daniel Te'o-Nesheim.

Next
4:30 p.m. Saturday, at Arizona, Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Ariz.

Halftime: Stanford scored on a 61-yard pass in the final two minutes of the half. The pass was actually a short cross with receiver Doug Baldwin taking it the final 45 yards.

Locker has been diagnosed with was reported as a sprained thumb on his right hand. However, UW is awaiting results of X-rays.

LB Donald Butler suffered a concussion and is done for the night.

3:11 of 2nd quarter: Huskies drive 76 yards in 12 plays to tie.

4:42 of the second: Ronnie Fouch is quarterbacking the Huskies as Jake Locker has been taken to the locker room with what is being called a hand injury.

8:34 of second: Stanford takes the lead and has moved ahead in total yards. Lots of missed tackles. Stanford has a lot of yards after first contact.

9:03 of 2nd quarter: Stanford first down at UW 20.

Donald Butler went out that series after apparently having his bell rung while trying to make a tackle. Meanwhile, Stanford's Gerhart also remains sitting on the trainer's table, helmet off, with trainers talking to him.

End of first: Washington driving into Stanford territory.

Huskies have 129 total yards, stanford 73. Huskies have rushed for 93 yards, Stanford 40. Receivers are getting open, but Locker hasn't connected yet. However it looks like something is there. UW 10 first downs, Stanford 4.

4:16 of the first: Stanford answers instantly. Both teams want to establish the run, and both are having success running.

Stanford tailback Toby Gerhart went out after a hard hit and remains sitting on the trainer's table.

7:35 of first quarter: Teams opened by swapping turnovers, but UW scored on second possession. Huskies opening big holes for running game so far.

Kickoff: Stanford won the toss and deferred. Washington will receive to start the game.

Washington captains today are Juan Garcia, Jake Locker, Daniel Te'o-Nesheim and Donald Butler.

4:40 p.m. I've arrived at the stadium on a beautiful and kinda warmish late-September day.

It's band day, and the various high school bands are covering the entire playing field right now as they practice what I assume will be their halftime show.

We'll do the usual gameday blogging in the sense that I'll post news as it happens leading up to the game. And then I'll keep the blog running through the game, then turn it over to you for postgame comments, before I return back for final notes and quotes. The only difference is that the deadlines are so tight on these 7 p.m. games that I'll probably have to do less in-game blogging just so we'll be able to get anything at all in the paper. But I will try to pop in with at least quarter-by-quarter reports of this important game.

Kickoff is 7 p.m. on FSN.