STANFORD, Calif. -- It wasn't a repeat of last year's drubbing -- in most ways, it was worse.

After an "embarrassing" shutout loss to Stanford last year at Husky Stadium, the older, wiser and tougher Washington Huskies were supposed to find some redemption Saturday against the No. 7 Cardinal at Stanford Stadium.

Instead, they found more of the same in a 65-21 pounding by a bigger, stronger and better Stanford team.

"We got beat," coach Steve Sarkisian said. "We got beat in all three phases."

Don't let the score fool you. Washington was able to put points on the scoreboard, something it couldn't do last year in a 41-0 loss. But with a No. 22 ranking and renewed confidence, the Huskies weren't thinking about just scoring. They were thinking about winning.

Those hopes were trampled by a running attack that racked up a school-record 446 yards on 44 carries -- 10.1 yards per carry -- as Stanford's myriad of ballcarriers ran over, past and through the Washington defense.

"We always want to be physical," Stanford coach David Shaw said. "We we're going to play the style of football we love to play. We took advantage of what we felt the defense was giving us."

The Huskies defense gave them plenty, including eight scores on the first eight possessions.

"I told (Tyler) Gaffney, 'let's try and get 500 out here,' " said senior running back Stepfan Taylor, who rushed for 138 yards and a touchdown, while Gaffney ran for 117 yards and a score.

It was the most points a Huskies defense allowed since a 65-7 loss in 2001 at Miami. And it was the most yards rushing allowed since Oregon racked 465 yards on the ground in the 2007. Stanford had seven runs of longer than 20 yards.

"It's embarrassing," said safety Sean Parker. "I know we are a better defense than that. It's just unacceptable."

Washington believed it could not only withstand Stanford's physical attitude, but match it. Instead, they were on the wrong end of a third physical beat-down in a row.

"I don't think anybody expected this," said middle linebacker Cort Dennison. "When you are preparing to win a football game, this is the last kind of thing you think about."

It wasn't a matter of being out-schemed.

"Nothing they did surprised us," Dennison said.

The Huskies were just physically beaten, again.

"You get behind and you can't get them out of that personnel and they keep pounding you and pounding you," defensive coordinator Nick Holt said. "We are not there yet physically in our program with our guys with just staying toe-to-toe consistently. There were some good things but a breakdown here, a breakdown there and they will pop one."

Unlike the two previous losses, Washington was competitive for about a quarter and a half. During that time, it appeared as if a win might be a possibility.

Stanford was abusing the Washington defense, scoring on its first three drives -- two touchdowns and a field goal, using an assortment of long runs and deft passes from quarterback Andrew Luck.

And yet, Washington was right there, thanks largely to running back Chris Polk.

The hard-running junior ripped off a 61-yard touchdown run, aided by blocks from Austin Seferian-Jenkins and Kevin Smith to cut the score to 17-14.

And then it all fell apart.

On the first play of the next series, Stanford running back Stepfan Taylor slipped through a truck-size hole in the line and went 70 yards for a touchdown without so much as one Huskies defender near by.

A three-point deficit was back to 10 in the time that it took Taylor to run three-fourths of the field and the Cardinal to kick an extra point.

In a game in which Washington needed to get points on every possession, it came up empty on the next possession when Nick Folk's 46-yard field goal clanked off the right upright.

"We just didn't capitalize," Sarkisian said. "Against a good team like that, if you don't capitalize on those opportunities, that's what happens."

Stanford scored on its fourth straight possession as Luck hit Drew Terrell on a pretty 5-yard touchdown pass on the ensuing drive.

Down 31-14, Washington tried to salvage a score before halftime. But on third-and-4, Keith Price made a rare mistake, not seeing a wide open Devin Aguilar and instead trying to throw the ball to Jermaine Kearse. Stanford safety Michael Thomas stepped in front of the pass and returned it 62 yards. Instead of going into halftime down two scores, Washington trailed 38-14.

"The pick six was a real blow to our psyche," Sarkisian said.

And it showed in the third quarter. Any hope of a rally was killed with two three and outs to start the quarter, and two Stanford score -- a 4-yard run from Tyler Gaffney and a 30-yard field goal from Williamson to go up 45-14.

Sarkisian blamed the third quarter woes on his poor play calling, saying he lost his "mojo."

"To come out and be non-existent in the third quarter was pretty frustrating," Sarkisian said.

But there was likely no way Washington would get the requisite defensive stops to make it a game. Even when Price threw a late touchdown to freshman Evan Hudson, it was inconsequential. And Stanford answered with two more touchdown runs from Anthony Wilkerson and a field goal.

"They wear you out and wear you down," Sarkisian said. "We couldn't keep pace with them."

* Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483, ryan.divishthenewstribune.com