"They came in here talking trash," Washington tight end Jerramy Stevens said. "We came out and hit them in the mouth. I don't think they were ready for Husky football."

The Huskies' Rich Alexis runs for a 50-yard touchdown as Howard Clark pursues him.(AP)

Husky football Saturday afternoon was all about getting physical, making big plays and dealing with their own mistakes. And yet, by the time the delirious crowd of 74,157 filed out of Husky Stadium, 18th-ranked Washington had managed to hang on for a 34-29 victory after blowing virtually all of a 27-9 third-quarter lead.

It was the first meeting of the two teams since 1994, when Washington ended Miami's NCAA-record 58-game home winning streak. And while they are the furthest apart geographically of any Division I-A schools on the continent, they indeed are every bit as close today on the field as they were when they shared the national title in 1991.

Whereas the country has been buzzing about the speed of the Hurricanes, led by spectacular kick-returner/flanker Santana Moss, the Huskies showed enough speed and savvy to continuously make plays when it mattered most -- scoring the fourth triumph for Pac-10 teams over non-conference Top 25 foes this season.

Versatile quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo was 18-of-31 for 223 yards passing, including a 23-yard touchdown pass to Stevens, who led all receivers with seven receptions for 89 yards. And that's not to mention the team-leading 76 yards rushing that Tuiasosopo amassed dodging the big and fast Hurricane defense.

But the tone of the game was set right after the Huskies offense stalled following the opening kickoff. Punter Ryan Fleming floated a 27-yard kick into the wind to Moss, who was leveled, then stripped of the ball by linebacker Tyler Krambrink on the Miami 35-yard line. That led to a short UW touchdown drive, and the Huskies never trailed.

"I was trying to scare him off the field, then I went for the ball," Krambrink said. "(With somebody so fast) you just want to break him down so he can't get to full speed."

He never did, really. He returned one punt 25 yards, but the other two only totaled 15 yards. And Moss caught just one pass from quarterback Ken Dorsey for 7 yards. He certainly didn't show the flash expected, perhaps due to a slight ankle sprain during last week's 61-14 blowout of McNeese State, when he exploded for 204 all-purpose yards in the first half.

"Santana Moss is a great, great player who wasn't 100 percent today," Washington coach Rick Neuheisel said. "But it isn't as if they didn't have a lot of other speed with those running backs."

Clinton Portis, James Jackson and Najeh Davenport alternately scared the Huskies to death after Washington had raced to a 21-3 lead.

Miami marched down the field early in the third quarter after a 9-yard punt, cutting the margin to 21-9 on Dorsey's 21-yard pass to Reggie Wayne.

But what turned out to be the key play of the day came from the least experience player on the field for the Huskies on the next possession.

Stevens dragged two Hurricanes for most of a 27-yard gain to the 50-yard line, and then a true freshman named Rich Alexis -- a prep basketball star who played only one year of football in high school (ironically from suburban Miami in Coral Springs) -- took a pitch from Tuiasosopo on an option left and raced 50 yards down the sidelines for his first collegiate touchdown.

It stunned the crowd, Alexis, Neuheisel and particularly the Hurricanes. Safety Edward Reed had a clean shot at him at the 20, but Alexis' little stutter step allowed Red to barely touch his ankles.

"I couldn't believe how big the hole was," Alexis said. "I didn't know which way to go, so I just ran straight and headed for the sidelines. I saw the safety coming, so I did a little stop-and-go move and he couldn't catch me. Really, I can't believe I even played in a game against a powerhouse like Miami, let alone score a touchdown against them."

But the 27-9 lead was short-lived, as Dorsey and his running backs brought them back to 27-22. The Washington defense, led by the spectacular play of tackle Larry Triplett (causing a fumble, recovering another, blocking a field goal and causing general havoc), kept the Huskies from blowing the game.

It brought into question the judgment of both coaches:

• Neuheisel's play-calling helped Miami back into the game, as Tuiososopo threw two interceptions from deep in his own territory late in the game when he could have been running the ball.
• Miami's Butch Davis's decision to going for two points twice in the third quarter instead of kicking extra points. Otherwise, on their final drive, they could have tied the game with a field goal.

Davis didn't comment on going for two, blaming the five interference penalties and the fumble as the keys to defeat. He goes by the combination charts that so many coaches adhere to when it comes to the deficit in games and extra points.

As for Neuheisel ... he was upset with himself for putting Tuiasosopo into those precarious passing situations. And while he said up front he wasn't about to criticize Davis, Neuheisel did say he doesn't subscribe to that numbers combination notion.

"I'm disappointed in myself a little bit," Neuheisel said. "I think I made some strategic errors toward the end of the game. But anytime you beat a program the caliber of Miami, you come away feeling pretty excited."

Excited enough that the Huskies gathered in their tunnel after the game, then headed back out to the field to thank their adoring fans.

"Maybe," Stevens added, "next time they'll know what it's like to come to the Dawghouse."