ROSE BOWL INSIDE LOOK: HUSKIES WIN THE TURF WAR WASHINGTON PLAYS BIG TEN BRAND GAME.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

PASADENA - Washington center Kyle Benn, his helmet in one hand and a grin on his face, stopped to pull up a chunk of turf as he walked off the field at the Rose Bowl. Call it squatter's rights.

Benn and the rest of the offensive line had just spent the last 30 minutes of football making the grass Purdue stood on their own. That more than anything else enabled the Huskies to win the 87th Rose Bowl 34-24 before 94,392 on Monday.

Washington ran a remarkable 50 plays in the second half, pounded Purdue for 245 yards rushing after halftime and allowed quarterback Drew Brees to be on the field for just 6:41 in the second half. It all left the Boilermakers wondering if Seattle isn't somewhere in the Midwest.

``They remind me of a Big Ten team,'' said Purdue linebacker Joe Odom, offering as fine a compliment as a West Coast team can get these days. ``They've got a big quarterback, physical running backs and a strong offensive line. It seemed like they're a hard-nosed offense.''

Apparently, the Huskies learned that that's the way you win the Rose Bowl these days: play like a Big Ten team. The pass-happy Pacific-10 had been outrushed by the Big Ten in the past eight Rose Bowls and had lost seven of them.

Washington had the lead at halftime 14-10, but it didn't have the momentum. One of the Huskies' touchdowns was gift wrapped by a poor punt snap, Purdue had roared from a two-touchdown deficit, and the Boilermakers had made the Huskies' option game a non-factor, holding them to 23 yards on 15 carries.

``It was a big order of business at halftime,'' Washington coach Rick Neuheisel said. ``We wanted to take control of the clock.''

To do that, Washington made some adjustments and finally found a way to take advantage of its 55 pounds-per-man advantage on the line.

``We were running the type of option where we use the fullback as a lead blocker outside on the linebackers,'' Huskies offensive-line coach Brent Myers said. ``But their linebackers were quick enough that we couldn't get them blocked. In the second half, we ran more inside options and dive options to see if we could open something up.''

Fullback Pat Conniff, who didn't carry the ball in the first half, ran eight times for 45 yards in the second half. His first carry, through a huge hole, went for 17 yards and set up John Anderson's 42-yard field goal that put the Huskies ahead for good, 20-17, with 6:55 left in the third quarter.

``We knew the only way we were going to win the game was to run the ball,'' Benn said. ``We needed to make them tired. It didn't show as much (in their eyes). It was when we were running our plays and they were blitzing (to the right spots) and we were still getting yards. That's when we knew they were tired.''

Quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo rushed 51 of his 75 yards in the second half. Tailback Rich Alexis had all 78 of his yards in the second half, while Willie Hurst had no yards in the first and 53 in the second.

As the half wore on, the holes were bigger and bigger.

``I didn't feel tired out there, but mentally it's tough,'' Odom said. ``It's like, man, we're out there again.''

Trailing by 10, Purdue had Washington facing a fourth-and-1 from its own 45. The Huskies ran the clock down to 2:42 and called timeout. The offensive line never looked to see if the punt team was coming.

``We were yelling the whole time and standing there together,'' Huskies tackle Elliott Silvers said. ``Hopefully, (Neuheisel) took it as a sign.''

Neuheisel never wavered, Tuiasosopo kept on an option play for 5 yards and the Huskies ran out the clock. They ran the ball on their final 14 plays, a fitting end to their run for the Roses.

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Photo: Washington quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo scored on this first-quarter run Monday, but did most of his damage running in the second half. He finished with 213 total yards and was named the Rose Bowl MVP.

Tom Mendoza/Staff photographer