PALO ALTO, CALIF. – With starting quarterback Willie Tuitama in street clothes because of a concussion and his backup Adam Austin standing next to him on crutches, Kris Heavner – last week the team’s No. 3 – found himself under center once again.

But when Austin went down late in the first half, the offensive game plan was essentially all for naught, meaning that it was all run all the time in the second half.

“”There were things that we were biting our lip that we wanted to call that would’ve been big plays for us, but it’s all about winning football games,”” said Dana Dimel, a UA co-offensive coordinator. “”You just gotta win the game. That’s all you’ve got to do.””

And even though Stanford knew Arizona was planning to pound it out on the ground, the Cardinal remained powerless to do anything about it.

“”We know that we can run the ball,”” center Blake Kerley said. “”We can run the ball when they put numbers in the box. We can run the ball when they know that we’re going to run the ball. That definitely helps with our confidence a lot.””

Added running back Chris Henry: “”They knew we were going to run the football in the second half, so we knew we were going to have to get the ball, and every time we get it, get downhill and get positive yardage. That’s what we did.””

After the game, in a locker room exploding with sounds of “”Bear Down, Arizona”” emanating from the vocal chords of every member of the team, the entire offensive line was given the game ball.

“”I’m glad to see all our backs have an opportunity to run, and I was glad to see our offensive line give them a chance to run,”” Stoops said. “”We’ve been in a very frustrating position in the last three games (where three times his team racked up negative rushing yardage) and most of the season, so it’s good to see us finally create some space for those guys to run.””

Added tailback Xavier Smith: “”They said they were going to take care of us, and we just gotta make one guy miss, and we were able to do that.””

A group that’d been under fire much of the season, the offensive line finally had something to smile about after the game, after holding the ball for nearly 39 minutes.

“”We held the ball for I don’t even know how much, but for a lot more than they did, and in there,”” Kerley said, gesturing toward the locker room he had just exited. “”It was just awesome.

“”I loved it. Every minute of it.””