The schedule was treacherous.

A few losses were understandable, if not expected.

Now more than ever, though, excuses mean very little to the Washington football team. As the Huskies (2-6, 0-5 Pac-10) head to Palo Alto, Calif., this week to take on Stanford (3-5, 2-4 Pac-10), they find themselves with zero margin for error — to get to a bowl game, the Dawgs need to go undefeated from here on out.

To do that, however, the Huskies must find an answer for their ongoing defensive nightmare. The Dawgs have been torched for more than 1,100 yards the last two weeks, and are on pace to be the worst defense, statistically, in school history.

“One week, it was an awful lot of yardage to give up on the ground, and the other week was an awful lot of yardage to give up in the air,” UW coach Tyrone Willingham said. “You just keep telling our guys we play good football, and let’s just keep doing the things we know how to do well. Don’t get down; don’t start to lose your fundamentals, because when you lose your fundamentals everything else goes out the window.”

Fundamentals or not, one thing is for certain — Washington needs to win a football game, and this might be its best remaining chance to do that.

The Cardinal is much improved from last season — a 24-23 upset win over USC is testament to that. Jim Harbaugh’s squad has a scrappy offense and a defense that is second in the Pac-10 in sacks.

But the Cardinal has caught the injury bug.

Stanford will start Tavita Pritchard, a redshirt sophomore who led the Cardinal to its upset victory over USC, at quarterback. Pritchard will be making his fifth career start in place of T.C. Ostrander, who suffered a seizure the week prior to the USC game. Ostrander has been cleared to play but has played in only one series since the injury.

Also not expected to play for the Cardinal tomorrow are running backs Anthony Kimble and Toby Gerhart. Stanford rushed for minus eight yards in a 23-6 loss to Oregon State last week, an encouraging sign for a UW defense that ranks 111th in the nation against the run.

Washington’s recent defensive gaffes have led to increased pressure on the coaching staff. Message boards and chat rooms are ablaze with fans calling for coaching changes, including an increased hostility toward defensive coordinator Kent Baer.

“We recognize that our system has done some good things, and our last couple of weekends are not indicative of the kind of football that we expect, and I think coach Baer would sit here or stand here and tell you the same thing,” Willingham said. “He’s not satisfied; he’s not happy. So we know we are trying to work to do all the right things to put our guys in the right place so that we can be successful.”

A good week of practice has Willingham encouraged. He described his team as angry, which when combined with execution can lead to a victory.

“I think again, disappointment is a word that comes in there. I think they’re hungry to win. Hopefully, that’s why we’ve had solid practices this week. And I don’t think it’s just Coach Willingham saying that; I think it’s what really taking place out there. So that will put us in a position to be successful on Saturday,” he said.

[Reach reporter Christian Caple at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.]