George Nikitin / Associated Press
Stanford head coach David Shaw asked to make a rare opening statement on the Pac-12 weekly teleconference Tuesday, then proceeded to lambast Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian for accusing the Cardinal of faking injuries in its 31-28 win over the Huskies last Saturday.
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"I must say that we don't fake injuries," Shaw said. "We never have and never will."
"I don't condone it. We don't teach it, I don't allow it. I don't care what Steve Sarkisian thinks he saw.
"When they beat us, I handled it," Shaw said. "Our players and coaches handled it. We congratulated Washington for outplaying us."
Shaw was especially upset that Sarkisian called out Stanford defensive line coach Randy Hart by name, turning the tables by noting that current UW defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi was suspended one game when he was an assistant at California for having players fake injuries against Oregon.
"That's not calling anybody out, that's just stating a fact," Shaw said. "It's been proven."
When Sarkisian spoke later Tuesday, he was decidedly more muted.
"I don't know exactly what was said," Sarkisian said. "I do know what I said yesterday: We saw what we saw. We'll leave it at that. I think two reasonable people can disagree on something and move forward. That's what we've done."
Shaw and Sarkisian both declined to comment when asked if they had spoken since Saturday night.
Cardinal inside linebacker Shayne Skov and defensive end Ben Gardner were at the heart of the controversy. Each went down in the fourth quarter. Shaw said Gardner was dealing with an arm injury and dehydration, and that Skov underwent an MRI on his knee after the game that was negative.
Combine how the last two Stanford-UW games have unfolded with this war of words between Shaw and Sarkisian, and the 2014 installment is already shaping up as one of the most anticipated games in the Pac-12.
Follow Dan Greenspan on Twitter @DanGreenspan.
