SEATTLE (AP) -- Maybe Jim Harbaugh needs to check the date on the scouting tape he received.

Earlier this week, when the Stanford coach was asked about Washington's defense, Harbaugh was highly complimentary.

"Very, very impressed. They really do such a good job coordinating that defense," Harbaugh said.

Huh?

Perhaps Harbaugh was watching tape from another season, or at the very least, Washington's first two games of this year, when the Huskies held Syracuse and Boise State to a combined 22 points.

Certainly, it wasn't the Huskies' defense of late, which has allowed 147 points and 1,719 total yards -- nearly one mile -- in the last three games. About the only impression Washington's defense has left recently is on opponents' record books.

"We can't count on the coaches to put us in position all the time," linebacker Dan Howell said. "We've got to make plays."

Washington is mired in a six-game losing streak as it heads to Stanford this week. The Huskies must win their final five games to become bowl eligible and keep coach Tyrone Willingham from becoming the first coach in Washington history to have three consecutive losing seasons.

Players are angry about their play of late, as is Willingham, but he doesn't want his team to become frustrated.

"Frustration should not be there," Willingham said. "To me, frustration is something you cannot change. We can change what's happening. We can try to put our guys in better positions, we can try to make better plays, we can make changes."

Including last Saturday's 48-41 loss to Arizona, where the Wildcats scored the final 22 points to rally, Washington's defense is allowing 34.1 points and 474 yards per game.

Both those numbers rank last in the Pac-10 and are easily on pace to shatter the previous school marks. The yardage figure ranks 109th out of 119 Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) teams.

Two years ago, the Huskies gave up 419 yards per game. In 1973, the Huskies also gave up an average of 34.1 points, equal to this season thus far.

The last two performances have reignited fan criticism of Willingham's program, which is now 9-22 in his 21/2 seasons at Washington.

"There has been no time in my career, for one reason or another, that the heat hasn't been on Tyrone Willingham," he said. "When I took the job at Stanford, the heat was on. When I took the job at Notre Dame, the heat was on. Here, the heat was on. The only thing that solves those problems is winning football games."

What has made the situation puzzling for players, coaches and fans is the massive swings from one week to the next by a defensive unit that was expected to be a strength entering the season.

Two weeks ago against Oregon, it was the Huskies' run defense that could not stop Dennis Dixon, Jonathan Stewart and the Ducks' running game. Oregon rushed for a school-record 465 yards that day, including 251 yards from Jonathan Stewart.

Then last week against Arizona, it was the Huskies' pass defense that couldn't keep Wildcats' quarterback Willie Tuitama from easily marching up and down the field. Tuitama threw for an Arizona-record 510 yards and five touchdowns, three coming in the fourth quarter when the Huskies completely collapsed.

"We just weren't focusing how we should and how we normally are," said cornerback Byron Davenport, who was pulled after giving up a 66-yard touchdown in the first quarter. "God, 500 yards, it's just crazy."