Playing his next-to-last game at Husky Stadium, quarterback Keith Price threw for 312 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two scores, leading Washington (6-3) to a 59-7 romp over Colorado Saturday night. With the expected victory — UW entered as a 28-point favorite — Steve Sarkisian’s Huskies became bowl eligible for the fourth consecutive season.
Washington jumped out to a 10-0 lead, was burned for a 53-yard touchdown pass from Colorado freshman quarterback and Tacoma native Sefo Liufau to Paul Richardson, and then rolled to a 31-7 halftime lead. The Huskies defense parlayed an interception by Tre Watson and a fumble recovery by Sean Parker into two more touchdowns in the third quarter to put the game away.
The Huskies, who created three turnovers after recording only 11 in their previous eight games, outscored Colorado 21-0 in the third quarter despite having possession for just two and a half minutes.
The points marked the most in a game since the Huskies defeated Oregon 61-20 in 1951. It was also the second time this season the Huskies exceeded 50 points (56 vs. Idaho State). The Huskies’ 628 yards was the fourth time they surpassed 600.
The Huskies could have scored more than they did. Two red zone penalties in the first half denied them TDs, and they took a knee in the final minute of the fourth quarter at the Colorado 18-yard line.
Price, who threw five touchdown passes against Colorado last year, completed 22 of 29 for 312 yards. The touchdowns were of six yards to Joshua Perkins and 15 yards to Austin Seferian-Jenkins. Price, who completed passes to seven receivers, also ran 18 and 4 yards for TDs (29 yards total) before leaving at the end of the third quarter. All 312 of his passing yards came in the first half, and Washington didn’t pass in the second half.
“I thought we played good overall, and our offensive line gave us a lot of time,” Price told Pac-12 Networks. “I felt great and we got a lot guys involved. Our coaches set the scheme up for it to be that way.
“I thought Keith was really gutsy. He made some critical throws and he probably ran the football better than he has all year.”
Bishop Sankey carried 23 times for 143 yards and scored his 13th rushing touchdown, but didn’t see much action in the second half. Both backup quarterbacks, Cyler Miles and Jeff Lindquist, were able to play.
Travis Coons hit his ninth field goal in nine attempts, a 27-yarder, giving the Huskies a 3-0 lead following an eight-play, 73-yard drive in which Price completed went 4-for-5 for 68 yards and Sankey carried twice for 10.
After holding Colorado to a 3-and-out, the Huskies, sparked by Price’s 22-yard completion to Seferian-Jenkins, took a 10-0 lead on Sankey’s 13th touchdown.
Liufau, not recruited by Washington due to a glut of quarterbacks already on the UW roster, tossed a 53-yard touchdown pass to Richardson. Price answered with a six-yard TD to Perkins, capping an 11-play 76-yard drive, to give UW a 17-7 advantage.
Jaydon Mickens made a tremendous over-the-shoulder catch for 37 yards, setting the Huskies up for another TD, but Washington’s third red zone penalty of the half kept UW from cashing.
Price took care of that failure with 3:19 remaining before halftime with an 18-yard scramble that gave Washington a 24-7 lead. The Huskies went 66 yards in seven plays to end the half, Price concluding the drive with his second TD pass, a 15-yarder to Seferian-Jenkins, for a 31-7 lead.
Tre Watson made it 38-7 when he intercepted Liufau at the Colorado 16-yard line two minutes into the third quarter and returned it for a touchdown, and Price ran for his second TD at 7:04, a four-yard jaunt, following a Sean Parker interception, for a 45-7 lead.
Three minutes later, with Colorado attempting to convert a third down, Josh Shirley jarred the ball loose from Tony Jones and Marcus Peters scooped it up off the turf and ran 53 yards for another touchdown. Washington scored its final TD on five-yard run by Dwayne Washington.
NEXT: Washington plays at UCLA Friday night and at Oregon State the following week before closing out the regular season at Husky Stadium with the Apple Cup against Washington State.
