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It doesn’t matter that the junior wide receiver and his teammates decimated an overmatched Colorado team, 52-24, at Husky Stadium on an almost perfect autumn afternoon Saturday.
It doesn’t matter that the Huskies are now 5-1 – and 3-0 in conference for the first time since 1997 – and likely to be ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 come Monday.
It doesn’t matter that the UW offense rolled up 562 total yards, including a first half of football that might have been the Huskies’ best offensive display in years.
No, Johnson still hasn’t seen enough to label the 2011 Huskies “great.” They are still working toward it.
“We are really good,” the wide receiver said, flashing a big smile.
And one of the telling signs of being a good team is to win the games you are supposed to win.
The Huskies were supposed to not only beat the Buffaloes, but also beat them badly – they were favored by as much as 17 points. The last time that was the case was in the home opener against Eastern Washington.
That result was slightly different - the Huskies needed Desmond Trufant’s game-saving interception.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our kids to handle that,” UW coach Steve Sarkisian said. “The natural thing for a young team when you are supposed to win is to have that letdown, and we really responded today.”
The response was immediate and dominant.
Washington scored touchdowns on its first five drives – something the Huskies hadn’t done this season. More impressive, the display of offensive efficiency highlighted the team’s versatility as five different players scored. The Huskies just missed a sixth touchdown, settling for an Erik Folk field goal to put them up 38-10 at halftime.
“I didn’t see a guy wide open when I threw the ball away on third down or we would have had six,” said quarterback Keith Price.
Still, 38 points and 379 yards of total offense in a half are nothing to be too disappointed about.
“The first half was obviously one of the best halves of football we’ve played since we’ve been here,” said Sarkisian, now in his third season with the Huskies.
How good?
The five touchdown drives took a combined 38 plays, and no drive was longer than four minutes. Washington even went to a hurry-up offense in the second quarter to add another wrinkle.
“I wanted us to have it ready just to get us going,” said Sarkisian, who worried about tempo issues coming out of the bye week. “As we invested some time into it, it was pretty advantageous. So we went with it regardless.”
On their first play from scrimmage, Johnson ran a double move and Price hit him for a 25-yard gain.
Five plays later, Price zipped a ball over the middle to an open Jermaine Kearse for a 17-yard touchdown.
Washington’s offense shrugged off the fact that Colorado also needed just six plays to go 65 yards and tie the score. After all, that has happened plenty of times this season.
“I feel like if the defense gives up a score, we need to come back out and answer with a touchdown,” Price said.
The Huskies did just that, showing their array of weapons. Austin Seferian-Jenkins made an impressive diving catch – one a 6-foot-6, 258-pound tight end shouldn’t be able to make – for a huge 17-yard gain. On the next snap, Sarkisian broke out a trick play, calling for a reverse to Kevin Smith. The sophomore receiver skipped out of one tackle and got huge blocks from Drew Schaefer and Johnson to go 22 yards and score his first career TD.
“We been game planning for it for about three weeks, I was ready for it,” Smith said.
But the Buffaloes clearly weren’t ready for that play or the rest of UW’s offensive barrage.
On the third possession, Washington committed its only penalty of the first half – a sideline interference call when a UW staffer, not a coach, collided with a referee. It chopped down Bishop Sankey’s nice 33-yard run. But a roughing-the-passer penalty on Colorado gave the yardage back, and Price later completed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Seferian-Jenkins.
Washington’s fourth possession was so crisp, the Huskies never even faced a third down. The only glaring mistake was when Price overthrew a wide-open Devin Aguilar in the end zone. But he made up for the rare miss, hitting Chris Polk for 14-yard touchdown.
Still, Price was not happy with the incompletion.
“I got to hit him,” Price said.
He took care of that on the next possession. Price completed all four of his passes on Washington’s fourth drive, hitting Aguilar on a 4-yard touchdown pass to put the Huskies up 28-10.
It was an offensive clinic that reminded Sarkisian of his days as offensive coordinator at Southern California.
“That first half sure did,” he said. “When you get going like that … every play looks good on the call sheet. When you get that rhythm going, it’s pretty reminiscent.”
The second half wasn’t quite so dominant. Washington had a few drives sputter, and actually had to punt twice. Price exited in the third quarter, yielding to backup Nick Montana, who got his first collegiate snaps. Colorado even made it mildly interesting, cutting the lead to 38-17 on Tony Jones’ 2-yard touchdown run.
But Washington answered with a 26-yard touchdown run from Jesse Callier and a 3-yard scoring run from Bishop Sankey – a career first for each – to cap the win.
All told, seven Washington players scored touchdowns, with Price completing 21 of 28 passes for 257 yards and four touchdowns. He has 21 touchdowns this season, tying him with Jake Locker for fourth most in a single UW season. Polk ran for 117 yards on 18 carries, and the offense rushed for 295 yards. Aguilar, with six catches, led seven Huskies making receptions.
Colorado managed 269 yards of total offense, including 62 yards rushing.
It was a good win for a “good” team that was supposed to win.
“We are developing the mindset that when we go into every game that we expect to win,” said linebacker Cort Dennison. “It’s our mantra. If we play well, and put everything together, we should do great things.”
Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483
ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports
