Washington Huskies Take Care of Portland State 52-13

Coach Steve Sarkisian’s team bounced back well from a bad loss at LSU last week, playing with a hard-nosed attitude on defense and a ruthless sense of purpose on offense. Going against an FCS opponent in the Big Sky Conference’s Portland State, the Huskies had the choice of either disappointing against an inferior team by coming out flat, possibly risking disaster in the form of an upset, or restoring confidence in the locker room and amongst the fan base by coming out and dominating. They clearly chose the latter.

Sep 15, 2012; Seattle, WA, USA; Washington Huskies quarterback Keith Price (17) warms up prior to the game against the Portland State Vikings at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-US PRESSWIRE

While Keith Price’s three touchdown passes coupled with Bishop Sankey’s two scores on the ground did most of the damage, it’s quite possible the Huskies could have eked out a victory in this one just by taking advantage of Portland State’s disastrous special teams, which included a blocked field goal attempt by Shaq Thompson that was returned all the way back for a touchdown by cornerback Tre Watson. Most of the UW starters were out of the game midway through the third quarter, with Coach Sarkisian and his staff likely attempting to avoid more of the serious injuries that have plagued the team throughout the season, including earlier today when Danny Shelton left the game with an apparent leg injury.

The win is surely encouraging, but I would advise against seeing today’s win as some sort of breakout for the Huskies. Bishop Sankey’s 103 yards and the solid performance of the offensive line do not prove that Washington’s woes running the ball are over, and both the offensive line and the ground game will still be massive question marks heading into the September 27th match-up with Stanford. Until that time, it will be difficult to tell how much of Washington’s success was due to the inferior status of the Portland State athletes, so wait to make any real judgements.

For now, please feel free to bask in the positive energy of victory. We’ll have a more in-depth analysis of today’s game up within a few hours, and with a bye scheduled for next week, you know you can depend on us to have you fully up to date in the days ahead with everything you need to know about the Stanford Cardinal.