Sankey soars as Huskies roar

CORVALLIS, Ore. – By the time Bishop Sankey ambled across the goal line Saturday with his school record-tying 34th career touchdown run, there were more empty seats than people remaining at Reser Stadium.

And by the time fourth-string running back Deontae Cooper took his fifth carry for his 145th rushing yard and second touchdown? Yeah, you get the picture.

This completely unforeseen supremacy by the Washington Huskies on both sides of the ball was not what Oregon State fans came to see. And so they left, and eventually the Huskies left with a dominant-as-it-gets 69-27 victory – no, really – that keeps alive their goal of winning more than seven regular-season games.

It also erased UW’s 10-year winless drought in Corvallis, and improved the Huskies’ bowl-game positioning on a day when a ninth Pac-12 team became eligible for the postseason, and a seventh Pac-12 team earned its seventh victory.

UW (7-4, 4-4 in Pac-12) is among that group, increasing the chances that it will earn a bid to a bowl with a Pac-12 tie-in.

Cyler Miles or Keith Price? Didn’t matter. Washington was so much better than Oregon State in every facet of the game, the Huskies could have played just about anyone at quarterback.

Not that Miles didn’t play well. He did. The redshirt freshman, starting in place of Price (who sat with an injured right shoulder), completed 15 of his 24 pass attempts for 162 yards and a touchdown.

His best throw was a 28-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Smith in the back of the end zone, a score that pushed the Huskies’ lead to 27-0 with 6:36 remaining in the first half.

By then, it was clear: this was not going to be a typical road game for UW, which had won just seven of those since the beginning of the 2009 season.

This was complete domination of a team that seemed to match pretty well with the Huskies on paper. Sean Mannion, who entered the game as the nation’s leading passer, completed 20 of his 41 attempts for 229 yards, was sacked three times, and threw two interceptions to UW cornerback Marcus Peters – and a third to UW linebacker Shaq Thompson, who returned it 80 yards for a touchdown to put the Huskies ahead 48-0 late in the third quarter.

Brandin Cooks eventually caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from Mannion that ended the shutout, but in keeping with the spirit of this laugher, the Beavers missed the extra point.

With his third score, Sankey (G-Prep) equaled Napoleon Kaufman for the most career rushing touchdowns in school history. He finished with 179 yards rushing.