Washington upsets No. 7 Oregon State

SEATTLE – Bishop Sankey ran for 92 yards and two touchdowns, Travis Coons kicked a 30-yard field goal with 1:20 left and Washington took advantage of four interceptions from Oregon State’s Sean Mannion in a 20-17 Pac-12 football upset of the seventh-ranked Beavers on Saturday night.

Oregon State (6-1, 4-1) was trying for the first 7-0 start in school history. Instead it became the second AP Top 10 team to be upset by the Huskies at home this season. Washington knocked off then-No. 8 Stanford 17-13 in late September.

Mannion, returning from minor knee surgery, threw interceptions on consecutive possessions early in the fourth quarter after Oregon State had rallied from a 10-0 halftime deficit to pull even with a dominating third quarter. The last of Mannion’s four picks was snagged by Marcus Peters and two plays later Sankey (Gonzaga Prep) scored from the 1 to give UW (4-4, 2-3) a 17-10 lead.

Whether they were the Oregon Agricultural College or any other previous incarnations of the school’s name, Oregon State had never won its first seven games to begin the season. Considering the low expectations on the Beavers coming in to this season, a win over Washington would have capped a stretch of success that no one outside of Corvallis could have anticipated.

Mannion had not played since Oct. 6 against Washington State. He played the entire game against the Cougars, but it was discovered in the days after that Mannion had a minor knee injury that would require surgery. Before the injury, Mannion was among the most impressive quarterbacks in the Pac-12, throwing for seven touchdowns in four games and was averaging more than 339 yards per game passing.

With Mannion sidelined, Vaz stepped in and more than held his own. It was Vaz’s passing that led the Beavers to a 42-24 win at BYU, then last week Oregon State relied on its defense in a 21-7 win over Utah that ensured the team a trip to a bowl game.