SEATTLE — Turned out there was no lingering hangover from the disappointment of a week earlier for Washington.
Big plays and a quick start have the Huskies bowl eligible for a fifth-straight season.
“I was pretty confident in my teammates and myself and the game plan,” Washington defensive end Hau’oli Kikaha said. “Everything pretty much went as planned.”
Jaydon Mickens caught a 54-yard touchdown on Washington’s first drive and added a 36-yard TD run in the fourth quarter, Dwayne Washington ran for a 68-yard touchdown and the Huskies raced to a 37-13 win over Oregon State on Saturday night.
Washington jumped to an early 17-0 lead and easily rebounded from last week’s late clock-management collapse at Arizona. Because Washington plays 13 games, it needed seven wins for bowl eligibility and the Huskies (7-5, 3-5 Pac-12) got it in the first season under coach Chris Petersen. The win also removes the stress about the postseason out of next week’s Apple Cup in Pullman against rival Washington State.
“It gives us a chance to extend the season and do those type of things is really big,” Petersen said. “We’re not going to look too far ahead, we’ve got a really important game next week, so it’s nice to be able to go back to work with a little bit of energy we haven’t had the past few weeks.”
Dwayne Washington finished with 100 yards on 14 carries. Washington quarterback Cyler Miles was 18 of 23 for 253 yards and two TDs in one of his most efficient performances of the season. Miles found Mickens early and hit Darrell Daniels on a 68-yard TD in the fourth quarter.
Miles finished with a passer rating of 199.4, the highest of his career.
“He was very dialed in to where he was going with the ball,” Petersen said. “He was seeing well and throwing accurately. I thought he was as comfortable as he has been all season.”
Oregon State (5-6, 2-6) lost for the fifth time in six games and was unable to build on last week’s upset of Arizona State.
The Beavers were without leading rusher Terron Ward, who suffered a knee injury last week against Arizona State and finished with 47 yards rushing as a team, the fourth time this season being held under 60 yards. Sean Mannion was 30 of 46 for 314 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Jordan Villamin, but was sacked four times.
But Oregon State will find itself in that scenario against Oregon in the Civil War and having dropped six straight to the Ducks. Coming off last week’s upset of the Sun Devils, the Beavers were sluggish early and Mannion made a crucial mistake getting intercepted by Travis Feeney on Oregon State’s first drive of the second half deep in Washington territory with the Beavers trailing 17-7.
“Honestly, I thought the guy made a hell of a play personally,” Mannion said. “I came off the field. I talked to the guys up in the booth and I talked with other QBs on the sideline and they said the guy made a great play, but ultimately I’m the one responsible for the ball and it’s something that was a big play for them.”
The Huskies didn’t have the eye-popping stats of last year’s 69-27 win in Corvallis when they rushed for 530 yards, but they found success with big plays.
Miles found Mickens on a corner route for a 7-0 lead and on the Huskies next drive, Dwayne Washington went untouched around left tackle for the Huskies longest touchdown run since his 71-yard touchdown run last season against Oregon State.
The Huskies had 176 total yards and a 14-0 lead before running a play in Oregon State territory early in the second quarter. Miles hit Dante Pettis on a dump off for 25 yards to the Oregon State 20 on that first snap on the Beavers side of the field and Cameron Van Winkle capped the drive with a 34-yard field goal for a 17-0 lead.
“We needed to throw our punches in the first half and then just keep going from there,” Feeney said.
The Beavers got a break late in the third when Dwayne Washington fumbled at the Huskies 29. Oregon State needed four plays and Mannion found Villamin for his second TD. The 2-point conversion failed and Washington’s lead was down to 23-13.
But the Huskies answered with a six-play, 62-yard drive capped by Mickens taking a fly sweep 36 yards for his first touchdown rushing of the season. Mickens appeared to step out around the 15 but the call stood on replay.
“They gave it to me. I was just running. I didn’t even look up at the Jumbotron,” Mickens said.
