PULLMAN -- Washington scored a touchdown on four consecutive drives against No.23 Washington State as the No.6 Huskies cruised to a 45-17 victory in the 109th Apple Cup, clinching the Pac-12 North title for the first time under head coach Chris Petersen.
Sophomore quarterback Jake Browning appeared focused from the beginning as UW attacked the Cougars' defense through the air early. The Huskies also used a handful of trick plays, including a 50-yard pass from wide receiver Dante Pettis to tight end Darrell Daniels on the fourth play of the game.
Browning entered Friday's game second in the nation with 37 touchdown passes, one ahead of Washinton State quarterback Luke Falk. With three more touchdowns against the Cougars the Huskies second-year starter has 40 heading into the Pac-12 Championship Game.
But that number or any other personal stat doesn't seem to interest Browning, instead the sophomore elects to focus on the team success.
"I think we just stayed pretty balanced and didn't get out of rhythm that much," Browning said of the UW offense. "Thought we stalled a little bit in the third quarter with the three-and-out . . . I just thought we played well in all three phases and that's why we won."
With a 28-3 lead to begin the second quarter Washington started calling more run plays in an effort to balance out the offense. Instead, Washington went three-and-out on its first drive of a second quarter netting just 11 total yards on five plays.
The Cougars turned the field possession game the following the Huskies three-and-out when Jamal Morrow returned the UW punt 64-yards to the 6-yard line. WSU coach Mike Leach called four consecutive run plays with Washington stopping Gerald Wicks short of the goal line on 4th and goal with 8:16 left in the second quarter.
"I thought we got behind early," Leach said after the game. " We came close early in the game to doing some good things until we let them off the hook. I thought we started pressing and doing too much."
Browning inched the Huskies away from the shadow of their own goal line before turning the ball back over to WSU. Senior Shalom Luani used his helmet to knock the ball loss from John Ross as he turned upfield, with Jalen Thompson recovering the fumble at the UW 18-yard line.
Washington State turned the fumble recovery into its first touchdown of the game four plays later. This time Leach dialed up passes on first, second down and third down before Morrow capped off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown to trim the UW lead to 28-10 halfway through the second quarter.
The Huskies added a fifth touchdown to claim a 35-10 lead at halftime and never looked back. Washington held Falk and the Air Raid offense to just 269 yards and one touchdown while forcing three interceptions and adding a fumble recovery by linebacker DJ Beavers.
In the third quarter WSU had only two offensive possessions totaling 32 plays and amassing 12:27 in time of possession. Falk capped off the first drive with a 9-yard touchdown to senior wide receiver Gabe Marks, cutting the Huskies lead to 35-17.
The second drive of the quarter covered 81 yards on 17 plays for the Cougars, with UW junior linebacker Keishawn Bierria on the sidelines for an undisclosed reason. But again the Huskies defense held its own in the red zone, this time with Elijah Qualls and Budda Baker combining to keep Wicks from scoring.
WSU turned the ball over on downs with :37 seconds remaining in the third quarter and UW looking to ice the game away heading into the 4th. Washington did just that once they got the ball back, going 98 yards and taking 4:41 off the clock.
Lavon Coleman capped off the drive with a 22-yard touchdown to extend the Washington lead to 45-17. The Huskies added a 41-yard field goal later in the quarter to seal its first 11th win of the season, the first time since 2000 under Rick Neuheisal.
Washington now heads to the Pac-12 Championship Game on Friday, December 2 in Santa Clara, California to face either Colorado or USC.
