SEATTLE (AP) — Keith Price threw for two touchdowns and ran for one as part of a huge first half where Washington racked up nearly 500 yards on offense, and the Huskies routed Colorado 59-7 to become bowl eligible for the fourth straight season.
Price was masterful in the first half. He completed 22 of 29 throws for 312 yards and two scores. He found backup tight end Joshua Perkins sliding out the backdoor for a 6-yard TD pass that gave the Huskies a 17-7 lead, then hit Austin Seferian-Jenkins on a 15-yard jump ball on the last scrimmage play of the first half for a 31-7 lead at the break.
Washington (6-3, 3-3 Pac-12) ran 59 plays and finished with 464 total yards in the first half.
Sefo Liufau found Paul Richardson for a 53-yard touchdown in the first quarter that served as the lone highlight for the Buffaloes. Colorado (3-6, 0-6) lost its 14th straight conference game, 13 of them by more than 20 points.
Washington’s 59 points were the fifth most since 1945. They finished with 628 total yards, the fourth time this season topping 600 and did not attempt a pass in the second half.
Washington added 21 third-quarter points and ran only five offensive plays. Tre Watson intercepted a deflected pass and returned it 84 yards for a touchdown, the longest interception return by the Huskies since 1997. Marcus Peters scooped up a fumble forced by Josh Shirley and raced 53 yards for another defensive score and Price capped the Huskies only drive of the quarter with a 4-yard TD run.
It was the first time Washington had two defensive touchdowns in a game since Nov. 9, 2002 against Oregon State.
For all the impressive throws Price made in the first half, his most memorable moment came with his feet. Facing second-down at the Colorado 18, Price scrambled from the rush, raced for the end zone and blasted through Buffaloes’ safety Parker Orms at the goal line for his third rushing touchdown of the season.
Price checked out after his second touchdown run, giving way to backup Cyler Miles. Price added another 29 yards rushing, but it was his passing that tore apart the Buffaloes defense. Price hit seven different receivers and had six completions of 20 yards or more.
Bishop Sankey added 143 yards rushing and a 1-yard TD run in the first quarter. Sankey entered the weekend No. 3 in the country averaging 145 yards per game and if not for the blowout, likely would have exceeded his average.
Colorado had a chance to at least make the second half interesting before an odd decision by coach Mike MacIntyre. Liufau drove the Buffaloes to the Washington 39 late in the first half and hit Nelson Spruce for 5 yards to set up fourth-and-1 at the Huskies 34. Colorado used two timeouts and instead of trying to convert the short fourth-down attempt, settled for a 51-yard field goal try that was wide right.
Washington got the ball back with 48 seconds and three timeouts. Price hit Sankey on completions of 19 and 16 yards, and found Jaydon Mickens for 21. With seven seconds left, Price threw down the middle for Seferian-Jenkins, who used his 6-foot-6 frame to block out the Colorado defender and haul in his fifth TD of the season.
The touchdown pulled Price into 10th place all-time in Pac-12 history, tying him with Carson Palmer with 72 career TD passes.
Richardson was questionable to play with an ankle injury, but looked just fine on his long TD reception that put him over 1,000 yards receiving for the season. Richardson had three catches for 77 yards and Liufau finished 12 of 22 for 160 yards and two interceptions.
