Washington Huskies dominate Oregon State Beavers
By Todd Pheifer
Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports
The Washington Huskies made a statement in their 11th game of the 2013 season, crushing the Oregon State Beavers by a lopsided score of 69-27. One final regular-season game remains before Washington heads to a bowl game.
This was a big win for a Huskies team that has the potential to finish 8-4 if they are able to beat the Washington State Cougars next week. While the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Florida State Seminoles were essentially taking the week off by playing much weaker schools, Washington went on the road and absolutely dominated a 6-4 conference rival.
Speaking of the Crimson Tide, are we really supposed to believe in the dominance of a school like Alabama when they played eight of their 12 games at home and schedule opponents like Chattanooga, Colorado State and Georgia State? But, I digress.
Washington’s big win in Corvallis also included an element of lament because fans got to see the Huskies put together a complete victory. In other words, this was the team that might have finished with nine or ten wins this season had the Huskies played better in key games.
If the Huskies are able to finish 8-4, it will certainly be a successful season. However, the finish is arguably just short of this team’s potential. Keith Price had some brilliant moments and Bishop Sankey was a workhorse on the ground. Looking back, Washington had an opportunity to beat the Stanford Cardinal taken away from them in the fifth game. Would a victory in that game have provided the momentum to beat the Oregon Ducks the following week? How might the season have turned out then?
We will never know. As it turns out the Ducks have had some problems of their own after getting upended by the Arizona Wildcats, 42-16.
For the Huskies, the future does look bright. The silver lining of Price getting hurt is that the Huskies have been able to give Cyler Miles some playing time. He may turn out to be a very good quarterback in 2014 as the Dawgs seek to reach that elusive “next level.”
Close victories are exciting, but sometimes it is fun to win a game like this. Bring on the Apple Cup.