Washington Huskies pull away from Colorado Buffaloes in second half, 38-23

After going into the second half trailing, Washington outscored Colorado 21-3 in the final two quarters to walk out of Boulder with the victory. The three Husky touchdowns in the second half came from all three phases of the game, with a punt return touchdown, pick-six and a long completion from Cyler Miles to Dante Pettis.

Instant Dots:

• The best running back for the Huskies is Shaq Thompson. Nobody else has his combination of speed and power. He finished the first half with 192 yards from scrimmage on 11 touches, one being a 41-yard catch and run. If you have been a regular reader of the Instant Reactions you know I have a soft spot for Deontae Cooper, who had statistically been the best UW running back up until this point, but Shaq is the best offensive player for Washington. He is important to the defense, but the focal point of the offense. It will be interesting to see how often he plays on offense when Lavon Coleman and Dwayne Washington are fully healthy.
  
  Thompson finished with 17 touches for 215 yards (12.6 average).
  
• Cyler Miles actually performed well by the numbers. His fumbling a snap early in the game was ugly, and his throws were not always completely on the money, but he has shown that he is the best option for Washington as the signal-caller. Final numbers: 13/19. 206 yards (10.8 YPA) 2 TDs.
  
  
• Dante Pettis scored two touchdowns today, one on a long touchdown catch and the other on a punt return. Combining his punt return ability with John Ross's kick return ability gives UW one of the most dangerous return combinations in the conference. It has been a long time since UW fans have been able to say that.
  
• True sophomore JoJo Mathis flashed at defensive end in the second half. He was able to get good pressure on the quarterback on a day when Kikaha spent most of his plays with offensive linemen chopping him down, preventing him from rushing Sefo Liufau all that much.. It is a strategy I expect a lot of teams to duplicate until he finds out out to beat it. He did get one sack at the end of the game when he was fighting through a double team, but for him that is just a ho-hum effort.

What are your Instant Dots?