Apple Cup 2014: Washington dominates in 31-13 victory over Washington State

The Washington Huskies extended their all-time advantage in the Apple Cup rivalry in a dominant effort over the Washington State Cougars, who were shut out of the first three quarters before two garbage-time touchdowns led to the final 31-13 final score.

Washington's defense used stellar coverage by the back end of the defense to shut down the Mike Leach Air Raid attack. Each of the Cougars' first three drives ended with failed attempts to convert third-and-short, with the Washington secondary stepping up big, like it did all game long.

The offense took all of two plays to create a touchdown, with Dwayne Washington taking an inside handoff, sifting through several blocks before finding a whole bunch of green in front of him, in what ended up as a 51-yard touchdown run. It took the Washington offense three punts and a deflected interception before the Dawgs would find the end zone again. Five plays after a WSU fumble Kasen Williams scored his second touchdown of the season on a fade route to the corner of the painted turf. 14-0 Huskies.

Coming out of the half, the running back Washington did it again, with a 60-yard touchdown on the second play of the half in what effectively sealed the game, putting the Huskies up 21-0 and sucking what little life was left out of the Cougar faithful.

Instant Reaction Dots:

• Cyler Miles has continued his progression as a quarterback. His interception was only partially on his shoulder, and his only other real poor play was a bad underthrow to John Ross that probably should have been intercepted. He hasn't been facing much resistance in his recent games, but he has still performed well against the lesser defenses of the Pac-12.
  
  
• The pass rush wasn't insatiable in its quest for blood, but it didn't matter much to the pass defense. Luke Falk wasn't all that bad, but his receivers couldn't finish the plays he began, with dropped passes plaguing the Washington State receivers. Whether the cause was lack of sensation in the fingers or concentration issues, even Vince Mayle, with over 100 receptions on the year, was dealing with drops. On fourth down WSU even dropped a touchdown that wasn't all that well defended in one of the few coverage busts for the day.
  
  
• Joshua Perkins continues to be a developing weapon in the passing game. Against UCLA four weeks ago he set his career-high for receptions in a game with four, and hadn't been below that mark until tonight, though he made up for it was a touchdown catch in traffic. He is a chain-mover on third down and is effective on intermediate routes. He hasn't been tasked much with running the seam, though that is more likely to be a result of Miles playing quarterback than Perkins' inability to run the route effectively. After I wrote that line, Perkins had his very impressive touchdown grab on a pass from Miles on a seam route.
  
  
• The best position group of the night for Washington was the secondary. With even a little bit of a pass rush Washington State would have been shut out with the effort from the back end of the defense. The pass rush has been able to hide some of the growing pains of having a secondary as inexperience as Washington's, especially since the dismissal of Marcus Peters. In this Apple Cup it was the other way around, with the secondary making up for the pass rush rarely causing much of an impact.
  
  John Ross has developed well as a cornerback, and with his size and speed could profile as a slot cornerback in the NFL. He would need to improve his ability in run support, which he has done each and every game. He showed off his receiving ability with an interception, as well as another near-pick in the first half. Kevin King also joined in on the party with his own interception.
  
  
• Steve Sarkisian's best season with Washington ended with nine wins. With a bowl win, Chris Petersen will end up with nine wins in his first season.
  
  
  
  
  

  Ben on Twitter

What are your Instant Dots from the game?