Game recap: Huskies 31, Utah State 17

Takeaway

At the rate he’s going, Washington quarterback Jake Browning, a true freshman, is going to shatter dozens of records. On a day when the Huskies successfully executed a flea flicker and scored a touchdown off a fake field goal, Browning owned the show with a record 368 passing yards and three touchdowns in a 31-17 romp over Utah State of the Mountain West at Husky Stadium (box). A seven-point favorite over the Aggies and picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12 North, Washington is 2-1 entering Pac-12 play.

Essential moment

After Browning and USU QB Chuckie Keeton threw interceptions on the first two series of the second half, Browning responded with a 33-yard touchdown pass to RB Dwayne Washington, his second of the game, lifting the Huskies to a 24-10 lead from which the Aggies could not recover.

Offense

Browning threw TDs of 81 and 33 yards to D. Washington and three yards to TE Drew Sample (first catch of his career).  Washington has seven plays of 50 or more yards. Browning finished with 368 yards, breaking the UW freshman record of 336 by Jake Locker against Arizona in 2007. Browning, who completed 22 of 31, amassed 326 last week against Sacramento State. The total was 11th-highest in UW history.

Washington outgained Utah State 442 yards to 254 and had a 368-171 edge in passing yards, but lost the rushing contest 83-74.

The Huskies scored a touchdown on a fake field goal in the second quarter when PK Tristan Vizcaino took a direct snap and ran right from two yards, then kicked the extra point in lieu of regular PK Cameron Van Winkle, for a 17-10 lead.

Freshman RB Myles Gaskin, who ran for 146 yards last week against Sacramento State, led UW with a meager 42 yards, most late in the fourth quarter. Dwayne Washington started and gained two yards in five carries. Backup QB Jeff Lindquist had 16 in seven carries.

Defense

Brandon Beaver returned an interception 96 yards without scoring in the fourth quarter,  tackled on the Utah State three-yard line. Had he scored, that would have been the longest TD interception return in Washington history (Al Burleson, 93 yards vs. Washington State 1975). As it was, it was the longest non-scoring interception return in UW history, breaking the old mark of 86 by Tommie Smith against Washington State in 1991.

In the second quarter, the Huskies denied Utah State a red-zone touchdown and instead permitted a field goal, allowing the Huskies to keep the lead at 10-3.

The Huskies allowed Utah State just 4.1 yards per play and had two interceptions, by Beaver and CB Kevin King, the latter his third in three games.

LB Azeem Victor had a team-high 12 tackles for Washington, which failed to record a sack.

Washington held DB Budda Baker out of much of the game (played first series, didn’t return) with an ankle injury.

Words

“We’ll continue to get things cleaned up. All we can do is continue to improve. Jake (Browning) is a great young player. If we continue to give him time to throw, he’ll do some good things” — Chris Petersen, UW head coach.

Noteworthy

Browning has two touchdown passes of 70-plus yards. He tossed a 78-yard TD to Marvin Hall against Sacramento State . . . Dwayne Washington established a career high with 131 receiving yards, eclipsing his old mark of 53 in the opener at Boise State . . .  The Huskies are 29-11 all-time against current members of the Mountain West Conference and 3-0 against Utah State, which they last played in 1998 (52-12).

Washington has not lost a home game to a non-league opponent since since falling to Air Force 31-21 Sept. 21, 1999. The streak includes 11 consecutive victories.

Early in the fourth quarter, after Beaver returned an interception 96 yards for Washington, the Aggies stripped backup QB Jeff Lindquist. USU’s Jon Rocquemore, a redshirt freshman, returned it 97 yards for a TD, the longest such play against Washington. Tom Berry of Oregon State returned a fumble 78 yards to a TD in 1955.

Next

The Huskies’ third home game in row is at 2 p.m. Saturday against California (Pac-12 Networks).