SEATTLE — For the second year in a row, Boise State opened a season by playing their way back into an underdog role.
The 19th-ranked Broncos dropped their second consecutive season opener, losing 38-6 to Washington on a night when the Huskies had all the momentum.
Playing in front of 71,963 fans in renovated Husky Stadium on Saturday night in its re-opening, unranked Washington (1-0) piled up 592 yards of offense — 344 of which came on its five touchdown drives. It marked the eighth highest total ever put up on a Boise State team and the most since Nevada had 639 yards against the Broncos in a 2007 game.
“We’ve just got to keep working; that’s the main thing,” Boise State coach Chris Petersen said. “We’ve got to take the next step. We’re going back to work.”
Washington quarterback Keith Price completed 23 of 31 passes for 324 yards and two touchdowns, and running back Bishop Sankey had 161 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. They both sat out the final 5:56 after a Dwayne Washington touchdown run capped 28 consecutive points that gave the Huskies a 38-6 lead.
Price’s second touchdown pass, a 19-yarder to backup tight end Joshua Perkins with 1:34 remaining in the third quarter, broke open the game and gave Washington a 24-6 lead. That also gave Price a school-record 56 career touchdown passes, breaking the previous mark held by Cody Pickett.
“He deserves everything he gets,” Washington coach Steve Sarkisian said. “I’m really happy for him. … This is just one game, and we’re going to need him to continue to perform if we’re going to get where we want to be.”
Boise State (0-1) had 346 yards of offense but struggled in the red zone, where quarterback Joe Southwick completed just 2 of 6 passes for 12 yards. An interception, a blocked field goal attempt and a turnover on downs ended three of the Broncos’ first eight drives. Boise State managed just six points on two field goals through the first three quarters.
Boise State had won six consecutive season openers before taking a No. 22 ranking into the 2012 season and losing to Michigan State in its first game. The Broncos ended up winning 11 of their next 12 games to finish the season ranked 18th in the country.
This year’s team finds itself in a similar situation, and unranked Washington could generate some national attention after Saturday’s performance. The Huskies, who lost to Boise State in the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas in December, held the Broncos to their lowest point total since 1997. That was also the last time Boise State failed to score a touchdown in a game.
Boise State fell into a 10-0 hole, rallied to 10-6 on a 20-yard Dan Goodale field goal with 9:37 remaining in the third quarter but then watched Washington score 28 consecutive points in the next 16 minutes.
Price threw touchdown passes to Kasen Williams and Perkins in the third quarter, giving Washington a 24-6 lead, and Sankey scored his second touchdown of the game on a 23-yard run with 10:45 left in the fourth quarter to give the Huskies a 31-6 lead on the way to the upset.
Sankey, who ran up 205 yards on the Broncos in the December bowl game, also scored on a 1-yard run to open the scoring against Boise State.
Southwick completed 25 of 40 passes for 152 yards, and Boise’s Jay Ajayi had 93 rushing yards on 23 carries.
“We’ve been fairly effective through most of camp and spring ball,” Petersen said of his offense. “We’ll continue to keep tweaking.”
Two teams featuring no-huddle offenses made for a frenetic pace in the early going, with Boise State and Washington combining for 46 offensive plays and 261 total yards through the first quarter — but only seven points to show for it.
Interceptions on each team’s opening possession, a blocked Boise State field goal attempt and a failed fourth-down try by Washington at the Broncos’ 10-yard line helped turn an offense-heavy start into a low-scoring first quarter.
Sankey’s 1-yard run with 8:20 remaining in the first quarter capped a 16-play, 84-yard drive to give Washington a 7-0 lead.
Price, who threw an interception on his first pass of the game, completed three passes of 12 yards or longer during a 13-play, 63-yard second-quarter drive that resulted in a Travis Coons field goal and a 10-0 Washington lead with 10:21 left in the half.
Boise State got on the board when Goodale hit a 37-yard field goal with 2:31 remaining as the Broncos went into halftime trailing 10-3.
Price completed 16 of 23 passes for 193 yards during the first half, and Sankey had 86 rushing yards on 16 carries. Washington had 313 yards of total offense and Boise State had 165.
Each offense topped 80 plays for the game, but it was the Huskies who had the most energy in the end.
“We knew it was going to be a dogfight,” Sarkisian said, “and we performed.”
NOTES: Washington TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins, a preseason All-America candidate and projected first-round pick, was suspended for Saturday’s game because of a DUI arrest in the spring. Sarkisian said after the game that Seferian-Jenkins would be available for Washington’s next game, against Illinois on Sept. 14. … The teams played less than nine months ago when the Broncos beat Washington 28-26 in the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas. … The Huskies have now won nine of their past 10 season openers that were played at home. … Under Petersen, Boise State is now 6-2 against teams from the Pacific-10/12 Conference. … Saturday marked the re-opening of Washington’s Husky Stadium, which was renovated after the 2011 season. In 2012, Washington played its home games at the Seattle Seahawks’ downtown stadium — about five miles from campus.