Football notebook: Mariota too much for Huskies, Price feels pass rush pressure

There’s a reason why people talk about Marcus Mariota as a Heisman Trophy front-runner. Mariota dismantled the normally stingy Washington pass defense, to the tune of 366 yards and three touchdowns on 24-of-31 passing in Oregon’s 45-24 win. He also ran for 88 yards and a score and used his legs time and again to extend plays and buy time for himself. “I don’t have a Heisman vote, but I’d be hard-pressed to say we’ll see a better quarterback this year,” UW head coach Steve Sarkisian said. “He threw the ball extremely well, and when we covered him, he ran. We tried to spot him, we tried to blitz him, we tried to contain him, but he played a tremendous game.” These numbers are even more impressive when considering that Oregon’s offensive sparkplug, De’Anthony Thomas, was out. In addition, Mariota’s top tight end, Colt Lyerla, quit the team this week, and his leading receiver, Josh Huff, left the game in the first half, though he returned for the start of the second half. This damage was all done against a UW defense that entered the weekend third in the nation in passing yards allowed. After giving up two passing touchdowns in their first five games, the Huskies allowed three to Mariota. “He’s a hell of a player,” Washington quarterback Keith Price said. “I respect that guy, and he came out here and led his team. He did a good job of keeping plays alive. He was a stud today.” Oregon front gets to Price Price spent much of his 2012 season on his backside, playing behind a young, inconsistent, and depleted offensive line. The first four games of this campaign were a different story, as the same five Huskies started each game and gave up just three sacks. Though the same five started against Stanford and Oregon, the results have not been the same. The line was abused by a great Stanford front seven last week to the tune of five sacks, and Price was sacked four times by the Ducks’ defense this week. However, Sarkisian praised the offensive line’s play, at least until the Huskies were behind and throwing the ball most plays. “[The offensive line was] adequate,” Sarkisian said. “I thought we played our best when we were able to be balanced, but once we got one-dimensional late in the game, they got the better of us.” In addition to the sacks, the Oregon defensive line was in the UW backfield all afternoon. They finished with seven tackles for loss and had Price on the run consistently, especially in the second half. “[The defensive line] was good, they were a good challenge,” center Mike Criste said. “We felt strong up front too. They got the better of us a few times; there is no escaping that.” During the second half, the Huskies took a blow up front with the loss of Dexter Charles. The sophomore guard has started every game this season but left the game with a shoulder injury and was replaced by Erik Kohler, who is still working his way back from a foot injury. Huskies come out firing after halftime As they have all season, the Huskies came out strong at the beginning of the second half. On three third-quarter drives, the UW scored 17 points, getting two Bishop Sankey touchdown runs and a field goal from Travis Coons. That is not out of the ordinary for the Huskies this season. On 15 third-quarter drives this season, the Huskies have scored 13 times, and 12 of those scores have been touchdowns. Price has only been stopped on one third-down drive this season, as one of the UW’s unsuccessful drives in that quarter came with backup Cyler Miles in the game against Idaho State. However, Price is not sure of the cause of the Huskies’ success in that frame this season. He said that the only concern for the UW after halftime Saturday was finding the end zone, just to keep the game in reach. “We knew that we needed to score in order to stay in the game,” Price said. “We knew that the first drive after halftime, we needed it.” After the game, Sarkisian did point to the drive in which Coons hit his field goal as an important turning point. Earlier in the drive, an interception that had bounced off the hands of Jaydon Mickens and into the hands of Avery Patterson was overruled after a review. The UW offense stayed on the field and got the ball down to the Oregon 5-yard line before stalling there and being forced to kick a field goal. “We get the sack, and it kind of knocks us back,” Sarkisian said. “We can’t convert on the third down and had to settle for three to keep it an 11-point game instead of a seven-point game.” The Huskies outscored Oregon 17-10 in the third quarter but were shut out of the fourth quarter. Reach reporter Daniel Rubens at sports@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @drubens12

Football notebook: Mariota too much for Huskies, Price feels pass rush pressure

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