Football notebook: Defense gets in on the scoring act for the Huskies

Aggressive UW defense forces big turnovers After a turnover-less first half, the Washington defense came out firing in the second half of its 59-7 win over Colorado on Saturday night. An aggressive UW defense forced turnovers on Colorado’s first three second-half drives, two of which were returned for scores that put the ballgame away. Staring at a third down on Colorado’s first drive of the quarter, Colorado quarterback Sefo Liufau tried to find a receiver on a slant, but UW cornerback Marcus Peters deflected the ball into the air. Tre Watson ran underneath it, grabbed the loose ball, and scampered 84 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown that made it 38-7. “I just jumped inside the slant,” Peters said after the game. “I should have caught it, but it’s OK. It’s better for him to catch it and go 84 yards than for me to catch it and get tackled.” On the following drive, Liufau, faced with a fourth down, threw a ball up for grabs that settled in the hands of UW senior safety Sean Parker. Then, after a touchdown drive from the UW offense, UW defensive end Josh Shirley stripped Colorado’s Tony Jones, and Peters picked up the loose ball and returned it 52 yards to the house. Entering Saturday, Washington had a turnover margin of plus-two. Over a nine-minute span, the margin jumped to plus-five in what ended up being one of the UW’s most dominant defensive performances of the season. “The guys did a really good job of forcing three turnovers,” UW defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox said. “It’s one thing where the offense gifts you one, where they drop a snap or drop a ball, but tonight, it was nice to see that they were forced, that we created them.” Price uses his legs As dynamic as Keith Price has been in his career at the UW, he has not been much of a threat while running the football. But this week, Price put Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota to shame. OK, so maybe that’s a stretch, but Price did run the football well Saturday. In three quarters of work, the UW’s senior quarterback ran the ball seven times for 29 yards and two touchdowns. The 29 yards tied a season-high for Price, set in the UW’s 31-13 win over Arizona. It was Price’s biggest rushing day since Oct. 13, 2012, when he ran for 34 yards in a loss to USC. It was Price’s first multi-touchdown effort on the ground since the 2011 Alamo Bowl, when he set career highs with 39 yards and three scores. “Keith used his legs tonight as well or better than he has all year,” head coach Steve Sarkisian said. “He probably had his proudest moment tonight when he got to run a guy over for a touchdown. When he is doing that, and throwing the ball accurately, and we’re running it with Bishop, we’re pretty good.” Price’s most impressive run Saturday was his first touchdown, an 18-yard run in the second quarter. With nobody open downfield, Price pulled the ball down and scrambled up the middle. As he approached the goal line, he was met by Colorado safety Parker Orms. But Price bowled over him and found the end zone to put the Huskies up 24-7. UCLA awaits The result Saturday was not in doubt for long. By the end of the first half, the UW offense had racked up an astounding 464 yards of offense and built a 31-7 lead. So one can forgive many in the stands for looking ahead. After all, the Huskies have a big one up next. After taking care of business against a poor Colorado team Saturday, the Huskies travel to Southern California for a showdown with UCLA under the Friday night lights. Despite a pair of recent losses to the top dogs in the conference, UCLA will pose a difficult challenge for the Huskies. The No. 19 Bruins have only lost road games to Stanford and Oregon, and they are averaging just under 50 points in four home games this season. “UCLA is an excellent football team,” Price said. “It’s going to take our ‘A’ game. We’re going to have to be focused and we have to finish strong. We’re looking forward to the challenge, and it’s going to be fun.” Sarkisian said after the win against Colorado that his team had already moved on from Colorado into thinking about UCLA. “The preparation is already underway [for UCLA], and it has to be for a short week,” the head coach said. “We’re going down to play a really talented UCLA team, a very well coached team, on a Friday night, in a game that’s pivotal for the fourth quarter of our season. Our guys are already talking about it.” Reach reporter Daniel Rubens at sports@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @drubens12

Football notebook: Defense gets in on the scoring act for the Huskies

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