Game Daily: When the Huskies have the ball

Nov 27, 2013, 12:00 AM

Following last week’s 69-point outburst on the road against Oregon State, the Washington football team’s offense rolls into its final regular season game with a head full of steam. With that momentum and nothing but the shoddy Washington State defense standing between them and the end zone, there’s no reason not to expect another impressive offensive display from the UW in the 106th Apple Cup. Head coach Steve Sarkisian’s uptempo offense has averaged 524.3 yards per game in 2013, finding a nice balance between run and pass plays while putting up 39.5 points per contest. While Sarkisian originally made a name for himself as a pass-oriented offensive mastermind at USC, the UW’s running game anchors the team’s offense. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have star tailback Bishop Sankey spearheading that effort. Sankey, a junior, has followed up last year’s breakout performance with similar outstanding numbers, as evidenced by his place among the nation’s leading rushers with 1,575 yards and 17 touchdowns. WSU’s struggles with stopping the run this season have been well-documented, as they are surrendering 180.5 rush yards a game in Pac-12 conference play. Sankey should have a field day against WSU’s less-than-formidable defensive line along with backups Jesse Callier and Dwayne Washington if the score gets out of hand — which could happen pretty quickly. One area where the Huskies could run into some trouble is in the Cougars’ secondary. While they don’t exactly have the numbers to back it up (318.9 passing yards allowed per game in conference play), WSU has a pair of defensive players who can be game changers. Cornerback Damante Horton and safety Deone Bucannon each have five interceptions this year, and Horton has returned three of those for touchdowns. These two will blanket the UW’s receivers all afternoon long, focusing especially on Kevin Smith and Jaydon Mickens. Sarkisian’s starting quarterback choice will dictate to what degree, and how often, he tests WSU’s talented secondary defensive unit. If Keith Price’s shoulder injury keeps him out again, Cyler Miles will again get the start. Miles played well against the Beavers, but his arm isn’t nearly as battle-tested as Price’s. If he ends up starting, it’s likely we’ll see the offense lean on Sankey again, as it has often done this season, in a run-heavy game plan. However, Miles is a better runner than Price and can be utilized in the read-option running plays — another aspect of the UW running game that can give the Cougars nightmares. Price or no Price, the UW should atone for last year’s Apple Cup blunder while lighting up the scoreboard against their cross-state rivals. Reach reporter Tyler Hartung at sports@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @thartung17

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