Saturday was not kind to some of the top ranked teams in the country. Oregon State, a surprise undefeated team at 6-0, found themselves in a dogfight in Seattle with the Washington Huskies.
In this case, the dogs beat the beavers, as the Huskies pulled off the upset win on a damp night at CenturyLink Field, 20-17.
For Washington (4-4, 2-3 Pac-12 North), this was their fifth game against a team ranked in the top 11. The Huskies move to 2-3 overall in games against top ranked teams, and 2-1 at home in such outings.
Oregon State (6-1, 4-1 Pac-12 North) suffered their first loss of the season and fell into a tie for second place in the Pac-12 North with Stanford, one game behind archrival Oregon.
Sean Mannion, playing his first game back at quarterback for Oregon State after undergoing knee surgery early in October, looked rusty. Mannion completed 18 of 34 passes for 221 yards, but threw four interceptions during his time in the game and was eventually pulled for backup Cody Vaz late in the fourth quarter.
Vaz pulled the Beavers even at 17 with a touchdown pass to Connor Hamlett with 4:58 remaining in the game, but Washington quarterback Keith Price hit wide receiver Kasen Williams with a 19 yard completion on a third and seven late in the fourth quarter to help the Huskies get into field goal range. Travis Coons hit a 30 yard field goal with 1:20 left in the game, and Vaz was unable to get the Beavers close enough for their own final field goal attempt. Vaz finished the game completing seven passes in eleven attempts for 97 yards and a touchdown.
Price completed 18 of 30 passes for 194 yards, and running back Bishop Sankey ground out 97 hard yards on 25 carries and scored twice as Washington completed the hardest part of their schedule. For the rest of the season, the Huskies do not face a team with a winning record as they play the bottom schools in both divisions of the Pac-12, starting with a matchup this Friday night on the road against California (9 PM, ESPN2).
For Oregon State, they only play one more away game this season, traveling to Palo Alto to play Stanford in two weeks. But the rest of the season is not easy, and a date with Oregon in the Civil War looms on Thanksgiving weekend. The first hurdle, though, is hosting Arizona State on Saturday (10:30 PM).
