SEATTLE—Jon Embree has pretty much run out of answers trying to keep Colorado playing at a competitive level with the landslide of injuries that continue to mount.
Colorado was already playing with a converted wide receiver and running back in their secondary. Explosive sophomore receiver Paul Richardson was out for Saturday’s game against Washington with a knee sprain. Starting left tackle David Bakhtiari had surgery on his wrist on Sunday and yet, was suiting up just six days later.
Then starting running back Rodney Stewart went down with injuries to his knee and ankle late in the first quarter and linebacker Douglas Rippy went down also. The depleted Buffaloes couldn’t slow down Washington and Colorado lost big again on the road in a 52-24 rout to the Huskies.
“I don’t even want… we’ve been… our whole team… I don’t even want to talk about this,” a visibly beaten-down Embree said after the game. “Rodney’s done for a while. We lost Rippy. David Bakhtiari played after surgery on Sunday night on his wrist. (Ray) Polk has got a torn ligament in his wrist. Unfortunately it’s how it’s been.”
The Buffaloes went 70 yards on their opening possession but could only manage 34 yards the rest of the half. Stewart was able to find running room early, breaking a 31-yard run on Colorado’s opening drive before injuries forced his exit. Stewart had gained 42 yards on four carries before being sidelined and the Buffaloes’ offense disappeared with him.
The Huskies compiled nearly 400 yards of offense in the first half and led 38-10 at the break behind TD passes of 17, 11, 14 and 4 yards by the sophomore quarterback Keith Price. Price now has 21 TDs on the season, tied for fourth most in Washington history for single-season TD passes.
Washington (5-1, 3-0) has now scored at least 30 points or more in its first six games for the first time in school history and is 5-1 for the first time in a decade. The 52 points were the most since 2001. The Huskies appear likely to enter the Top 25 for the first time since 2009. The win set up a crucial Pac-12 North showdown next Saturday night when Washington travels to Stanford.
“We got beat in every phase,” Embree said. “We didn’t stop them running. We didn’t stop them throwing and we got what, two pressures maybe on the quarterback? When we blitzed, we didn’t cover our men. I’ll just leave it at that.”
Colorado (1-6, 0-3) hung around early, but its offense wasn’t able to keep up, especially after running back Rodney Stewart left in the first half with knee injury.
Colorado had 70 yards of offense on its opening drive, but managed just 34 the rest of the half. Stewart didn’t touch the ball for the rest of the game after running for two yards late in the first quarter. He was ruled out at halftime with a sprained knee and finished with 42 yards rushing on four carries.
Even if Stewart was able to stay in the game, the end result would probably have been the same with the way Washington’s offense dominated the first half. The Huskies, who improved to 3-0 in conference play for the first time since 1997, scored on all six possessions and never punted until the opening drive of the second half when a penalty slowed their drive near midfield.
“We’ve got to figure it out,” quarterback Tyler Hansen said. “It’s tough as an offense when you’re chasing points. Especially the way they were scoring. They didn’t punt. Once maybe. When you’re chasing points like that consistently, especially in the first half, it’s a tough way to play.”
Hansen was 18 of 30 for 155 yards and a 5-yard TD pass to Kyle Cefalo on the Buffaloes opening drive.
With the injury to Stewart, Tony Jones will be his replacement. The injuries will force Embree to consider burning the redshirt of freshman Malcolm Creer or use fullback Evan Harrington as a running back just to have three running backs available for their upcoming games.
“Who else are we going to play? We don’t have anyone else. That’s all we have,” Embree said.
Price missed Devin Aguilar on a corner route for a potential touchdown midway through the second quarter, but responded on the next play, hitting running back Chris Polk for a 14-yard TD to give the Huskies a 28-10 lead.
Price added TD throws of 17 yards to Jermaine Kearse, 11 yards to Austin Seferian-Jenkins and 4 yards to Aguilar to round out his total. Kevin Smith added a 22-yard TD run on a reverse in the first quarter.
“The guy plays. In the football world, he’s a baller,” Washington coach Steve Sarkisian said of Price. “He just plays the game. I love coaching him. It’s fun.”
Polk didn’t find the end zone rushing, but did top 100 yards for the 16th time in his Washington career, one behind Napoleon Kaufman’s school record. Polk finished with 117 yards on 18 carries.
Price finished 21 of 28 for 257 yards, didn’t commit a turnover and wasn’t sacked. Price exited the game with 1:05 left in the third quarter and was replaced by redshirt freshman Nick Montana, son of Hall of Fame QB Joe Montana. On his first college play, Montana was sacked from behind, fumbled and Colorado recovered.
The turnover led to Jones’ second TD run of the second half for Colorado, but that amounted to the majority of the Buffaloes’ highlights. Colorado lost its 21st consecutive road game and the loudest cheer from the gold and black clad fans in the west end zone came when the Buffaloes finally forced Washington to punt.
“We made some mistakes but we killed ourselves today,” Ray Polk said. “That’s unacceptable and we can’t play like that.”
Notes: Kevin Smith became the first Washington player other than Polk or former quarterback Jake Locker to score a rushing touchdown since Sept. 12, 2009. Jesse Callier and Bishop Sankey also had rushing touchdowns for the Huskies. Tony Jones scored his first two rushing touchdowns of his career. Chris Polk topped 100 yards for the 16th time in his Washington career, one behind Napoleon Kaufman’s school record. Polk finished with 117 yards on 18 carries.
