Ex-Viking Amos scores first college TD

SEATTLE — When you’re a five-touchdown underdog, pretty much everything has to go right for you to pull off the upset.

Then the Idaho Vandals went out and fumbled away the opening kickoff against the Washington Huskies.

Then they fumbled the ball away at the Husky 1-yard line later in the first quarter with a chance to tie the game at 7.

Still, the Vandals kept the Washington offense in check throughout the first quarter, then the Huskies took control and rolled to a 59-14 victory Saturday afternoon before 60,678 at Husky Stadium.

“We just got whupped,” Idaho coach Paul Petrino said. “They whupped us.”

That’s not to say he thought the Vandals (1-1) were at their best.

“We didn’t play anywhere like I thought we would,” he said, “but give them credit. They just got after us up front.

“Our guys stayed fighting in the second half.”

Idaho’s defense stepped up in the first quarter and allowed just 52 yards total offense. The Huskies’ lone score in the first 15 minutes came after a fumble by Lloyd Hightower on the opening kickoff gave them the ball on the Idaho 21. They scored in one play on a pass from Jake Browning to Dante Pettis just 16 seconds into the game.

From that point on, Idaho’s defense stepped up with a fumble recovery by Tony Lashley (forced by Kaden Elliss) along with two key tackles for loss to keep Washington at bay — for a while.

Washington (2-0) made it 14-0 with 12:09 left in the first when Browning found Pettis again with a 7-yard pass to cap a 41-yard drive. From that point one, the Huskies started to click. By halftime, they led 35-0. It wasn’t until 4:44 remained in the third quarter that the Vandals scored on a 20-yard pass from Matt Linehan to Buck Cowan.

Browning matched Washington’s school record with five touchdown passes — two each to Pettis and John Ross — and finished with 294 yards. After throwing for 287 yards and three touchdowns last week against Rutgers, Browning was nearly flawless against Idaho.

“He’s done a real nice job,” Washington coach Chris Petersen said. “He’s completing a lot of passes. He’s keeping his eyes downfield. He’s buying time, all those things that good quarterbacks do.”

Browning completed 13 consecutive passes at one point in the first half.

Browning joined Keith Price (2012), Jake Locker (2010) and Chris Rowland (1973) as the only Huskies to throw five touchdown passes in a game.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Gunnar Amos from Coeur d’Alene High scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 6-yard run in the fourth quarter for the Vandals. Amos and true freshman QB Mason Petrino, the coach’s son, saw their first collegiate playing time.