Huskies no match for Oregon State, fall 48-21

CORVALLIS, Ore. — As unlikely as it might have seemed to outsiders, the Washington Huskies had held on to the carrot of a bowl game all season.

They did so in August, when no one figured a team could really make the leap from 0-12 to the postseason. They did so in September, when they beat USC and suddenly were making believers out of a lot of skeptics.

And they did so in October, even as reality began to set in that this is still a team with a lot of rebuilding to do.

But they finally lost their grasp on their ultimate goal Saturday in a 48-21 loss to the Oregon State Beavers that was never competitive and mostly just showed how far a gap there still is between the Huskies and a legitimate bowl contender.

The loss dropped UW to 3-7 and ensured that it will spend the holidays at home for a seventh straight season, having last been to a bowl game in 2002.

That's now the longest bowl-less streak in the Pac-10 with Stanford getting over the hump this year. The Cardinal hasn't been to a bowl since 2001.

And it's the third longest in the nation among BCS teams. The only BCS schools with longer streaks are Duke and Baylor, each bowl-less since 1994 (both are still alive for one this year, though neither has clinched).

"It's hard just because there was a lot we were playing for," said quarterback Jake Locker. "We still had a chance to play in a game after the season and that's over. I know a lot of us thought we should have been at that point, and we have the talent to be at that point. We just have fallen short too many times this year."

Never this year had they lost like this, however, as the Huskies were completely dominated in every area of the game from the beginning.

And it was that fact that overrode the larger implications in the mind of UW coach Steve Sarkisian.

"It was an ugly football game," Sarkisian said. "All three phases, we just didn't perform to our capability."

How ugly was it?

Oregon State led 20-0 before the Huskies crossed midfield, taking advantage of a Locker interception at the UW 17-yard line and a shanked punt to score 10 easy, early points and never look back.

"They just kind of pulled away and it was over," Sarkisian said.

The only time it felt like a game came when the Huskies — who made just one first down on their first five drives, wilting under a constant OSU pass rush — finally got something going. Chris Polk, the lone bright spot with 116 yards rushing, had four nice runs to get UW in position and Locker hit Jermaine Kearse from 3 yards out to make it 20-7 with 2:21 to play in the first half.

Sarkisian said he was thinking UW could get a stop, get another score, and really make a game of it.

Instead, OSU's Sean Canfield threw for 19 yards on a third-and-10 to spark a 70-yard touchdown drive that made it 27-7.

OSU's James Rodgers then returned the opening kickoff of the second half 84 yards to the 1-yard line to set up another TD by his brother Jacquizz and the rout was on.

Washington put a little pressure on Canfield early, but he settled down to complete 21 of 29 passes for 185 yards and four touchdowns, while James Rodgers and Jacquizz Rodgers each scored twice.

The Huskies had just 104 yards until their final drive of the third quarter, when they finally began to move a bit with the outcome long decided.

"We couldn't get anything going offensively," said Locker, who completed a season-low 14 passes on 23 attempts for 153 yards. "We put our defense in tough situations and they [the Beavers] were able to score points quick. We just didn't look like the team that we've looked like for nine weeks to this point."

That latter fact was the lone solace for Sarkisian, who said he wouldn't deem the effort a step back in his rebuilding project because it seemed like such an anomaly.

"I know we are better than the way we played today," he said. "I know we are a better football team than that because we have shown it before. If we had never shown it then, yeah, I would be more concerned. But I have seen what we are capable of, and that's what we have to continue to strive for. And when we play to our capabilities we are a pretty good team."

But not on this day, as the Huskies suffered their worst loss in the series with Oregon State, eclipsing a 49-24 setback in Corvallis in 2001, and lost their sixth in a row to the Beavers, also a school record.

It was also UW's 21st loss in 24 games dating to the 2007 season, a number that might be a truer indication of where this program really is than the bowl-game talk that emanated after wins over USC and Arizona.

"It's a hard reality," said UW senior linebacker Darrion Jones, now assured of knowing his career will end without a bowl game.

One of many on this day.

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com