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Washington snaps Boise State's 14-game winning streak

Sep 9, 2007 - 2:32 AM SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Washington coach Tyrone Willingham is trying to return the Huskies to their past glory. Beating the team with the nation's longest winning streak is a good start.

Jake Locker passed for 193 yards and a touchdown as Washington snapped No. 22 Boise State's 14-game winning streak with a 24-10 victory on Saturday.

Locker completed 13-of-25 passes, including a 58-yard touchdown to Marcel Reece that gave the Huskies a 24-7 lead with 6:37 remaining in the first half. The sophomore quarterback also rushed for 84 yards and a score on 16 carries.

Washington's defense did the rest, blanking Boise State (1-1) in the second half. The Broncos, the nation's highest-scoring team since 2000, were held to their lowest point total since a 27-7 loss to Fresno State on November 10, 2005, a span of 18 games.

"Obviously the first thing that comes to my mind is it's great to win," Willingham said. "I thought our young men played a very good football team out there and I think we withstood their charge, especially in the second half. I thought our defense did a wonderful job."

Brigham Young now has the nation's longest winning streak at 11 games. The Cougars play at 13th-ranked UCLA on Saturday night.

"We had a lot of chances, we just could not capitalize on them," Boise State coach Chris Petersen said. "Too many turnovers, too many penalties. Every time we got something going we had to bring it back. That's what happens when you play great teams like Washington."

Boise State had a chance to get back in the game, but its hopes ended when Austin Pettis dropped Taylor Tharp's pass in the end zone on 4th-and-5 from the Washington 6 with just over four minutes left.

"(We) need to be in the habit of doing that," Willingham said. "You need to have your mindset in a place that you can do that and you feel comfortable doing that."

Tharp completed 29-of-47 passes for 285 yards but was intercepted three times as Boise State suffered its first loss since a 27-21 defeat to Boston College in the 2005 MPC Computers Bowl.

"We definitely had our chances - the defense came out and played really well in the second half," Tharp said. "But credit to Washington and their defense. We came out and got some drives started, we just couldn't finish."

The Broncos still have never won a road game against a BCS conference, falling to 0-13, including 0-8 against the Pac-10.

After winning only won seven games in Willingham's first two seasons, the Huskies (2-0) have started this year with a pair of impressive victories. Last week, they routed Syracuse, 42-12.

Washington is off to its first 2-0 start since 2001, when it went 8-4 and played in the Holiday Bowl.

"We haven't played in a game this big since my freshman year," Huskies senior wide receiver Anthony Russo said. "We knew our school would go crazy because they wanted to see a repeat of Syracuse last week. In the second half we kind of laid off, but it still felt good."

The Huskies took control early against Boise State, marching 78 yards on the game's opening possession to grab a 7-0 lead on Locker's six-yard TD run.

Washington made it 14-0 on a trick play when tailback Louis Rankin found Quintin Daniels for a 16-yard TD with 3:08 left in the opening quarter.

"It was good to beat a ranked team," Rankin said. "We are not worried about the respect. We just try to go out there and win every game."

Boise State needed less than two minutes to answer, closing to 14-7 on Tharp's one-yard TD plunge with 84 seconds left in the first.

But the Huskies made it 17-7 on Ryan Perkins' 34-yard field goal and extended the lead on Locker's TD pass to Reece.

On the ensuing possession, the Broncos put together their best drive of the game, marching 69 yards on 14 plays. They had to settle for Kyle Brotzman's 21-yard field after a 1st-and-goal at the 6.