Washington Huskies Football: Bishop Sankey, UW Defense Come Up Huge In Oregon State Upset

Wow! What a win! It's not just that stadium right? Who were the biggest factors in the Husky upset?

Jack Follman, Pacific Takes: I really think there is some magic in CenturyLink Field, no joke. The Huskies and Seahawks are playing like juggernauts on defense there. I would say the biggest factors were Sarkisian's play calling, particularly committing to the run, which his beleaguered offensive line blocks much better for than passing and it allowed them to control the game. I would say other than that it was the defensive backs. They picked off Mannion three times with absolutely no pressure up front and they knocked out Wheaton which made a big difference.

Anthony Cassino, UW Dawg Pound: The defense. They forced turnovers and got stops when they needed them, which they have yet to do either of on the road. It also didn't hurt that the offense and special teams turned the ball over just once, which was a departure from recent games. If you can't win with a game with a +3 turnover margin, you probably can't win any games.

Chris Landon, UW Dawg Pound: A win is a win and the Husky faithful will take it. The story, of course, was the Husky D which was in it's old "bend but don't break" mode and able to produce some timely turnovers. Sark's offensive game plan, which emphasized ball control and Bishop Sankey was a bit of a surprise given the stoutness of the Beavers rush D, but it was good enough to chew clock and keep their own defense fresh throughout. In the end, though, the upset was a bit of luck with some opportunism mixed in. Consider that the Huskies had 14 flags drawn on them, a Pick-6 called back, several dropped Beaver passes, a total of 10 points off of four turnovers forced and only two third downs converted all game. Despite the heroic efforts of Kasen Williams and Austin Seferian-Jenkins, the Huskies got a little luck on this one.