SEATTLE – The promise, as it turns out, was true.
Steve Sarkisian loves tight ends. He threw to them often at Brigham Young as a player.
He involved them deeply in the offenses he coached at Southern California.
And he was waiting – and praying – for a reliable one to show up at the University of Washington.
One of the biggest reasons why Gig Harbor’s Austin Seferian-Jenkins chose to join the Huskies over other schools was that Sarkisian promised the teenager he would be a frequent target in the passing game.
“Coach Sark doesn’t lie,” Seferian-Jenkins said.
And after his pair of 20-yard scoring receptions Saturday in the Huskies’ 31-23 victory over California, the true freshman already has three touchdowns in four games – all of them coming in the red zone.
The first one Saturday came in the opening quarter. On first down, UW quarterback Keith Price scooted away from pressure and moved up in the pocket. He saw Seferian-Jenkins streaking across the middle, and delivered a short pass to the tight end, who then twirled past a defender en route to the end zone.
“I’ve told him, ‘Keep working with me.’ I don’t think the guys are used to me running around, and getting big plays off scrambles,” Price said. “They are just adjusting to my game.”
The second score was a designed tight-end screen. After Price faked a throw to tailback Bishop Sankey in the right flat, he hit Seferian-Jenkins on the left sideline. With blockers Senio Kelemete and Colin Tanigawa out in front, Seferian-Jenkins easily galloped in for the touchdown.
“Who doesn’t like to get a screen (pass)?” Seferian-Jenkins said. “That is fun stuff.”
KNACK FOR KNOWING
Cal’s final play Saturday came on a fourth-and-goal from the Huskies’ 2.
Everybody on both sides knew who Zach Maynard’s target would be on his final pass – receiver Keenan Allen, his half-brother who had torched UW with 10 catches for 197 yards, including a 90-yard touchdown.
And on that critical fourth-down, Maynard tried hitting Allen on a fade pattern in the left corner of the end zone against tight coverage from UW cornerback Quinton Richardson. But the ball sailed too high and went out of bounds.
Maynard said a “huge crown” in that part of the field contributed to the errant throw.
“We all knew it was coming,” Richardson said. “Why not throw it to your brother and get a game-winning touchdown? And he was hot all day.”
PRICE IS RIGHT
After his three scoring passes Saturday, the Huskies’ first-year starting quarterback has 14 touchdown passes in four games – just three short of what Jake Locker totaled all of last season.
Moreover, Price is playing efficiently, completing 67 percent of his passes (75-for-112 accuracy). He has passed for 983 yards, mostly on two bum knees.
“How many other plays does he make for us with his feet to buy time to create plays for us down the field?” Sarkisian said. “He is amazingly accurate.
“He is playing at about as high a level as you can play as a quarterback. I tip my hat to (Stanford’s) Andrew Luck, and (USC’s Matt) Barkley and these other guys in our conference, but the level of play that Keith Price is playing at is as high as anybody in our conference.”
EXTRA POINTS
Linebacker John Timu (neck) was taken off the field on a stretcher after a collision with Cal’s Isi Sofele with 1:45 to go in the third quarter. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center where he spent the night. All preliminary tests came back normal, Sarkisian said. … Other beaten-up Huskies included cornerback Gregory Ducre (concussion), defensive end Hau’oli Jamora (sprained knee) and running back Johri Fogerson (knee bruise). Team doctors should know the results of Jamora’s magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test today on the severity of his injury. … Running back Chris Polk had his streak of five consecutive 100-yard rushing games snapped Saturday. He finished with 60 yards on 20 carries, but did add a career-high 85 receiving yards. … It was Will Mahan – not incumbent Kiel Rasp – who did the punting Saturday. Both of his punts were downed inside the California 20-yard line. The last time Mahan punted was the final game of 2009 against the Bears – 16 games ago. … Sankey, a true freshman from Spokane, had his first two carries this season. One went for 13 yards in the second quarter.
Todd Milles: 253-597-8442 todd.milles@thenewstribune.com
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