SEATTLE _ In 10 days, the College Football Playoff committee will release its first top 25 poll of the season. Washington, for the first time in the playoff era, will be included in those rankings.
How high?
That will depend largely on how the Huskies, ranked No. 5 in The Associated Press Top 25, fare next week when they travel to play No. 19 Utah, which on paper at this time is the most difficult game remaining on Washington's schedule.
What the Huskies did to Oregon State on Saturday, well, it was what they were supposed to do coming in as a 36{-point favorite. And their 41-17 victory in front of 65,796 spectators at Husky Stadium on a perfectly pleasant fall afternoon won't do much to bolster their resume in the chase for a playoff berth.
There just wasn't much the Huskies could have done to impress the playoff committee _ or anyone _ against a rebuilding OSU team missing its top two quarterbacks.
Even so, the Huskies (7-0, 4-0 Pac-12) deserve credit for taking care of business in their typically efficient fashion, building a 21-0 lead after the first quarter and 31-0 at halftime.
Washington continued its best start since 1992, and it has won 10 in a row dating back to last season. The Huskies have obliterated opponents early this season, outscoring foes by a combined 100-7 in the first quarter and 200-24 in the first half.
Jake Browning hit freshman Aaron Fuller for a 19-yard touchdown on the Huskies' first possession of the game.
Browning added a 1-yard touchdown run and then a 23-yard scoring pass to Dante Pettis in the first quarter.
The Huskies turned to the ground game in the second quarter, and Myles Gaskin scored on a 9-yard run to make it 28-0.
Cameron Van Winkle kicked the first of his two field goals on the final play of the first half to make it 31-0.
After Oregon State (2-5, 1-3) opened the third quarter with a field goal, Browning and Pettis answered with a 41-yard connection for the receiver's second touchdown of the game.
In a rare big play against the UW defense, OSU receiver Victor Bolden raced around the edge on a 75-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter, cutting the Huskies' lead to 38-10.
Overall, a steady victory for the Huskies before they roll into Utah next Saturday.
The Utes, by the way, rode running back Joe Williams' 332 yards rushing to beat UCLA 52-45 Saturday, setting up the Salt Lake showdown that will give the Huskies a chance to truly impress.
