Idaho State routed by No. 17 Washington 56-0

Idaho State routed by No. 17 Washington 56-0

Published Sep. 21, 2013 9:11 p.m. ET

Idaho State coach Mike Kramer knew his team faced a likely insurmountable task against No. 17 Washington.

He was appreciative to get out of Seattle with his team's health mostly intact.

''The way (Washington) coach (Steve) Sarkisian and his staff treated us, knowing that we're wounded and not playing real well, one of the most outstanding examples of sportsmanship and care of other teams that I've ever seen,'' Kramer said.

Keith Price threw for 213 yards and three touchdowns in less than a half and Washington cruised to a 56-0 victory over Idaho State on Saturday.

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The Bengals (2-1) of the FCS haven't won a road game since 2006. Last year, Nebraska hammered Idaho State 73-7 in Lincoln in a game that left the Bengals bruised and battered.

Idaho State was again beaten up, but this time it came only on the scoreboard.

''A couple of teams in our conference have been butchered by the Pac-12,'' Kramer said. ''We went on the table today and Steve's guys did not disappoint.''

Idaho State took the game for the $450,000 pay day from Washington. The Bengals were without starting tight end Tyler Wright and senior receiver Luke Austin, one of just two seniors on offense for Idaho State. A matchup with the resurgent Huskies was a fight the Bengals just weren't equipped to handle.

Idaho State lost its 19th straight game to FBS opponents and hasn't knocked off a higher-division squad since beating Utah State in 2000. The Bengals were coming off two wins over Division II opponents, and Justin Arias began the day as the FCS leader in yards passing per game at 434.

But the Bengals' undersized offensive line couldn't match Washington's power and speed, and Arias was under pressure all afternoon. He was sacked five times in the first half and missed on his first six passes before finding Broc Malcolm on a 5-yard completion early in the second quarter.

Idaho State spent most of the first half with negative total yards and finished the half with 20 yards of offense. Arias finished 18 of 39 for 140 yards and two interceptions.

''The last thing we needed to do was be served to the Huskies at 17th in the nation,'' Kramer said.

Bishop Sankey, the national leader in yards rushing per game, barely broke a sweat against the Bengals. Sankey saw action on the Huskies' first three series and scored on a 3-yard TD run in the first quarter. Sankey finished with 77 yards on four carries.

Price played a little more than 1 1/2 quarters, throwing TD passes of 1, 6 and 5 yards and adding a 1-yard TD run as the Huskies led 42-0 at halftime. It was the second straight season the Huskies overwhelmed a lower division opponent in the first half. Last year, Washington led Portland State 45-0 at halftime.

Washington took their foot off the gas by playing reserves the remainder of the game.

''I just felt it was the right thing to do to slow things down and spread the ball around,'' Sarkisian said. ''I want the football gods on my side.''

The Bengals managed to drive inside the Washington 30-yard line three times in the second half but came up empty with an interception and two missed field goal attempts.

Idaho State's trip to Nebraska a season ago impacted the Bengals the remainder of the year as several players went down with injuries in the game. While the Bengals didn't emerge unscathed against Washington, Kramer was pleased that the Huskies didn't make the contest as ugly as it could have been.

''I applaud coach Sarkisian and the entire Husky organization for making sure that we didn't come out of it as badly humbled as we were last year at Nebraska,'' Kramer said.

The Huskies' 680 total offensive yards were second-most in school history.

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