Washington’s Dante Pettis bossed WSU so hard on this TD

No. 5 Washington got out to a brilliant start in Friday’s Apple Cup, ripping off three first-quarter touchdowns to take a commanding lead on Washington State in Pullman. The third of those touchdowns was especially good.

Washington QB Jake Browning hit receiver Dante Pettis for a 61-yard touchdown, dusting WSU cornerback Darrien Molton. The sophomore corner drew a flag for defensive pass interference because he draped himself all over Pettis before the ball got there. But Pettis caught it anyway, stayed on his feet, and walked home.

Pettis and Browning also combined in the first quarter for a 50-yard double pass from Pettis to tight end Darrell Daniels, which WSU had no idea how to stop.

That set up Washington’s first score, and Pettis happened to get another one before his long touchdown. He and Browning have been making beautiful music all year, and Pettis has also been a key special-teamer for UW. He’s the guy who had the long, controversial punt return that beat Utah a few weeks ago.

Browning is a fringe Heisman candidate as a sophomore, having led Washington to what’s now an almost certain Pac-12 North title. Browning entered with 37 touchdowns and seven interceptions on the year, to go with 2,870 yards. He’s already surpassed 3,000, which puts him in serious company.

Browning’s coming pretty quickly to the top. With up to three games left in Washington’s season (if UW wins the Pac-12 and makes the Playoff), he’ll probably become the Pac-12’s single-season TDs leader in short order.

Browning’s talented, but he’s also emerged as Washington’s leader and is better than he was last year as an encouraging freshman. Here’s Washington coach Chris Petersen, via the Seattle Times:

“It’s about having character; it’s about having connection to the guys; and it’s about having competence,” Petersen said of the leadership qualities he values. “All three of those things take time — and he has all three of those things. So you don’t have to be a rah-rah guy. You just have to be yourself, which he always is. And when you have those three things, guys are going to trust him.”

Pettis had 701 yards and 12 touchdowns entering the day, and those are both skyrocketing, too. He’s teamed with leading receiver John Ross to form the Pac-12’s deadliest pass-catching, run-after-catching duo, and most of UW’s opponents haven’t been able to do anything about them.

Washington’s got an embarrassment of offensive weapons. They’re all trained on Wazzu right now, and it’s not going well for the home team. Barring a stunning comeback, Washington will win and take the Pac-12 North title.