Say this about Keith Price's first collegiate interception: It was a whopper.

The Washington sophomore quarterback had a marvelous start in Washington's 40-32 win over Hawaii. He led three first-quarter touchdown drives before committing the biggest mistake of his young career just before halftime.

Price hesitated before throwing to receiver Kevin Smith, who was in the end zone. The delay allowed strong safety Richard Torres enough time to step in front of the pass at the goal line and race 99 yards for a touchdown that cut UW's lead to 21-14.

"I just didn't see the safety," Price said. "Miscommunication with me and Kevin, and I just have to look the safety off and make a better throw or a better decision."

Price's first turnover provided a teaching moment for coach Steve Sarkisian.

"I said, 'Hey, it's a five-step drop, no hitch and you throw it — and if you don't like it, reset your feet and come off of it,' Sarkisian said. "He was a little late."

The adversity was also the first for Price this season, and everybody wanted to see how he would respond.

"One of our mottos is 'next play,' " senior receiver Devin Aguilar said. "You make a mistake, you've got to get rid of that and get to the next play.

"And he did that. He got in the huddle, got us together and said let's go down and drive it again." On the ensuing possession, the Huskies started at their 41, but a holding penalty pushed them back to the 31.

Following a pair of Chris Polk runs, the Warriors used a timeout to stop the clock at 1:38, hoping to get the ball back.

Facing third-and-nine at the UW 42, Price dropped back and fired a 12-yard pass to Aguilar, who sliced through the secondary.

On the next play, Price connected with receiver James Johnson for 9 yards and two plays later he hit Aguilar again for a 31-yard touchdown with 44 seconds remaining.

"This day will definitely boost his confidence," senior receiver James Kearse said. "It shows us that he's ready to step up and take that role."

Price completed nearly the same amount of throws that he did last week against Eastern Washington when he connected on 17 of 25 for 102 yards.

The difference Saturday was he hit targets deep downfield.

"We weren't expecting as much of that because he had thrown it short (last week)," Hawaii coach Greg McMackin said. "They did some shifting and motions that we hadn't seen. That first quarter, we didn't do as well of a job as we should have adjusting to that."

Price completed passes of 59, 47, 31, 30 and 24 yards. He connected on his first eight passes and finished with 315 yards on 18-for-25 passing. His four touchdowns tied him for third-most in a game in UW history.

Against Eastern Washington, he distributed throws to 10 receivers, and nine caught a pass against Hawaii.

"He spreads it a lot," Aguilar said. "We have a lot of playmakers, which is good. It's not how it used to be. One guy makes a catch, that helps the team and helps us receivers keep pushing. We're thinking the next ball is to us."

Price shared the field with Hawaii's Brian Moniz, who led the country in passing last season and finished with 333 yards Saturday.

"He can be as good as he wants to be," Sarkisian said of Price. "He has all the game. I've always known that, but sometimes the general public, it's hard to see that because the kid is only doing it in practice or only had one or two starts."

Percy Allen: 206-464-2278 or pallen@seattletimes.com