SEATTLE -- Washington junior John Ross claims that shortly after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in the spring of 2015, he downloaded a calendar for his phone and inserted a picture of the Rutgers mascot. That's how eager he was to be back on the field for the Huskies' 2016 season opener.

His return to action Saturday afternoon went even better than Ross could have expected.

Washington's speedy receiver returned from the knee injury to score three touchdowns as his 14th-ranked Huskies sprinted to a 48-13 win over Rutgers.

"I feel amazing, feel great," Ross said after his first game since November 2014, having suffered the knee injury at a spring practice six months later. "I'm so thankful and really happy to be able to do it again."

Ross caught two touchdown passes and returned a kickoff 92 yards for another score, while teammate Dante Pettis added a return touchdown of his own when he took a punt back 68 yards in the third quarter.

The Huskies (1-0) had 323 of their 383 yards of offense before halftime. Sophomore quarterback Jake Browning completed 18 of 27 passes for 287 yards and three touchdowns and one interception before leaving in the final seconds of the third quarter. Ross caught five passes for 90 yards and the two touchdowns.

"It's obviously a weapon," Browning said after playing in a game with Ross for the first time. "He's very explosive. It's really cool throwing the ball to him after how hard he's worked in the offseason (to get back on the field)."

Ross scored three first-half touchdowns while leading Washington to a 34-3 halftime lead. His third touchdown came on a 92-yard kickoff return with 2:22 left in the second quarter, after Rutgers had scored its first points of the game on a David Bonagura field goal.

Rutgers (0-1) had 304 yards of offense, most of it coming after the outcome had been decided, and turned the ball over three times in the debut of head coach Chris Ash. The Scarlet Knights didn't get inside the Washington 20-yard line until early in the fourth quarter, settling for a field goal that cut the insurmountable deficit to 48-6. Rutgers finally got into the end zone with 5:53 remaining, when Janarion Grant's 10-yard touchdown run made the score 48-13.

"We've got a lot of work to do, but I liked the fact that our players had a positive attitude throughout the game," Ash said.

The Huskies used three long touchdown passes to jump out to a 24-0 lead in the first quarter. Browning hit Chico McClatcher for a 43-yard touchdown pass on Washington's opening drive, then he connected with Ross twice -- from 38 and 50 yards out -- as the Huskies scored on each of their four first-quarter possessions.

After one quarter, Washington held a 202-10 advantage in total yardage. Things could have been even worse for the Scarlet Knights, who got a break when a sack and fumble that was recovered by Washington inside the 10-yard line was wiped out by a defensive holding penalty.

Browning completed 6 of 8 passes for 154 yards and three touchdowns in the first quarter alone.

"We didn't necessarily talk about starting fast," Washington coach Chris Petersen said. "That's always important."

By halftime, Browning already had 277 passing yards -- on 17-of-23 passing. Ross had five receptions for 90 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.

Pettis scored on the 68-yard punt return with four minutes left in the third quarter, giving Washington a 41-3 lead. The Huskies nearly added an interception return touchdown 3 1/2 minutes later, when safety Brandon Beaver stepped in front of a Chris Laviano pass and returned the interception 46 yards before being caught from behind at the Rutgers 4-yard line.

Washington backup quarterback K.J. Carta-Samuels came in and completed his first pass, a 4-yard touchdown strike to Andre Baccellia to put the Huskies ahead 48-3 with five seconds left in the third quarter.

The last time Washington had a punt return and kickoff return for touchdowns in the same game was 2001. The only other time it happened was in 1940.

"We've just got to continue to coach those things up and make sure that everybody's on the same page," said Ash, who spent two seasons as Ohio State's defensive coordinator before being hired at Rutgers. "... We're going to go back and continue to work, and I'm excited about this group of young men and what they bring to the table."

NOTES: No. 14 Washington played its opener with a preseason ranking for the first time since 2003. ... Rutgers was playing at Husky Stadium for the first time in the program's history. ... The Huskies are now 10-1 in season-opening home games since 1989. ...Washington coach Chris Petersen has a career record of 108-24. His career winning percentage of .818 ranks third in the nation among active coaches (minimum five years at FBS), behind only Ohio State's Urban Meyer (.851) and Florida State's Jimbo Fisher (.829). ... Ross broke the Washington school record for kickoff return touchdowns when he scored his fourth in the second quarter.