It was close and back-and-forth for three quarters where just two points separated the Huskies and Cougars, but then the Washington defense dug in and the offense took off and Washington ran away with it in the end to the tune of 51-33 in Spokane, exacting the revenge they were looking for after last years bitter loss to Washington State in Husky Stadium. With the Oregon State win in Corvallis over the Ducks, Washington’s victory in the Palouse puts Utah back into the PAC-12 Championship Game for the second year in a row.
Michael Penix-Jr, the nation’s leading passer with 4,520 yards, 30 TD’s and 8 interceptions, had another great performance connecting on close to 60% of his attempts for 485 yards, 3 TD’s and 1 interception in addition to another 34 yards and 2 TD’s while rushing just twice. On the ground Washington outpaced the Cougars 218 yards to 75 with Senior RB Wayne Taulapapa leading the way rushing 13 times for 126 yards and adding another score on the ground to go along with the two from Penix-Jr and another from Sophomore WR Rome Odunze. Junior RB Nakia Watson gained most all of the Cougar’s 75 yards on the ground in addition to 1 of their two TD’s with QB Cameron Ward collecting the other. In the air Ward was 33-of-52 for 322 yards, 2 TD’s and no picks.
After leading at the end of the 1st Qtr, down by just one at the break and only two after three quarters, the Cougars were held scoreless in the 4th Qtr while Washington put up two TD’s in well under three minutes and a field goal at the end of a 15 play 94 yard drive to win it going away. Washington State, the PAC-12 leading defensive unit going in, couldn’t stop what Scott Hansen referred to in the Seattle Times as, “Washington’s electric offense.” He writes; “Washington moved the ball with ease all night against the Washington State defense . . . How bad was it for the Cougar defense? It allowed 703 yards, third most in program history behind the 745 allowed to USC in 2005 and the 719 allowed to Oregon to 2013.”
The Huskies were near perfect with a third down conversion percentage of right at 85%; led in 1st downs 30-to-28; Passing Yards, 485-to-358; and Rushing Yards, 218-to-75. They would have pulled away earlier in the 3rd Qtr but a fumble at midfield led to a Cougar TD to keep them within two points half-way through the quarter. The Husky defense was disruptive all night long recording 78 tackles, 6 sacks, and 11 tackles for loss although their over aggressiveness led to way more penalties than normal—10 for 105 yards.
Having thrown for a combined almost 900 yards and 5 TD’s in the air and 2 on the ground in wins on the road against Oregon and Washington State Penix-Jr., in his brief one year career at Washington, has elevated himself to legend status. To say that the Husky nation would like to see their Junior QB return next season is a gross understatement and Head Coach DeBoer couldn’t stop talking about him afterwards; “Nothing, as far as the situation that you’re in, really fazes him. Even coming out and the first ball of the third quarter, that’s not an easy throw, back across his body, kind of rolling out to the left and firing all the way across and putting it right where it needed to be for Jalen to be able to finish and get a touchdown. He just keeps fighting, keeps playing. I know there’s probably a throw he’d like to have back. And that’s part of it. But we can see the response. He continues to do it over and over again, all season long. I mean, he’s one of the best. He’s one of the best out there in the country. And there’s so much belief from the team’s end. He was the one that broke us down going into the fourth quarter and was so passionate. You can tell he’s giving everything he’s got every play.”
Look for both teams in the post season. A possibility for Washington State is the Los Vegas Bowl on December 17th in Allegiant Stadium which pits a PAC-12 team against an SEC team—possibly Arkansas. For the Huskies, maybe all the way to the Rose Bowl on Monday, January 2nd against Ohio State.