I feel like watching some of these games takes years off my life—especially this one. I admit, I’m a homer as far as Washington is concerned. But more important to me was to see a PAC-12 representative in the final four of this year’s national championship playoff. Grady Gross locked that in at the end of a 12 play, 65 yard two minute drive that ended with him connecting on a 42 yard field goal to break a tie and give the Huskies a 24-21 win with time expiring. My thought going into the game was that Washington needed to win and remain in the Top-4 so that whichever PAC-12 team wins the conference championship on December 1st, between the Huskies and the Ducks, the winner would either stay or be elevated into the Top-4 and be guaranteed a spot in the national playoff. It worked out—but barely—and the fact that Washington had to rely on a place kicker that missed one against Utah two weeks prior, missed his only try the week before against Oregon State, and was 0-for-1 in this game made it all the more nerve racking. Considering that Ohio State dropped three spots in the latest College Football Playoff Poll after losing to Michigan I can only imagine how far they would have dropped the Huskies if they had lost to an unranked Washington State. The latest poll has Georgia at No. 1, Michigan at No. 2, Washington at No. 3, Florida State at No. 4 and Oregon at No. 5—perfectly placed to move into the Top 4 should they beat Washington in the PAC-12 Conference Championship this coming Friday, December 1st, from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. And unless a different Washington Husky team shows up for that game than the one that played the Cougars in this one, it will be Oregon headed to the national playoff. More specifically, the Michael Penix-Jr with the 302 yards, 4 TD’s and 92.1 QBR that played in their first game against the Ducks will need to show up as opposed to the one that played in this Apple Cup and threw for 100 less yards, 2 fewer TD’s, and a 53.1 QBR against a lot less talented team.
Washington deferred and held the Cougars to a three-and-out on their first possession but it didn’t pay off as six plays later they ended up having to punt themselves. The Huskies held them to another three-and-out on their second possession and then cashed in at the end of a 9 play 51 yard drive with a Dillon Johnson 1 yard run into the end zone to go up 7-0 with just under four minutes left in the 1st Qtr. Washington didn’t have a huge night rushing but it was Junior RB Dillon Johnson who did the most damage as he rushed 21 times for 82 of their 102 yard total and the only rushing TD. The Cougars would come back five plays and 76 yards later to tie it up 7-7 on a 21 yard TD pass from Cameron Ward to Josh Kelly. Kelly, fellow Junior WR Kyle Williams, and Senior WR Lincoln Victor combined to collect 24 receptions for 279 of the team’s 317 yard total as well as a TD each. After being held to another three-and-out on their next possession the Huskies would get the ball back after the Cougars recorded back-to-back penalties and failed to convert on fourth down from the Washington 45 yard line. But Washington couldn’t take advantage as Sophomore Place Kicker Grady Gross missed a 43 yard field goal attempt six plays later leaving the score tied at seven a piece half-way through the 2nd Qtr. Instead of cashing in on the opportunity the Cougars QB would end up throwing up an interception on a 3rd and 17 from their own 40 yard line. Three plays later Penix-Jr would hit his favorite target, Junior WR Rome Odunze, for a 40 TD to take a 14-7 lead with 5:37 left in the half. After back-to-back punts by both teams the Cougars would tie the score at the end of a seven play 59 yard drive and 25 yard Cameron Ward pass to Kyle Williams with time running out in the half.
Having deferred to start the game the Huskies got the ball back to start the 3rd Qtr but lost it on their second play from scrimmage on a Michael Penix-Jr interception at the Washington 32 yard line. But between two incomplete passes, a false start, and two sacks the Cougars were forced to punt the ball back to the Huskies. After an intentional grounding and an incomplete pass Washington turned it right back over only to have the Cougars miss an opportunity to go ahead when their Place Kicker Dean Janikowski missed from 50 yards out. This time the Huskies were able to turn that miss into a seven point 21-14 lead when Penix-Jr hit Rome Odunze for his 2nd TD of the game. Odunze had a big game with seven reception for 120 yards, an average of 17+ yards per catch, and both passing TD receptions. The Cougars who sometimes couldn’t seem to help themselves in spite of a sputtering Husky team threw up an interception on their next possession but the defense stiffened up and after holding Washington to a three and out tied up the score at 21-21 at the end of a 13 play, 65 yard drive and Cameron Ward 8 yard TD pass to Lincoln Victor with six minutes left in the game. The Cougars held the Huskies to another three-and-out and gave themselves a chance to go ahead late in the game but after a holding penalty and an incomplete pass had to punt sitting 4th and 11 at their own 47 yard line with less than two minutes left in the game. With two completed Penix-Jr passes, a daring 23 yard Rome Odunze run sitting 4th and 1 from their own 29 yard line, a roughing the passer penalty and a Dillon Johnson run Washington found itself sitting 2nd and 10 at the Washington State 16 yard line with 4 seconds left in the game. Enter Grady Gross for a 42 yard field goal for the win, for an undefeated regular season, and for a chance to play in the national championship playoff if, and it’s a huge if, they can beat the Ducks one more time this next Friday.
Maybe I won’t watch that one—might be less stressful to just read about it. But one good thing will come of it—the winner will be in the Top-4 and playing in the national semi-final at either the Rose Bowl Game or Sugar Bowl on January 1st for a chance to play in the CFP National Championship on Monday, January 8th, at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. Pretty good way for the PAC-12 as we know it to end their final college football season.