Huskies Blast Cougars To Win Pac-12 North
It’s California Dreamin’ for the Washington Huskies as they blasted their archrival Washington State 45-17 to win the Pac-12 North and advance to Santa Clara next week.
292 passing yards and three touchdowns from Jake Browning were all of the offense that the visitors would need to put the Cougars away in this game. Washington scored touchdowns the first four times they touched the football, putting the game at a 28-3 score before they punted for the first time five minutes into the second quarter.
The win means that Washington (11-1, 8-1 in Pac-12 play) will play in the Pac-12 Championship Game in Santa Clara next week against Colorado or USC. Colorado will play Utah on Saturday night in Boulder, and the Buffaloes will advance to play Washington if they win. If the Utes upset Colorado, USC will claim the Pac-12 North.
But more important, this should catapult Washington back into the top four in the College Football Playoff rankings. The Seattle school sat at #5 before the weekend, and should leap into one of those coveted final four spots with the loser of #2 Ohio State vs. #3 Michigan dropping out. If Washington wins their game next week, that should be enough to put them in the College Football Playoff.
It was a festive atmosphere in Pullman for the biggest Apple Cup game in years, but the home crowd was quickly quieted by the Washington offense. Browning had 202 passing yards and three touchdowns in the first quarter, and the Cougars had no route back into the game from that point.
Washington State won the toss and deferred to the second half, a move that proved to be fatal. Browning was a crisp 4/5 for 82 yards on that opening drive, and Myles Gaskin finished it off with a two-yard touchdown run. The Cougars fumbled on the ensuing possession, and Browning found Donte Pettis for an 18-yard touchdown quickly afterwards.
The acrobatic highlight of the game came on the next Husky possession, as the aforementioned Pettis caught a 61-yard touchdown from Jake Browning, despite the fact that the defensive back was holding him. He caught the ball with the pass interference penalty, and it was 21-3.
From a Washington State perspective, the failure to score in goal to go situations will haunt them all offseason. On three separate occasions, the Cougars had the ball inside the Washington 10 yard line, and failed to come away with any points.
They were thwarted on 4th and goal from the 2 when they trailed 28-3 in the second quarter, as Gerard Wicks had no room to run. Luke Falk threw an interception on an ill-advised throw when his team trailed 35-10 just before halftime. Late in the third quarter, with the chance to make it a 10-point game, Wicks was stuffed again on 4th and goal from the one.
The Huskies scored one more time with 10:56 to go in the game to put the contest out of reach, as Lavon Coleman nestled himself just inside the pylon off of a handoff from 15 yards out.
The Cougars finish the regular season at 8-4, and 7-2 in Pac-12 games. They will probably be 4th in the pecking order for bowl games in the conference behind Washington, USC, and Colorado, so a trip to the Holliday Bowl might be in the cards for them.
When all of the dust settled, the better team got their hands on the Apple Cup. Washington was just better and more physical in every position, and it showed all over the field.
But next Friday, and maybe even beyond, the Huskies will have a chance to bring some much more prestigious trophies home to Seattle.
Scoring Summary:
1st quarter:
WASH: 10:56: Gaskin 2-yard TD run 7-0
WASH: 7:45: Browning 18-yard TD pass to Pettis (14-0)
WSU: 5:49: Erik Powell 37-yard FG (14-3)
WASH: 5:04: Browning 61-yard TD pass to Pettis (21-3)
WASH: 0:23: Browning 6-yard TD pass to Ross (28-3)
2nd quarter:
WSU: 6:07: Morrow 1-yard TD run (28-10)
WASH: 3:21: Coleman 22-yard TD run. (35-10)
3rd quarter:
WSU: 8:45: Falk 9-yard TD pass to Marks. (35-17)
4th quarter:
WASH: 10:56: Coleman 15-yard TD run. (42-17)
WASH: 8:36: Cameron Van Winkle 41-yard field goal (45-17)