The Washington Huskies beat the Oregon Ducks on Friday night to capture the PAC-12 Championship.
What did we learn about Washington this weekend?
Washington Dominated the First and Fourth Quarters
The final PAC-12 Championship Game was a rematch between Oregon and Washington, a pair of teams that met earlier in the season. Both will head to the Big Ten for the 2024 campaign, and the PAC-12 will no longer exist. Beyond the PAC-12 Championship, there was a spot in the College Football Playoff on the line, and two of the favorites for the Heisman Trophy were going head-to-head at quarterback. This was a massive game, and surprisingly, only one team showed up ready to play. The Washington Huskies held Oregon to six offensive plays in the first 15 minutes and just 1:47 of the first quarter with the ball. The Huskies ran 26 plays with eight first downs, and Washington led 10-0. Washington mixed inside runs with passes to the outside and converted four of five third-down plays in the opening quarter. After Oregon played much better in the middle quarters of the game, Washington effectively ended the game with a 12-play drive that chewed up a lot of the fourth quarter and put the Huskies ahead 34-24.
Washington’s Defense Steps UpOne of the keys to the game was whether or not the Washington defense could force Bo Nix into a mistake. The Oregon quarterback had been absolutely on fire coming into the contest, and the Huskies’ defense appeared on paper to be the weakest link in the matchup. Of course, they do not play games on paper. As Oregon’s attack sputtered, Nix was off in the first quarter, and Washington jumped out to a 20-3 lead. He was great in the second quarter, though, completing 11 of 14 passes, including a touchdown. With the game at 20-17 in favor of Washington, Khyree Jackson intercepted a Michael Penix Jr. pass at the Oregon 41-yard line. With the Ducks threatening to take the lead, Washington’s defense stepped up and changed the course of the game. Nix rolled to his left and threw an ill-advised pass that was intercepted by the Huskies defense. Mistakes from Nix are rare, but that was a big one. Washington’s defensive line routinely beat Oregon’s offensive line and helped the Huskies to a 15-minute time of possession edge.
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UW On To The Sugar Bowl
The winner of this game was nearly assured of a spot in the College Football Playoff. Washington might have a case to be the No. 1 seed in the bracket, but the Huskies were slotted into the second spot. After a surprising loss for the Georgia Bulldogs and a blowout win in the Big 12 Championship Game for the Texas Longhorns, Washington will now meet Texas in the Sugar Bowl. The two schools have played seven times, with the most recent matchup occurring in December 2022 in the Alamo Bowl. Washington won that game 27-20, but both teams are so different now that no information can be gleaned from that contest. The Longhorns are favored by four points (BetMGM). The immediate matchup is the dominant Texas defensive line against Washington’s offensive line. Can Texas disrupt the Huskies’ passing attack and pressure Penix consistently? The two teams kick off on January 1, with the winner playing the winner of Michigan and Alabama for the College Football National Championship.
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