Give Washington all sorts of credit. The resilient Huskies are headed to the College Football Playoff after downing Oregon, 34-31, in Friday’s Pac-12 Championship Game.
Washington got a pair of touchdowns in the final quarter after they saw a 20-3 lead in the first half erased when Oregon scored 21 straight points.
Undaunted, Washington (13-0) put together consecutive touchdown drives.
The first covered 75 yards and 12 plays before Dillon Johnson scored from a yard out to give Washington a 27-24 lead after the PAT.
The Huskies stopped Oregon’s next drive and went on an 82-yard march that devoured 6:20 of the fourth quarter.
Michael Penix Jr. threw a 2-yard TD pass to Quentin Moore with 2:44 left and the PAT made it 34-24 in the Huskies’ favor.
Remember, despite downing the Ducks in the regular season, Washington was a double-digit underdog coming into the Pac-12 Championship Game.
Oregon wasn’t about to go quietly.
Bo Nix took less than a minute to lead the Ducks to a touchdown. Thirty seconds.
The scoring play was a pass from Nix to Traeshon Holden. It went for 63 yards.
The reception was Holden’s first of the game.
UNREAL 😱
THE DUCKS AREN’T DONE YET‼️ pic.twitter.com/XqAmrdukpP
— ESPN (@espn) December 2, 2023
Oregon attempted an onside kick but it bounced out of bounds.
On a third-and-4, Penix completed a pass to Jalen McMillan for 6 yards and a first down. McMillan had nine catches for 131 yards.
Penix completed 27-of-39 for 319 yards and the TD pass.
Nix was 21-of-34 for 239 with 3 TD throws. He also rushed for 69 yards.
Penix Nix
🤝
Nix pic.twitter.com/yiqbAy8AFn— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) December 2, 2023
Washington and Oregon had played an exciting game in the regular season. It saw the Huskies win, 36-33, when the Ducks missed a field goal that would have forced overtime.
In 2022, Washington defeated Oregon by three points. In the regular season, the Huskies downed the Ducks by three points.
The margin in the Pac-12 Championship Game was also three points.
The point total in the last three games: Washington 97, Oregon 88.
Back-to-back for the Huskies over the Ducks 😎 pic.twitter.com/QXWSVDVZEk
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) December 2, 2023
This was also the last Pac-12 game as people have come to know the conference because of upcoming realignment.
Pac-12 title game attendance: 61,195 pic.twitter.com/IsupYWkzzd
— John Canzano (@johncanzanobft) December 2, 2023
