Las Vegas —- The Huskies put together a complete game and they beat the No. 5 Oregon Ducks 34-31 in the PAC-12 Championship. The third-ranked Huskies became the first Pac-12 team to reach 13-0 before bowl season.
With the win, Washington (13-0), who has won 20 straight games dating back to last season, secured a berth in the College Football Playoff, which will be announced on Sunday.
UW quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was named the game’s MVP after completing 27 of 39 passes for 319 yards and a touchdown. Penix needed to have a big game to give himself a chance to win the Heisman Trophy, and while it’s unclear if Friday’s performance was enough to take the coveted trophy back home, he will likely get an invite to New York as a finalist.
“It is sad to see it happen and that be the last football game there,” Washington coach Kalen DeBoer said. “But I think the other part is just understanding how strong the conference was this year.
“There were eight teams from the Pac-12 at one point, I believe, that were ranked in the Top 25, and we played the best ones, and we played one of them twice. I don’t think there’s anyone else in the country that’s gone through what we went through.”
Washington led 20-3 in the second quarter but was in danger of letting the Pac-12 championship slip away before the offense settled down against the Ducks’ tired defense.
After a score just before the half cut the deficit to 20-10, Oregon punched in another touchdown to open the second half and took a 24-20 lead with 1:51 left in the third quarter.
