No. 3 Washington staves off No. 5 Oregon comeback to win Pac-12 and secure playoff spot

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Washington started fast and ended strong in the Pac-12 title game against Oregon. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

No. 3 Washington bounced back after a 21-point run by No. 5 Oregon to beat the Ducks 34-31 in the final Pac-12 championship game and assure itself a spot in the College Football Playoff.

The undefeated Huskies led 20-3 with less than two minutes to go in the first half before Oregon reeled off 21 consecutive points to take a 24-20 lead. But Washington got the lead back for good when Dillon Johnson scored a one-yard TD with 12:23 to go.

Washington then forced an Oregon punt and drained as much clock as possible on its next drive. That drive was powered by two great catches by Ja’Lynn Polk as the Huskies extended the lead to 10 points.

A two-yard TD pass from Michael Penix Jr. to Quentin Moore made it a two-possession lead with 2:44 to go. The TD pass capped a 12-play drive that took 6:20 off the clock. It was Washington’s second scoring drive of the night that took over six minutes as the Huskies made it clear from the start that they wanted to limit the time that Oregon’s offense spent on the field.

Oregon got a TD within 30 seconds of Moore’s catch on a 63-yard Traeshon Holden catch-and-run TD. But after the onside kick failed, Washington was able to get a first down and run out the clock even though Oregon had all of its timeouts left.

After Oregon spent its first two timeouts following run plays, Penix hit Jalen McMillan for a first down. The Huskies then converted another third down with 61 seconds to go to end the game.

With three other unbeaten Power Five teams playing on Saturday, Washington will be no lower than No. 4 in the rankings on Sunday barring something unprecedented from the selection committee. When Washington is announced as a member of the playoff field, the…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/no-3-washington-staves-off-no-5-oregon-comeback-to-win-pac-12-and-secure-playoff-spot-044410652.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2023-12-02 04:44:10

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