Penix’s touchdown pass lifts Washington over Oregon
SEATTLE — Before Rome Odunze left the room, he wanted to share a message about his Washington teammate that was sitting behind the microphones.
“You're looking at the Heisman Trophy winner right there,” Odunze shouted in the direction of his quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
While voting is still months away, Penix's Heisman moment may have come Saturday on the biggest stage for a pair of long-time Pacific Northwest rivals.
Penix hit Odunze on an 18-yard touchdown pass with 1:38 remaining after another debatable fourthdown decision by Oregon, and Camden Lewis missed a 43-yard field goal attempt on the final play as No. 7 Washington held off No. 8 Oregon 36-33 in another wild chapter to their heated rivalry.
The 115th matchup between the rivals was the first that featured both teams ranked in the top 10, along with a couple of quarterbacks in Penix and Bo Nix who should contend for honor as the best player in college.
And it lived up to the hype as perhaps the biggest ever between the foes. There were offensive fireworks, wild momentum swings, big plays from the two QBs and decisions that will be questioned by one fan base.
It was a perfect recipe to an afternoon that ended with Washington fans swarming the field and Prince's “Purple Rain” blasting through the stadium speakers.
“That was an amazing football game. If there's one that I've been a part of that was bigger and better, I can't think of it right now,” Washington coach Kalen DeBoer said.
The final regular-season meeting before both programs move to the Big Ten next year could be the opening act to decide the last season of the Pac-12 as we know it.
A rematch in the conference title game in Las Vegas is possible. Part I was 60 minutes of intensity, excitement and intrigue.
Penix needed just two plays to go 53 yards in 33 seconds after Oregon was stopped on foruth-and-3 at the Washington 47 with 2:11 remaining. Penix threw a 35-yard strike to Ja'Lynn Polk between two defenders, then hit Odunze on a back-shoulder throw at the goal line to give Washington (6-0, 3-0 Pac-12) the lead.
“He kind of gave me the head nod to do what I needed to do. He threw it up, gave me a shot, believed in me,” Odunze said.
It was Penix's fourth touchdown pass of the game and his second time connecting with Odunze, who had eight catches for 128 yards. Penix finished 22 of 37 for 302 yards. He threw 26-yard touchdowns to Polk and Giles Jackson during a wild first half where the teams combined for five straight touchdown drives.
Nix did his part and at times was the better quarterback. He spark Oregon's rally from an 11-point deficit early in the second half and took a 33-29 lead on Jordan James' 10-yard TD run with 12:58 remaining.
Nix had one last chance to get the Ducks (5-1, 2-1) into field goal range and reached the Washington 25 with 17 seconds left. Nix missed with his next two passes and on the final play Lewis push the kick to the right setting off a wild celebration of purple-clad fans pouring onto the field.
“We were a play away from this conversation being extremely different,” Nix said.
Oregon seemed in position midway through the fourth quarter to pull off a narrow victory in the same way the Huskies did last year in Eugene. Washington was stopped on three run plays inside the Oregon 2, with Tybo Rogers stuffed on fourth-andgoal from the Ducks' 1 with 6:33 left, met by Taki Taimani and others short of the goal line.
But the Ducks were stopped on fourth-and-3 just inside midfield when Nix's pass for Tez Johnson fell incomplete with 2:11 remaining. It was the third time in the game the Ducks failed on fourth down, the previous two coming inside the Washington 10-yard line.
“I knew that we would get the ball back and I knew we were going to go down there and make a play,” Penix said.
NO. 21 NOTRE DAME 48 NO. 10 SOUTHERN CAL 20
With its season in danger of spiraling, Notre Dame harassed the Heisman Trophy winner and knocked its fiercest rival from the rankings of the unbeaten.
Xavier Watts intercepted Caleb Williams twice and returned a fumble for a touchdown as the Fighting Irish handed the visiting Trojans their first loss.
Having lost twice in the last three games, the Fighting Irish (6-2) bounced back against their longtime rivals from the West Coast in a big way. Watts had two of Notre Dame's three firsthalf picks against Williams and then a 15-yard scoop-and-score with 3:27 left to add an exclamation point.
“Obviously, we were coming off a loss to Louisville,” Watts said. “I was kind of angry from that.”
Benjamin Morrison had Notre Dame's other interception of the half, leading to Audric Estime's 1-yard plunge that put Notre Dame ahead 24-3. A week after wiping out a 17-point deficit to beat Arizona in overtime, the Trojans (6-1) had no such comeback in them.
NO. 15 OREGON STATE 36 NO. 18 UCLA 24
Defensive back Ryan Cooper Jr. returned an interception 67 yards for a touchdown late in the first half as the Beavers won at Corvallis, Ore.
DJ Uiagalelei went 14 for 24 and threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns, and Atticus Sappington kicked three field goals for the Beavers (6-1, 3-1 Pac-12).
Freshman Dante Moore was 15 of 34 for 168 yards and a touchdown pass for UCLA (4-2. 1-2), but threw three interceptions — including the one that Cooper ran back for a score.
ARIZONA 44 NO. 19 WASHINGTON ST. 6
Noah Fifita threw for 342 yards, Jonah Coleman had 168 yards and three rushing touchdowns and the Wildcats forced three turnovers to rout the visiting Cougars.
The Wildcats (4-3, 2-2 Pac-12) scored 44 straight points to break through in a big way after nearly upsetting top-10 teams the last two weeks. The Cougars (4-2, 1-2) scored on Nakia Watson's 1-yard run on their first drive.