No. 4 Washington completes perfect regular season
SEATTLE — Putting the cap on a perfect regular season – just the second in school history – required Washington coach Kalen DeBoer to make one of the riskiest calls of his career.
It helped to know the ball was likely to end up in the hands of Rome Odunze.
Odunze's 23-yard run on fourth-and-1 deep in Washington's own end helped set the stage for Grady Gross to kick a 42-yard field goal on the final play as the fourthranked Huskies beat Washington State 24-21 on Saturday in the Apple Cup for an undefeated regular season.
“I think way back there's been some risky plays, but I'd say it's certainly up there given the moment, given the situation, given the field location, the time of game, all those thing,” DeBoer said.
Playing likely his final game at Husky Stadium, Odunze caught a 40-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter and hauled in a 21-yarder on the final play of the third quarter to give the Huskies a 21-14 lead.
But it's his run play, and the call made by DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb that'll live on in the history of the rivalry even with the teams no longer in the same conference starting next season. Facing fouth-and-1 at their own 29 with 1:11 left,
Odunze took a pitch from quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and ran into Washington State territory.
“Man, what a play call. Got to give kudos to the offensive staff and coach DeBoer for believing in us on that,” Odunze said. "We just went out there and executed. It was perfect.”
The Huskies picked up 15 more yards later in the drive when Ron Stone Jr. was flagged for a questionable roughing call. After Odunze had to
break up a potential interception at the goal line, Gross nailed the winner.
“I'm happy to do a little bit of something for all the big things that the rest of the team has done,” said Gross, who found out he was being put on scholarship in the locker room after.
Washington's past eight wins were decided by 10 points or less with six of those by one-score margins.
“Just being able to find a way to win in those tough moments I feel like
it just shows this team's character and our will to win. That's what makes it so special,” Penix said.
In the final year of the Pac-12 before most of its members scatter to other conferences, Washington (12-0, 9-0) became the first school in the 12-team era to go unbeaten in the regular season. The last conference team to finish the regular season unbeaten was Oregon in 2010 before the conference expanded to 12 teams.
Prior to that, the last
unbeaten seasons belonged to Southern California during its run atop the conference in the mid-2000s.
The Huskies still have one more challenge ahead, facing No. 6 Oregon in the Pac-12 championship game Friday in Las Vegas with a victory likely putting Washington into the College Football Playoff.
They'll need Penix to be better than he was against the Cougars (5-7, 2-7) . Penix had several miscommunications with his pass catchers and the final drive had a few questionable throws. He finished 18 of 33 for 204 yards, not exactly the closing statement that could have boosted his Heisman Trophy campaign.
But he made a handful of big plays and often looked Odunze's way when they were needed. Odunze's 40-yard touchdown came on a playaction pass and a blown coverage by the Cougars. His 21-yard score came one play after Jack Westover made a diving grab for 19 yards.
NO. 15 ARIZONA 59 ARIZONA STATE 23
Noah Fifita threw for a school-record 527 yards and five touchdowns, Michael Wiley scored three times and the visiting Wildcats- (9-3, 7-2) put an emphatic end to the Pac-12 era of the Territorial Cup rivalry.
UTAH 23, COLORADO 17
Jaylon Glover ran for a career-high 107 yards to lead the host Utes (8-4, 4-4) over the Buffaloes (4-8, 1-8) in the Pac-12 finale for both teams. Ryan Staub threw for 195 yards and a touchdown while making his first career start for Colorado.
NO. 6 OREGON 31 NO. 16 OREGON STATE 7
Friday, Bo Nix threw for two touchdowns and ran for another for the Ducks (11-1, 8-1 Pac-12) in the final scheduled matchup between the in-state rivals.