Snow Dawgs: Huskies will play for Pac-12 title
Myles Gaskin broke free for an 80-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, and No. 16 Washington won its second Pac12 North Division title in three years, beating No. 7 Washington State 28-15 on a snowy Friday night in Pullman.
On a blustery cold night with snow falling and blanketing the turf at Martin Stadium, Gaskin found enough traction to carry the Huskies into the Pac-12 title game and ruin yet again the title hopes of Washington State. It was Washington’s sixth straight win over the Cougars, and the third straight year the Huskies denied Washington State the North crown. Gaskin rushed for 170 yards and three touchdowns, a year after running for 192 yards and four scores against the Cougars.
He was the best player on the field on a night Washington needed its senior ball carrier to be just that. The Huskies (9-3, 7-2 Pac12) will face Utah in the conference title game on Friday at Levi’s Stadium. The winner will earn a spot in the Rose Bowl.
Washington State (102, 7-2) carried the Pac-12’s last remaining hope of finding a way into the College Football Playoff, but the Air Raid was mostly grounded by a combo of blowing snow and Washington’s sticky secondary. Gardner Minshew was 26 of 35 for 152 yards, but his longest pass to a wide receiver went for Washington’s Myles Gaskin, center, had 170yards and three scores against WSU.
11 yards.
James Williams rushed for two touchdowns and the Cougars trailed 20-15 going to the fourth quarter, the first time since 2008 the game had been within five points going to the final quarter.
Gaskin made sure that didn’t last long.
Facing third-and-1 at the Washington 20, Gaskin broke through the line of scrimmage and found no one in crimson there to make the stop. He outraced Marcus Strong, getting to the goal line just in time and putting him over 1,000 yards for the season. Gaskin became the first Pac-12 running back to top 1,000 yards
rushing in all four seasons.
Gaskin also scored on a pair of 5-yard runs in the first half and finished his career against Washington State with 10 rushing touchdowns.
The Huskies rushed for 258 yards in the snow and have 533 yards rushing in the past two games.
• The Washington band did not perform, a day after one of its three charter buses rolled onto its side while traveling from Seattle. The Washington State band performed the Washington fight song “Bow Down to Washington” during a pregame performance on the field. The section of Martin Stadium where the
Washington band would have sat was roped off and left empty. The bus crashed Thursday evening on an icy stretch of Interstate 90 in central Washington. Of the 56 people on board, 47 were taken to hospitals for evaluation or treatment.
NO. 6 OKLAHOMA 59, NO. 12 WEST VIRGINIA 56 >> Kyler Murray threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score, and the visiting Sooners scored two defensive TDs in Morgantown, West Virginia,to earn a spot in next week’s Big 12 championship game. The Sooners (11-1, 8-1) survived a wild and mostly defenseless affair that featured 1,372 yards of offense to earn a CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES
Pac-12: Utah vs. Washington, Friday, Levi’s Stadium, 5 p.m., Fox
Big 12: Texas vs. Oklahoma, Dec. 1, AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, 9 a.m., ABC
SEC: Alabama vs. Georgia, Dec. 1, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, 1 p.m., CBS
ACC: Clemson vs. Pitt, Dec. 1, Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina, 5p.m., ABC
Big Ten: Northwestern vs. Michigan/Ohio State, Dec. 1, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, 5 p.m., Fox
rematch Dec. 1 in Arlington, Texas, against No. 11 Texas. Oklahoma also kept its College Football Playoff chances alive.
West Virginia (8-3, 6-3) lost to Oklahoma for the seventh straight time since joining the league in 2012. Murray finished 20 of 27 for 364 yards and converted a late fourth down to seal a matchup of Heisman Trophy hopefuls. West Virginia’s Will Grier threw for four touchdowns and a careerhigh 539 yards on 32 of 49 passing. But Grier lost two fumbles, both of which were returned for touchdowns. UCF WINS GAME, LOSES QUARTERBACK >> No. 8 UCF lost quarterback McKenzie Milton to injury but still trounced South Florida (7-5, 3-5 AAC) 38-10 to extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 24 games and complete a second consecutive undefeated regular season.
Milton hurt his right knee when he was tackled at the end of a 5-yard run in the second quarter. Darriel Mack Jr. replaced him and may make his second start of the year when UCF (110, 8-0) faces Memphis next week in the American Athletic
Conference title game. Coach Josh Heupel would not confirm the nature or severity of Milton’s injury. Still, it seems unlikely the junior from Kapolei, Hawaii, will play again anytime soon.
NO. 11 TEXAS 24, KANSAS 17 >> Sam Ehlinger threw for two touchdowns and ran for a score, and the Longhorns (9-3, 7-2 Big 12) won to reach the Big 12 title game against Oklahoma. Kansas (3-9, 1-8) dropped its last four games in David Beaty’s final season as Jayhawks coach. Les Miles was hired Sunday to replace Beaty.
HERBERT HURT IN DUCKS’ WIN >> CJ Verdell ran for 187 yards and four touchdowns, and also caught a scoring pass as the visiting Ducks (8-4, 5-4 Pac-12) defeated the rival Beavers (2-10, 1-8) in a Civil War victory that was marred by quarterback Justin Herbert’s firsthalf injury. Herbert threw for 102 yards and a touchdown before he appeared to injure his shoulder or upper arm on a sack and left the field on a cart.
It may have been the final Civil War for Herbert, who could forgo his senior year to declare for the NFL draft.