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Washington vs. Oregon score: Huskies fight back to win Pac-12 title, clinch College Football Playoff berth

Washington punched its ticket to the CFP field in the final Pac-12 title game as the third-ranked Huskies remain unbeaten

No. 3 Washington held on to win a wild Pac-12 Championship Game, storming back to defeat No. 5 Oregon 34-31 on Friday. The win not only gives the Huskies the final Pac-12 football title, but it clinches the program's second College Football Playoff berth (2016) as they improve to 13-0 on the season.

The Huskies started hot out the gate, jumping to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter and dominating on both sides of the ball. However, the Ducks fought their way back into the game, cutting the deficit to 20-10 at halftime and scoring the first 14 points of the second half to take a 24-20 lead. It was the only lead they'd have in the game, however.

Washington quickly answered with a touchdown drive of its own. Then, after getting a defensive stop, the Huskies put together a 12-play, 82-yard touchdown drive that gave the Huskies a two-score lead and melted nearly half half the fourth quarter away. The Ducks scored a quick touchdown to cut the lead back to three, but the Huskies salted away the rest of the clock after recovering an onside kick.

Running back Dillon Johnson was the star of the game for the Huskies. He rushed for 152 yards and scored two touchdowns on the ground, while also throwing a touchdown for good measure. Michael Penix Jr. finished with 319 yards passing with a touchdown.

Oregon's Bo Nix finished with 239 yards passing, 69 yards rushing and three touchdowns, but his third-quarter interception proved costly. It came after a Penix interception at a time the Ducks had all the momentum, but it was quickly lost with the turnover.

  • Washington is now 7-0 in one-score games. No other team in the country has won more than four one-score games without at least one loss.
  • This is the ninth straight game in which Washington has played amid a one-score deficit in the fourth quarter.
  • Washington will return to the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2016 when it won the Pac-12 and lost a semifinal to Alabama.
  • This was Washington's third appearance in the Pac-12 Championship Game. It's won all three.
  • Johnson's 152 rushing yards are his second-highest total in a game this season. He rushed for 256 against USC.
  • Nix's 239 passing yards were the fewest he's had in any game this season. The previous low was 248 yards in a 35-6 win over Utah.

Keep it locked here as CBS Sports provides takeaways from the 2023 Pac-12 Championship Game below. 

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A field goal feels like a stop

It was a great opening drive for Washington that was derailed by one play. After hitting Rome Odunze to convert their third third-down of the drive, Penix was sacked for a 7-yard loss on the next play. The third-and-16 was too much to overcome as Penix's pass to Jalen McMillan was too high and incomplete. Grady Gross' 38-yard field goal makes it 3-0 to cap off a 15-play, 54-yard drive that took 7:06 off the clock.

While Washington is the first to score, that feels like a win for Oregon. Based on how the first meeting went, and how both teams have looked all season, holding anybody to a field goal tonight will probably be a win for the defense.
 

Washington attacking the perimeter early

Whether it's a run or pass, it's clear Washington wants to get the ball on the edge to try and put Oregon defenders in one-on-one situations. Every pass but one has been a quick-hitter bubble screen, and even the runs have been outside the tackles.

The Huskies have hit a speed bump, though. After moving into Oregon territory, a miscommunication nearly leads to an interception from Penix and the Huskies have to burn a timeout before the next snap as there was more confusion about the formation.
 

We are underway in Las Vegas

Oregon won the toss and deferred. Washington will receive the opening kickoff in the final Pac-12 football game of all time (unless a new Pac-12 forms one day; but if it does, will it really be the Pac-12? Is that too philosophical of a question to be asking right now? Probably, yeah).

 

Don't overlook the dynamic duos at receiver

There are 37 players in the country with at least 900 yards receiving this season, and that includes four sets of teammates. Two of those sets will be on the field in Las Vegas tonight.

Washington's Rome Odunze (73 rec., 1,326 yards, 13 TD) is a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, and the Huskies also have Ja'Lynn Polk (55 rec., 943 yards, 8 TD). They were supposed to be two of the three prongs on Washington's receiving trident, but Jalen McMillan (25 rec. 337 yards, 3 TD) has battled injuries this year that have kept him out of four games. Still, even without him, there haven't been many teams who have figured out how to stop the Washington passing attack.

On the other side the Ducks have Troy Franklin (77 rec., 1,349 yards, 14 TD) and Bo Nix's "adopted brother" Tez Johnson (70 rec., 942 yards, 9 TD). Those two have dominated the targets among Oregon's pass-catchers, as the only othe rplayer within 25 receptions of either on the offense is running back Bucky Irving (48 receptions).

It will not be fun to be a defensive back tonight.

 

This is the final Pac-12 Championship Game

This is the 13th Pac-12 Championship Game, but while these programs have been here before, it's the first time they've faced one another in the game. And the reason for that is pretty simple: they spent most of that time in the Pac-12 North. Only one was eligible to qualify for the game in any given season, but these two dominated the division.

In the 11 seasons with a divisionl format Oregon or Washington represented the division seven times. This will be Oregon's sixth appearance in the game overall, which is two more than any other Pac-12 school. The Ducks have won four of their first five appearances. It will be Washington's third trip, but the Huskies have won both of their previous appearances, including a 41-10 win over Colorado in 2016 that sent the Huskies to the College Football Playoff.

 

Washington loves living dangerously

The Huskies come into the game with a 12-0 record and ranked third in the College Football Playoff rankings. They won the first meeting thanks to a touchdown in the final minutes and had to hold off a late Oregon field goal attempt. That kind of drama is nothing out of the ordinary for this Washington squad.

After winning their first four games of the season by an average of 32.8 points their last eight wins have come by 6.1 points per game. Washington has played in six one-score games this year, and won all six.

No other team has won more than four one-score games this season without suffering at least one loss along the way. While this could be seen as a warning sign, it's also a potential strength. Oregon has played in only two one-score games all season, one of which was the loss to Washington. Should this game be close in the final minutes Washington has plenty of experience dealing with that level of pressure. Oregon doesn't.

 

A chance for Bo Nix to make a Heisman statement

As we enter Championship Weekend, the Heisman race seems to be down to two players: LSU QB Jayden Daniels and Oregon QB Bo Nix. Daniels will not play this weekend, as LSU failed to win the SEC West. Nix, however, not only gets one more game to boost his profile, but he's doing so at a time when the Pac-12 Championship will be the biggest game on the schedule.

That means the eyes of the nation, and a lot of Heisman voters, will be on Nix tonight. A strong performance against the Huskies could improve his chances to take the award.

 

Relive the first meeting

It was one of the games of the season, that saw plenty of drama and controversial decisions. It came to an end when Oregon failed to convert a fourth down, allowing Washington the chance to take the lead in the final minutes with a touchdown, only to watch Oregon march right back down the field to set up a field goal attempt to force overtime.

 

This is the rematch for which fans have been clamoring as No. 3 Washington takes on No. 5 Oregon in the final Pac-12 Championship Game from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. If the Huskies can hold off the Ducks for a second time this season, there's no doubt the 13-0 Huskies will be chosen for the College Football Playoff field. There's no guarantee of a spot for the one-loss Ducks if they get revenge, however, but you'd have to like their chances of being one of the final four teams. 

The first meeting, which took place at Washington's Husky Stadium, was a classic. Oregon led 33-29 late with a chance to finish the job but failed to convert an aggressive fourth-down play. The Huskies then went 53 yards in two plays with Michael Penix Jr. hitting Rome Odunze for an 18-yard touchdown pass to make it 36-33 with 1:38 to play. The Ducks managed to drive into field goal range, but Camden Lewis' 43-yard field goal attempt missed as time expired.

Nobody will mind if tonight's rematch has the same level of drama.

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