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SALT LAKE CITY — The Pac-12 Championship game is set.
The No. 16 Washington Huskies secured an upset 28-15 win over the No. 8 Washington State Cougars to claim the North Division and a spot in the conference’s title game for the second time in three seasons. The Huskies improve to a 9-3 record and will face South Division champion Utah on Friday.
The Huskies scored first on a 5-yard rushing touchdown by running back Myles Gaskin in a snowy rivalry matchup. Gaskin would finish the game with 166 yards and three touchdowns en route to his fourth consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season.
Washington State, which entered the game with a 10-1 record and an outside shot at the College Football Playoffs, struggled to overcome the snowy weather at home and were limited in their traditional air-raid attack on offense. Quarterback Gardner Minshew, a possible Heisman contender, finished throwing for 152 yards and three interceptions on 26-of-35 passing in the poor conditions.
The Cougars will now wait to see their bowl fate, with hopes of claiming one of the coveted New Year’s Six bowl games. Pending where the College Football Playoff selection committee positions Washington State in the rankings, there’s a possibility they could claim a Fiesta Bowl invite.
Utah and Washington opened up conference play earlier in the season with the Huskies claiming a 21-7 win over a lackluster Utah program. Utah managed only 261 yards of total offense and a single touchdown in the loss. The Huskies would put the game away in the third quarter on a 6-yard touchdown pass to Ty Jones to earn the game’s final score.
Utah’s offense has since improved since the loss to Washington and is averaging 423.6 yards of total offense and 30.5 points per game. In comparison, the Huskies are averaging 415.3 total yards and 28.0 points per game.
The Pac-12 Championship game will be played next Friday at 6 p.m. MT at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The game will be broadcast on Fox and ESPN 700.
