The Pac 12’s slim hope of the CFP was taken away with Washington winning the Apple Cup, but it also sets the stage for the Pac 12 title with one team that was expected there. But the other? Not quite. This week also featured 2 amazing come from behind victories, both with 2 bitter rivals that will live in each other’s rivalries forever.
#16 Washington 28, #8 Washington State 15
Mike Leach and Gardner Minshew’s magical run has finally come to a close with Washington crashing the party and getting the last say so in a 28-15 win over the Cougars. Minshew had by far, his worst game of the year with 152 yards and 2 interceptions. Wazzou was held under 300 yards for the first time all year as Ben Burr-Kirven led the way for the Huskies with 10 tackles and an interception. Byron Murphy also collected an interception from Minshew. Although Browning didn’t play terribly well, Myles Gaskin did as he stepped up in a big way for 170 yards and 3 touchdowns on 27 carries. Hunter Bryant led the way for Washington 108 receiving yards and a touchdown, including a 59 yard TD catch. After being down 13, Peyton Henry’s PAT attempt would be blocked and taken back for two points. Then, after a UW turnover, James Williams would punch it in from a yard out to put Washington State back into the game. Until Myles Gaskin came with a gut punch with an 80 yard run to put UW back up 13 and Wazzou could never recover. Ironically, in a snowy game, the Huskies were able to get the big win and return back to the Pac 12 Title game to face Utah. Washington State will be waiting for Sunday, hoping to end up in a rather notable Bowl game.
Oregon 55, Oregon State 15
Oregon basically Oregon State’d Oregon State. One of the better rushing attacks in the conference was stonewalled to just 54 rushing yards, while giving up nearly 400 yards on the ground. Troy Dye had 199 yards and 2 touchdowns. The main star was C.J. Verdell who flourished with 187 yards and 4, yes, 4 Touchdowns. Herbert didn’t do much as he only attempted 12 passes, but that’s all he needed to do. Isiah Hodgins led the way for OSU in receiving with 133 yards on 8 catches as he seems to be the #1 Target for the Beavers in 2019. Sophomore CB Thomas Graham Jr. had a career day for the Ducks with 6 tackles, 2 interceptions, including a pick 6. Oregon was expecting a bit more out of this season and Pac 12 Title aspirations were certainly in the mind of many Duck fans. But 8-4 all in all is a solid season and with a bowl win, it could give more momentum heading into 2019 and maybe gives Justin Herbert more thinking into whether he wants to stay in school or declare.
#3 Notre Dame 24, USC 17
Props to USC for hanging around with Notre Dame. No one expected USC to even be competitive and the fact that they held Notre Dame to 7 points and gave J.T. Daniels a chance shows there is hope. J.T. threw 51 passes in this game and struggled to run the ball at all. Vaughns, St. Brown, and Pittman Jr. all had over 90 receiving yards, but Pittman and St. Brown both had costly fumbles that gave Notre Dame chances to close things out. Ian Book passed for 352 yards and 2 touchdowns as well as Dexter Williams with 97 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Cameron Smith led the way with 12 tackles and 2 Tackles for Loss. Although USC did fall in this game and is out of bowl contention, there are positives to look forward too. USC was extremely young on offense with almost all of their talent coming back for 2019. They have key pieces on the defense they can build around with LB Cameron Smith and CB Iman Marshall. USC will make it back to 8-9 win season and Clay Helton’s seat will start getting cooler pretty soon. If you’re a Trojan fan, don’t be worried. Things will be okay.
#17 Utah 35, BYU 27
After being down as much as 20 points, nothing says more like a good old rivalry than choking that lead and losing to your #1 hated rival. And that’s exactly what BYU did. It all started through slow methodical touchdown drives (14 plays, 9 plays and 10 play drives) that would lead to the final dagger with a 33 yard keeper from Jason Shelley to give Utah the win even without Tyler Huntley, who looks like is done for the year. BYU had the time of possession and total yards advantage, but still fell. Zach Wilson had a heck of a game for the Cougars as he led the team in passing and rushing (204 passing, 73 rushing). Utah was able to buckle down and LB Chase Hansen had 13 tackles, including 3 of them behind the line of scrimmage. After an emotional win, it’ll be interesting to see if Utah will be prepared for Washington and a chance to make the Rose bowl in a season where Utah has been another surprise team to come from the Pac 12.
Stanford 49, UCLA 42
If you expected 91 points between these 2, then bravo to you. Neither team’s pass defense played well as Costello and Speight combined for over 800 total yards. K.J’s 5 touchdowns and JJ Arcega-Whiteside’s 106 yards and 3 touchdowns was enough. When Speight wasn’t airing it out for 466 yards, it was Stanford’s rush that was able to get to him as Stanford recorded 6 sacks and 10 TFL’s. UCLA’s lack of finding the end zone through the air and ability to convert on third down (3-14) really cost the Bruins. They were also 3-5 on 4th down conversions. Caleb Wilson feasted against Stanford’s secondary with 184 yards. Stanford has another game against Cal where they try to improve their bowl placing, but based on how the year started, Stanford fans are slightly underwhelmed with how they’ve played this year. UCLA and Chip Kelly look prepared to move on with this season where UCLA was really young and with another year, UCLA should be making a bowl game in 2019.
Arizona State 41, Arizona 40
Part two of “crazy comebacks” is featured in Tucson as Arizona State comes back from down 19 to defeat Arizona as well as no bowl game for the Wildcats in 2018. Khalil Tate is rumored to be transferring after beginning the year with high expectations for the Wildcats as well as Tate himself. Tate was as projected 5th in the preseason Heisman odds and fell off a cliff when teams forced him to stay in the pocket and keep a spy so he couldn’t run as much. Tate did play really well in this game with 282 yards and 3 touchdowns to just one interception. Arizona State controlled the 4th quarter with a couple of Ruiz FG’s a 11 yard touchdown from Manny Wilkins. After a J.J. Taylor fumble, Arizona State didn’t hesitate to strike as Eno Benjamin would run it from 22 yards out to give ASU the lead with 3 minutes left. Khalil Tate was able to led Arizona down the field and with 17 seconds left, UA had a chance to pull it out. But Josh Pollack missed a 45 yard FG that would give ASU the come from behind victory. Benjamin had 3 TD’s and Manny Wilkins accounted for over 300 yards. Arizona State will be awaiting a middle tier bowl game as Arizona will be sitting at home in December.
California 33, Colorado 21
Colorado capped off the complete collapse of contending to the Pac 12 title all the way to a losing season. Montez struggled to pass the ball and although Colorado ran the ball okay, it was not enough. Cal forced 5 turnovers (including 2 pick 6’s). They didn’t need a ton of offense, but they had a ton of playmakers on defense. Eric Weaver finished with 19 tackles, a sack, and 2 TFL’s. Senior LB Jordan Kunaszyk also finished with 14 tackles. Safety Ashtyn Davis had a night to remember with 2 interceptions, including one of those pick 6’s. Connor Garbers didn’t play extremely well, but it was just enough with 116 yards and 2 touchdowns. With one game left against Stanford, Bowl placement is on the line whether it could be a visit to Phoenix (Cheez-It Bowl) or San Diego (Holiday Bowl). Colorado stays home as the search for a new Head Coach begins and hopefully some stability among the program.
Offensive POTW: Myles Gaskin RB Washington
Co-Defensive POTW: Ashtyn Davis S Cal, Thomas Graham Jr. CB Oregon
Final Regular Season Record: 63-27 (.700)
Image Credit: https://www.heraldnet.com/sports/washington-running-back-gaskin-is-proud-of-his-lynnwood-roots/
