Washington wins Pac-12, eyes playoff slot

4 in the most recent rankings, walloped No. 8 Colorado 41-10 Friday night in the Pac-12 title game in a performance that could prove to be the cherry on top of the Huskies’ College Football Playoff resume. In fact, it just may have sealed Washington’s place in the College Football Playoff.

The big thing is that Washington did their job and impressed on all sides of the ball.

“I think there’s no doubt about that”, Washington coach Chris Petersen said. His sprint to the end zone, to give a better advantage for the Washington Huskies, have shown that the team was well prepared.

“I think it’s the same kind of focus because we’ve wanted to win every single game this entire season and this game is no different in my mind than other games”, quarterback Sefo Liufau said. The CFP committee will set the entire Top 25 and if Colorado drops enough due to its loss to Washington, the Trojans could find a way to play in the prestigious Rose Bowl. When their high-powered passing attack sputtered, they kept the ball on the ground. Freshman defensive back Taylor Rapp had two picks, including returning one for a score.

“It’s so insane”, Rapp said of his reaction to the victory. “It’s all so insane, it’s all so surreal”. “It’s so surreal, feels like a dream come true”.

Washington (12-1) got off to a quick start, marching 65 yards on an opening drive capped by Lavon Coleman’s one-yard run.

It was a rough day for Colorado (10-3, No. 8 CFP) and Liufau, who was knocked out of the game after twisting his right ankle on a sack on the Buffaloes’ first drive of the game. The Buffs marched down the field and scored on a three-yard run by Phillip Lindsay. Jake Browning had a pretty good game last night he went 9-of-24 for 118 yards and had 2 touchdowns in the game.

Washington (12-1) won its first conference title since 2000 and will find out Sunday whether it is one of the four teams selected to participate in the playoff for the national championship.

The Colorado Buffaloes and Washington Huskies clash Friday night in the college football Pac-12 Championship at Levi’s Stadium on FOX.

“We’re not in yet”, Rapp warned. “With that being said, we all know it takes some time to develop a program and how you’re going to do things”.

Colorado has been one of the most improved teams in the nation, going from four wins last season to 10 this season. The spread also favors the Huskies. Colorado has been a Cinderella team all season, so I believe that their drive to win will prevail in this match-up.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – There is a lot at stake in tonight’s Pac-12 championship game in Santa Clara, California, as fourth-ranked Washington faces No. 9 Colorado.

This wasn’t the storybook ending Colorado had hoped for.