LAS VEGAS — As Dillon Johnson unleashed a guttural roar that followed a five-yard score, woofs rained from the west side of Allegiant Stadium. No. 3 Washington had surged to a 10-0 lead in the final Pac-12 championship game, leaving the west side woofing and the east side reeling. This, early on, was a UW downpour. But in a 34-31 Washington win, the Huskies survived a second-half storm. Despite entering the game as 9.5-point underdogs, the Huskies (13-0) didn’t hesitate. They mounted a 15-play, 54-yard march in their opening drive, culminating in a 38-yard Grady Gross field goal. From a play and clock (seven minutes and 26 seconds) standpoint, it was the longest drive of UW’s season. It was also the beginning of a long day for the Oregon Ducks. Those Ducks — winners of six straight games after succumbing in Seattle on Oct. 14 — went three-and-out on each of their first two drives, unexpectedly stagnant. Washington, meanwhile, produced a 32-yard Germie Bernard punt return that preceded the aforementioned Johnson score to take a 10-0 first-quarter lead.
Plus, Johnson — a 6-foot, 218-pound junior — did more than plow potential tackles. With 6:48 left in the second quarter, the Mississippi State transfer flipped to Bernard, who busted around the left edge and into the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown that extended the advantage to 17-3. After Gross tacked on another field goal, the Ducks stared down a 20-3 deficit with 1:39 left in the opening half. To that point, Oregon had been outgained 256 to 82. But it was two-for-one time. Oregon ripped off back-to-back touchdowns to end the first half and start the second, on a pair of 2-yard strikes from quarterback (and Heisman Trophy frontrunner) Bo Nix to tight end Terrance Ferguson. With nine seconds left in the second quarter, Ferguson snagged the floating football with his left hand to keep it close.
The 6-5, 255-pound tight end’s second touchdown was equally improbable — as Ducks coach Dan Lanning opted to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 2. Nix felt pressure, escaped to his right and found Ferguson in the middle of the south end zone. Twenty-two plays, 150 yards, two drives and two touchdowns later, the deficit was nearly dead. Which is when two Heisman contender quarterbacks traded unacceptable mistakes. First, UW’s Michael Penix Jr. felt pressure on third-and-10 and airmailed wide-open wide receiver Rome Odunze, surrendering an interception to cornerback Khyree Jackson instead. But Nix gave it back two plays later, scrambling right and unfurling a prayer … directly to UW defensive back Mishael Powell. And yet, with a precarious 20-17 lead, UW couldn’t capitalize. On third-and-1 from Oregon’s 27-yard line, Johnson appeared primed to convert … but fatefully fell for a 1-yard loss. Rather than attempting a 45-yard field goal, the Huskies gambled on fourth-and-2, and Penix was tracked down by Oregon nickelback Nikko Reed for an opportunity eroding sack.
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