The Washington Huskies destroyed Washington State 45-17 in the Apple Cup, proving that they belong in the College Football Playoff.
Make no mistake about it: this is an impressive win for Chris Petersen’s squad. Washington State entered this contest with a 7-1 record in Pac-12 play, which included a decisive 42-16 win over Stanford. Considering that the Cougars had the second-best passing offense in the country, many expected Friday’s game to be a close one.
It wasn’t. Washington scored touchdowns on its first four possessions to grab an early 28-3 lead. While Washington State would play the Huskies relatively even after that, the Cougars never really threatened Washington in this contest. The UW defense was simply too good, holding the Cougars’ offense – which ranked 10th nationally in yards per game – to a season-low 334 yards. It also picked off Wazzu quarterback Luke Falk – who had only thrown seven interceptions all season – three times, including a crucial pick right before halftime that prevented the Cougars from getting back in the game.
With the victory, Washington proved that it belongs in the College Football Playoff if it were to win the Pac-12 championship. Sure, the Huskies didn’t exactly play a tough non-conference schedule. But, they did manage to navigate through a brutal Pac-12 slate with only one loss. If UW were to win the Pac-12 championship, it would finish the season with a victory over either a top 10 opponent (Colorado) or the hottest team in college football (USC). A win over the Trojans – who need for Utah to upset Colorado to play for the conference championship – would definitely help the Huskies’ case, since a victory in that contest will have avenged their only loss of the season.
Regardless of which team it beats in the Pac-12 title game, it’d be very hard to leave the Huskies out of the field. After all, the team we saw on the field against Washington State was definitely one of the four best teams in the country.
