Follow along live as the No. 4 UW Huskies take on the No. 9 Colorado Buffs in the Pac-12 championship game at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara.

In a showdown of the league’s best defenses, Washington left no doubt.

The Huskies, for the first time in 16 years, are back on top of the Pac-12 Conference.

Taylor Rapp returned an interception for a touchdown on the first snap of the second half to highlight another dominant performance from Washington’s defense, and the No. 4 Huskies stuffed No. 9 Colorado, 41-10, in the Pac-12 championship game Friday at Levi’s Stadium.

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Using our mobile app? Switch to browser »</s>“We’re trying to get this program back to how it used to be and give the fans the type of football they’re used to seeing,” UW senior cornerback Kevin King says.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — As unlikely as the pairing is for Friday’s Pac-12 Conference championship game, one person apparently expected Washington and Colorado to be here all along.

Colorado offensive-line coach Klayton Adams played at Boise State and has remained close with UW’s Chris Petersen and UW offensive-line coach Chris Strausser. In July, Adams sent Petersen a memorable text message: “Good luck,” it read. “See you in Santa Clara in a couple months.”

Petersen, relaying the message this week, recalled chuckling at the notion in the summer.

“Sure enough,” he said, “here we are.”

That the No. 4 Huskies arrived at this point isn’t a total surprise. By July, this had already been built up as Washington’s most anticipated season since 2000, and it has played out up to this point about as well as anyone around UW could have reasonably hoped.

Few outside of the Colorado football offices could have projected this kind of breakthrough for the No. 9 Buffaloes, who are not only in the midst of their first winning season in a decade but playing for, at worst, their first Rose Bowl berth.

Kickoff at Levi’s Stadium is set for 6 p.m. Friday for a Fox (Channel 13) broadcast.

This has been a long time coming for both programs. The Huskies (11-1) are seeking their first Pac-12 championship since 2000. The Buffaloes (10-2) are seeking their first conference title since 2001, when they were in the Big 12.

“It’s really exciting for us,” UW senior offensive lineman Jake Eldrenkamp said. “Not a lot of us remember when the Dawgs were up on top. I think it’s fun for Husky Nation and it’s fun for all of us to be back on top.”

The Huskies enter Friday’s championship game ranked No. 4 by the College Football Playoff committee, and a victory over Colorado would seem to secure UW’s first national playoff berth. The committee will release its final rankings and bowl pairings on Sunday morning, after all the conference-championships games are played over the next two days.

If the Huskies win Friday, most national media outlets project they would hold on to their No. 4 ranking and play No. 1 Alabama in the Peach Bowl on New Year’s Eve. The other national-semifinal game is at the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona; to get there, the Huskies probably need to win and have No. 3 Clemson lose to Virginia Tech in the ACC championship game Saturday night.

Petersen was asked Monday how confident he was that the committee would place the Huskies in a national semifinal if his team wins the Pac-12 title.

“I feel pretty good. Pretty confident,” he said. “I’ve always said that. We take care of business, everywhere I’ve been, those people usually do the right thing. Our whole focus is on Colorado. We’ve got a big hurdle there, and if we can get over that hurdle, yeah.”

The Buffaloes offer a formidable challenge, particularly with a defense ranked No. 1 in the Pac-12 in yards allowed. The Huskies boast the conference’s No. 1 scoring defense, meaning points could be at a premium for both sides.

“We’re not going to just be going up and down the field and scoring 60, 70 points. I don’t see that coming,” UW offensive coordinator Jonathan Smith said. “So being able to stick and grind through it. But when there are plays to be made we have to make them. You’re going to get maybe half a dozen (chances at big) plays in this game against a good defense. We have to make those.”

The most intriguing matchup pits UW sophomore quarterback Jake Browning against Colorado’s veteran secondary that rarely gives up big plays. Browning, three touchdowns shy of matching the Pac-12’s season record of 43 TD passes, will need a big game to earn an invitation to the Heisman Trophy ceremony next week in New York.

When UW and Colorado played in September 1990, they were both ranked in the top 20. The Buffaloes won that game 20-14 in Boulder and went on to win the national championship. UW went on to win the Rose Bowl that season and won a share of the national championship in ’91.

They are now among the nation’s elite again, and the stakes are greater than ever.

“We’re trying to get this program back to how it used to be and give the fans the type of football they’re used to seeing,” UW senior cornerback Kevin King said.

Since the conference expanded to 12 teams in 2001, the North has won all five championship games — Stanford in 2012, ’13 and ’15, and Oregon in ’11 and ’14.

In Boulder, the Buffs have been billed as a “team of destiny.” How unexpected is their march here? Consider that they’re just the third team in college football history to end a run of 10 consecutive losing seasons with a 10-win season.

A remarkable turnaround to set up an unlikely showdown Friday night.

“Seasons like this,” King said, “don’t happen by accident. They happen through that hard work and preparation. … We don’t want to put it to waste.”</s>It’s the first conference championship since 2000 for the Huskies (12-1), who will almost certainly be rewarded with their first College Football Playoff berth.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — After all that, after all his heroics, they got his name wrong.

Taylor Rapp delivered the emphatic exclamation point to another dominant defensive performance for the Washington Huskies, earning the most valuable player award in a 41-10 victory over Colorado in the Pac-12 championship game Friday night. And for that the trophy presenter called him Tyler Rapp.

The true-freshman safety from Bellingham quickly corrected the guy, and then held his MVP trophy aloft as teammates cheered.

The No. 4 Huskies offered a course correction of their own, sending a message to anyone who might have doubted their credentials.

No way the College Football Playoff committee gets this one wrong.

The Huskies (12-1) won their first conference championship since 2000, doing so in a fashion that should offer no debate about their worthiness for their first bid to the College Football Playoff.

The CFP committee on Sunday will release its final rankings of the season, and the Huskies bolstered their case with a victory over a No. 9 Colorado team that came into the week holding out hope of a playoff berth of its own.

Rapp closed that door on the Buffaloes (10-3) when he returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown on the first snap of the second half, extending UW’s lead to 21-7.

On Colorado’s next possession, Rapp added his second interception of the game off Colorado’s Sefo Liufau. That set up a UW field goal to push the margin to 17 points, and continued a most impressive week for Rapp, who three days earlier was named the Pac-12’s defensive freshman of the year.

“It felt so good,” said Rapp, standing in the UW end zone with purple and gold confetti at his feet, his MVP trophy in his hands. “I’m still trying to take it all in right now. It’s so surreal. It feels like a dream.”

Safety Ezekiel Turner had UW’s third interception of the second half, and the Huskies held the Buffaloes (10-3) to 163 yards of total offense — and just 50 in the second half.

“This is crazy. I’m speechless right now,” UW left tackle Trey Adams said during the on-field celebration. “This is what we all came here for.”

Washington has won 12 games in a season for just the second time in school history, joining the 12-0 national champions from 1991. The Huskies will now wait for the CFP committee’s announcement Sunday about where they will play their bowl game — the two semifinal games are the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona and the Peach Bowl in Atlanta — and one could make a strong case that the Huskies have earned a No. 2 or No. 3 seed.

Liufau, a graduate of Tacoma’s Bellarmine Prep, went down with an apparent ankle injury on the Buffaloes’ first series. He returned to start the third quarter, but his first pass went off the hands of receiver Jay MacIntyre and into the hands of Rapp, who returned it for the touchdown.

In the past four games, Rapp has four interceptions and a forced fumble.

The Huskies won the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, establishing a tough running game early with Myles Gaskin and Lavon Coleman to eventually wear down a Colorado defense that came into the game ranked No. 1 in the Pac-12 in fewest yards allowed.

Gaskin (159 yards) and Coleman (101 yards) both rushed for 100 yards to help offset an uncharacteristic slow start from star quarterback Jake Browning.

Browning had statistically his worst game of the season against Colorado’s excellent defensive secondary, completing just 9 of 24 passes for 118 yards. He did have two touchdown passes to tie Marcus Mariota for second place on the Pac-12’s single-season list with 42, one shy of Jared Goff’s 2015 record.

Browning’s second touchdown pass was one of the highlights of the season from John Ross III. Browning was hit from behind as he threw the pass to the flat on his right. Ross, with a defender closing in, leapt and reached high to haul in the pass with his right hand, as if casually pulling down a rebound. Ross then scooted untouched along the sideline for a 19-yard touchdown, extending Washington’s lead to 31-7.

Chico McClatcher added an 8-yard touchdown run with 4:32 left in the game to make it 41-10.

The loss ends a charmed season for Colorado (10-3), which had the greatest one-year turnaround in conference history to win the Pac-12 South.</s>In August of this year, as summer camp began and after coming off a 4-9 2015 season, players and coaches alike were frank about their hopes for 2016: “Our goal is to win the Pac-12 Championship.”

The 2016 Buffs defied all expectations in their 2016 campaign. They faced adversity, battled injuries and shook the Pac-12 Conference to its core by winning the South division, which put the team in the conference title game in Santa Clara. The No. 8 Buffaloes took on the No. 4 Washington Huskies on Friday at Levi’s Stadium and despite a very close first half, could not handle the Huskies’ ground attack nor find much rhythm offensively.

“I think that especially on the offensive side we didn’t really put out a very good performance tonight,” said senior quarterback Sefo Liufau. “I didn’t do a good job of preparing us and being able to give us quality drives.”

After time expired in the fourth quarter, the scoreboard read 41-10 in favor of Washington. The immediate ramification of the loss is that Colorado could lose consideration for a Rose Bowl appearance. Southern California defeated both CU and Washington this season and could very well get the nod instead.

The game began following Colorado’s 12th opening coin toss win of the season. The Buffs quickly deferred and kicked off to the Huskies. Junior placekicker Chris Graham proceeded to kick the ball out of bounds; the resulting penalty put the Huskies at their 35-yard line.

Washington would score on its opening drive, moving the ball 65 yards in seven plays to go up 7-0, courtesy of a one-yard touchdown run by Lavon Coleman. Coleman and his fellow running back Myles Gaskin torched the Buffaloes defense on Friday; they racked up 260 rushing yards on 47 attempts, good for a 5.5 yards per carry average.

After the Huskies’ opened up the scoring, the Buffs got the ball and began to move the ball downfield. Liufau was sacked on 2nd and 8 and stayed down after the play; he was pulled from the game with an apparent ankle injury and freshman Steven Montez stepped in.

“I hurt my ankle, there’s nothing to it, it’s just an injury,” Liufau said. He said the injury was a non factor in his play for the rest of the game. “We just didn’t execute and that’s probably the most frustrating part…we had a really good game plan going in…we just didn’t perform tonight.”

The Buffaloes would go on to turn the ball over on downs, failing to convert a 4th and 4 from Washington’s 36-yard line. But Colorado’s defense stepped up and stopped the Huskies on their next drive. Junior defensive lineman Timothy Coleman was in on two sacks of Washington quarterback Jake Browning, which stalled UW’s second drive of the game.

Colorado tied the game at seven when junior tailback Phillip Lindsay found the endzone on a three-yard rush, capping a seven-play, 55-yard drive.

The score remained tied for nearly the first 10 minutes of the second quarter, but Browning tossed the ball to Darrell Daniels for a 15-yard score. Washington went into halftime with a 14-7 lead.

The final 30 minutes of the game was a collective nightmare for the Buffaloes. Colorado received the ball to begin the second half and 16 seconds later, Liufau threw the ball to sophomore wideout Jay MacIntyre but was picked off by Washington’s taylor Rapp, who returned it 35 yards for the pick six. It was the first of Liufau’s three interceptions in the contest, all three of which were intended for MacIntyre.

“[Sefo] didn’t play quite as good as we’d like,” head coach Mike MacIntyre said. “He wasn’t limping around [following his ankle injury], the trainers had him doing all kinds of stuff and said he was ready to go.”

Liufau echoed similar thoughts regarding how his injury affected his game, but his uncharacteristically ineffective performance does raise questions regarding his ankle and whether Montez should have played the rest of the game.

The interception return was the major turning point in the game. Washington took a 21-7 lead and from there, Colorado struggled to do anything positive. The Buffs’ second half drives resulted in three picks, four punts and a field goal late in the third quarter. On the Buffs’ next drive, Liufau was again picked off by Rapp, whose return set up a Washington field goal.

Browning has a reputation of being one of the best quarterbacks in college football, but it was Washington’s run game that ran roughshod over the Buffaloes defense. Tailbacks Myles Gaskin and Lavon Coleman combined for 260 rushing yards in the game and averaged 5.5 yards per carry. Both backs had their way with the Colorado defense for the majority of the contest. It allowed Browning to relax. He went 9-of-24 with just 118 passing yards, but tossed two touchdowns.

“Every week we’ve got to stop the run,” senior safety Tedric Thompson said. “It was tough on us, especially in the first half, to try to stop the run…we weren’t able to do that today.”

Lindsay was kept in check. He finished with just a 2.8 yards per carry average, rushing for 53 yards on 19 attempts.

For Liufau, who battled through a Lisfranc foot fracture last season, recovering in borderline miraculous fashion and returning in 2016 as a major leader and generator of offense on this Colorado squad, his performance on Friday night seemed more like the result of a cruel jest by the football gods rather than reality.

Liufau finished the night completing 3-of-13 passes for just 21 yards and failed to throw a touchdown.

“You never want to come out and put your defense in [a tough] spot,” Liufau said. “It just falls back on being accurate and giving my receivers some balls they can take and they can run with, and I didn’t do that…I really, really messed up.”

On the night, Washington put up 383 total yards of offense compared to CU’s 163. The Buffs had just two red zone appearances and went 4-of-15 on third down. One positive during the game was senior linebacker Kenneth Olugbode, who set a Pac-12 Championship game record with his 19 tackles.

A quirky play happened on a kickoff return in the third quarter. Freshman wide receiver Anthony Julmisse fielded the kick and ran upfield, returning the ball 48 yards before fumbling while being tackled. Luckily, Lindsay was right in front of him and scooped the loose ball, returning it to the two-yard line. The Buffs would fail to find the endzone, but Graham converted a field goal, making the score 31-10 Washington. It was the final points Colorado mustered.

The camera zoomed in on Lindsay and company following the insane kick return play. Smiles were nowhere to be found. Colorado has not been a team to stay down in the dumps, but to lose in such a manner after a Cinderella season has a particular bite to it.

“”We’ve always been a team that was able to overcome adversity, and it’s just another one of those times,” Liufau said. “It just cut a little deeper this time.”

For Liufau and the Buffaloes, more work remains. The team will be assigned to its bowl game by the end of the weekend, and whether it’s the Rose Bowl or any other bowl, getting the win remains priority one.

“[You have to] pick yourself up and get ready to go to the next one,” MacIntyre said. “That’s the thing about sports; sports [are] sometimes tough.”

Contact CU Independent Head Sports Editor Justin Guerriero at justin.guerriero@colorado.edu and follow him on Twitter @TheHungry_Hippo</s>A sampling of national-media reaction in the wake of No. 4 Washington's 41-10 romp over Colorado in the Pac-12 championship game on Friday night.se

The Huskies made their case Friday night with a 41-10 victory over Colorado in the Pac-12 championship game. It was UW’s first conference title since 2000 and the win should have just about secured a berth in the College Football Playoff. The seedings will officially be unveiled on Sunday at 9 a.m. PT.

Until then, the speculation (not to mention actual games) will be unfolding all day Saturday. Below is a sampling of national-media reaction about what all this means for the Huskies:

ESPN.com’s Ted Miller sang the praises of Washington after its resounding win:

“Washington is back. It won its first conference title since 2000, but generations who preceded our present millennials can recall the Huskies as a Northwest power. This is a program that feels firmly set to compete on a national level under Petersen, much more so than a flash in the pan.”

Heather Dinich of ESPN.com said the Huskies did exactly what they needed to do:

“Committee chairman Kirby Hocutt said on Tuesday that Washington’s strength of schedule has been “a concern” for the committee, but at the very least, Washington is in a better spot now because it has a win over a top-10 team. Washington had a strong defensive effort and ran the ball well in a performance that should eliminate No. 5 Michigan from the conversation and certainly knock Colorado out.”

The Washington Post’s Chuck Culpepper wrote about the revival meeting that took place in Santa Clara:

“Of all the funky sounds that blare from all of college football in a vast, eccentric land, a familiar old one resurfaced in eminence on Friday night with 90 seconds left in a game long since spent. It came from the lower stands of Levi’s Stadium, some 700 miles south of its usual home. It was the sound of human beings barking like dogs, a Washington Huskies tradition, and it did count as a signal. Washington, a proud program that somehow bunched 100 losses into the 14 seasons that preceded this one, had finished a steep one-season climb into rarer and rarer air.”

Sam Cooper of Yahoo Sports’ Dr. Saturday blog said it should be a lock for the Huskies:

“It’s going to be hard to keep Washington out of the College Football Playoff now. Washington, ranked No. 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.”

USA Today’s George Schroeder said the rest of the Pac-12 should be afraid of the Huskies:

“This Washington team is well-drilled, as we’ve come to expect from Chris Petersen teams. It’s also talented — the Huskies weren’t operating at anything close to their full capacity on Friday night, but they easily beat Colorado 41-10 to win the Pac-12 championship. With a 12-1 regular season complete, Washington is one of the nation’s four best teams, based on the résumé or, if you’ve been watching for more than a half-hour or so, the eye test. But in a larger sense, the Huskies might just be getting started.”

Ken Goe of The Oregonian felt a little more cautious about the Huskies’ playoff chances:

“Pay close attention to what the College Football Playoff selection committee does tomorrow. And while you’re doing it, pay no attention to CFP propaganda that touts the playoff as a way to select college football’s national champion. It’s never been about that. It’s been about college football’s heavy hitters controlling as much of the postseason loot and attention as they can. Nobody is a heavier hitter than Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany. It will be interesting to see how many teams the Big Ten can push into the four-team playoff, and who gets left out in the process.”

The San Jose Mercury News’ Jon Wilner also took a wait-and-see approach on UW:

“Washington made its closing argument Friday night for inclusion in the College Football Playoff. It was impressive, thorough, resounding. But was it enough? With their 41-10 victory over Colorado in the Pac-12 title game at Levi’s Stadium, the Huskies will finish as a 12-win, one-loss champion of a power conference. No team with that profile has been left out of the playoff in its two years of existence.”

Ben Kercheval of CBSSports.com thought Washington should be included in his takeaways from the game:

“While speaking in certainties is usually a death sentence, we can say with almost complete confidence that Washington will be headed to the playoff. Beating a 10-win, top-10 opponent by 31 points is good no matter how you look at it, and there’s no reason to think the Huskies will drop because of the results this weekend. The only thing left to determine for Washington is seeding. As for the Big Ten, it better hope for a Virginia Tech upset over Clemson if it wants to get two teams into the field.”</s>Trainers attend to Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Sefo Liufau #13 who injured his right ankle in the first quarter against the Washington Huskies during the Pac-12 Championship game at Levi's Stadium December 02, 2016. Liufau had to come out of the game and got his ankle wrapped.</s>The Huskies are conference champs for the first time since 2000. It's kind of a big deal.

The No. 4 Washington Huskies are almost certainly playoff bound. UW left no doubt about that fact after defeating No. 9 Colorado 41-10 to win its first Pac-12 title and first conference title since 2000.

Running backs Myles Gaskin and Lavon Coleman tore up the Levi’s Stadium turf to the tune of 260 rushing yards and a touchdown. Freshman safety Taylor Rapp completed his transformation into an elite defensive back and proved why he earned the Pac-12’s freshman defensive player of the year award, picking off Sefo Liufau twice; Ezekiel Turner snagged another. And, oh, John Ross continued to streak across each football field he steps foot onto, hauling in four passes for 51 yards and a touchdown — one where he leaped and one-handed a throwaway from Jake Browning before rushing 19 yards into the end zone.

The Huskies dominated Colorado, and did so without much contribution from Browning. The sophomore, with an invitation to the Heisman trophy ceremony in New York still possibly awaiting him, completed only nine of his 24 pass attempts for 118 yards. But that dwarfed Liufau’s 3-for-13, 21-yard night.

In all, Washington turned in its most impressive effort since…last week? After beating the Cougars 45-17 in Pullman to win the Apple Cup, Washington traveled some 800 miles south and beat the Pac-12 South champs just as soundly on a neutral field.

Congratulations were in order. As was celebration, speculation and pure, unadulterated tweeting. We’ve compiled the best below.

View the story “Washington defeats Colorado 41-10 to win Pac-12 championship” on Storify</s>Chris Petersen on Huskies’ Pac-12 championship: ‘It always comes down to the big-time defense’</s>Washington (11-1) faces the Buffaloes (10-2) at 6 p.m. Friday (FOX TV) at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. UW is favored by 7.5 points.

The strength of Colorado’s vaunted defense, which leads the Pac-12 in fewest yards allowed (323.8 per game) and passing yards allowed (187.8), is its secondary that includes three starters (cornerbacks Chidobe Awuzie and Ahkello Witherspoon and strong safety Tedric Thompson) who were second-team All-Pac-12 performers. The Buffaloes’ defensive backfield allows only 5.4 yards per pass attempt — third-best in FBS. They play a fair amount of man coverage, which allows them to bring extra players on the pass rush and clog the middle to defend the run.

Washington hasn’t faced a lot of man coverage this year because opponents were fearful of being burned deep by quarterback Jake Browning, the Pac-12 offensive MVP, and speedy receivers John Ross III and Dante Pettis, who have 16 and 14 touchdowns, respectively.

Still, blitzing Browning isn’t a smart move. According to Pro Football Focus, he’s thrown 11 touchdowns and no interceptions while completing 68.8 percent of his throws against the blitz. The key to rattling Browning is getting pressure with a four-man rush. In that scenario, he completes less than half of his passes. Keeping Browning upright is essential for UW. And he’ll likely test CU’s secondary on deep throws when he sees man-to-man coverage on the outside.

Colorado has an unconventional offensive attack, which features Sefo Liufau as a dual-threat quarterback who is dangerous as a passer and a power runner. He’s second on the team with 483 yards rushing, while averaging 12 carries per game. That’s six fewer carries per game than running back Phillip Lindsay (1,136 rushing yards and 15 TDs). Liufau is exceptionally dangerous as a runner on short-yardage situations and around the goal line. He has seven rushing TDs.

Without linebackers Azeem Victor (broken leg), their leading tackler, and Joe Mathis (foot injury), the Huskies will rely heavily on their oversized defensive line to slow down the Buffaloes. Washington has a massive front that features three defensive tackles (Elijah Qualls, Vita Vea and Greg Gaines) who received all-conference honors. UW leads the Pac-12, allowing just 127 rushing yards per game. Colorado, which averages 201.1 rushing yards per game, was held under 100 just twice this season — both defeats.

These teams are so evenly matched on both sides of the ball that it feels as if a big punt or kickoff return, turnover or fluky play could be the difference. The Huskies have two of the best returners in the Pac-12 in Pettis and Ross. And we know UW coach Chris Petersen has a book full of trick plays.

It goes without saying that whichever team wins the turnover battle greatly enhances its chances of prevailing. Washington and Colorado rank 1 and 2 respectively in the Pac-12 in turnover ratio. They are two of only eight FBS teams with more takeaways than touchdowns allowed.

Also the Huskies, who played last Friday, had an extra day to prepare for Colorado, which wrapped up its regular season on Saturday. The Buffaloes defeated No. 22 Utah in a physically taxing 27-22 victory while UW had a relatively easy time crushing Washington State 45-17.</s>SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Taylor Rapp returned one of his two interceptions for a touchdown and Myles Gaskin ran for 159 yards to help No. 4 Washington strengthen its case for a playoff berth with a 41-10 victory over No. 9 Colorado in the Pac-12 championship game Friday night.

The Huskies (12-1, No. 4 CFP) broke open a close game when Rapp intercepted Sefo Liufau’s passes on the first two drives of the second half for a touchdown and to set up a field goal that made it 24-7.

Washington rolled from there to its first conference title since 2000 with a performance likely to keep the Huskies in the top four when the College Football Playoff bids are handed out Sunday.

It was a rough day for Colorado (10-3, No. 8 CFP) and Liufau, who was knocked out of the game after injuring his right leg on a sack on the Buffaloes’ first drive of the game. He returned to start the second half and threw three interceptions, including one on the first play from scrimmage that Rapp returned 35 yards for a score.

Liufau threw another interception on the ensuing drive and Colorado could never recover. Even a circus kick return in the third quarter couldn’t help the Buffaloes. Anthony Julmisse returned a kick to near midfield and fumbled. Phillip Lindsay scooped up and ran down to the 2 but Colorado was held to a field goal.

Colorado: From the opening kickoff that went out of bounds, little went right for the Buffaloes, who were unable to cap an impressive turnaround season with a conference title. Liufau’s injury didn’t help the cause. Steven Montez went 5 for 12 for 60 yards in the first half and was unable to generate any consistent offense and Liufau was even worse when he returned. He threw as many interceptions in the third quarter (3) as he had all season and was just 2 for 12 for 12 yards after coming back into the game.

Washington: The usually efficient Jake Browning struggled throwing the ball but it didn’t matter as the Huskies dominated the game with 265 yards on the ground behind Gaskin and Lavon Coleman (101 yards). Browning went just 9 for 24 for 118 yards but did throw two TDs. His second touchdown was far from his prettiest throw of the season. With a defender draped all over him, Browning threw a ball up from grabs that John Ross caught in front of Chidobe Awuzie and ran in 19 yards for the score. Browning’s 42 TDs are one shy of Jared Goff’s Pac-12 record.

Colorado: The Buffaloes must wait to see if they will remain ahead of No. 11 USC in the playoff rankings and get a Rose Bowl bid if Washington goes to the playoff or likely head to the Alamo Bowl if they drop behind the Trojans.

Washington: A likely berth in the playoff.
In the Pac-12 Conference, the Washington Huskies defeat the Colorado Buffaloes 41–10 to win the Pac-12 Football Championship Game. It is the first Pac-12 football title for the Huskies since the conference expanded to 12 schools in 2011.