Saturday's Top 25: No. 4 Washington finishes perfect regular season on walk-off FG
Seattle — Putting the cap on a perfect regular season — just the second in school history — required Washington coach Kalen DeBoer to make one of the riskiest calls of his career.
It helped to know the ball was likely to end up in the hands of Rome Odunze.
Odunze's 23-yard run on fourth-and-1 deep in Washington's own end helped set the stage for Grady Gross to kick a 42-yard field goal on the final play as the fourth-ranked Huskies beat Washington State, 24-21, on Saturday in the Apple Cup for an undefeated regular season.
“I think way back there’s been some risky plays, but I’d say it’s certainly up there given the moment, given the situation, given the field location, the time of game, all those thing,” DeBoer said.
Playing likely his final game at Husky Stadium, Odunze caught a 40-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter and hauled in a 21-yarder on the final play of the third quarter to give the Huskies a 21-14 lead.
But it's his run play, and the call made by DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb that'll live on in the history of the rivalry even with the teams no longer in the same conference starting next season. Facing fouth-and-1 at their own 29 with 1:11 left, Odunze took a pitch from quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and ran into Washington State territory.
“Man, what a play call. Got to give kudos to the offensive staff and coach DeBoer for believing in us on that,” Odunze said. "We just went out there and executed. It was perfect.”
The Huskies picked up 15 more yards later in the drive when Ron Stone Jr. was flagged for a questionable roughing call. After Odunze had to break up a potential interception at the goal line, Gross nailed the winner.
“I’m happy to do a little bit of something for all the big things that the rest of the team has done,” said Gross, who found out he was being put on scholarship in the locker room after.
Washington's past eight wins were decided by 10 points or less with six of those by one-score margins.
“Just being able to find a way to win in those tough moments I feel like it just shows this team's character and our will to win. That's what makes it so special,” Penix said.
In the final year of the Pac-12 before most of its members scatter to other conferences, Washington (12-0, 9-0) became the first school in the 12-team era to go unbeaten in the regular season. The last conference team to finish the regular season unbeaten was Oregon in 2010 before the conference expanded to 12 teams. Prior to that, the last unbeaten seasons belonged to Southern California during its run atop the conference in the mid-2000s.
The Huskies still have one more challenge ahead, facing No. 6 Oregon in the Pac-12 championship game Friday in Las Vegas with a victory likely putting Washington into the College Football Playoff.
They’ll need Penix to be better than he was against the Cougars (5-7, 2-7) . Penix had several miscommunications with his pass catchers and the final drive had a few questionable throws. He finished 18 of 33 for 204 yards, not exactly the closing statement that could have boosted his Heisman Trophy campaign.
But he made a handful of big plays and often looked Odunze’s way when they were needed. Odunze’s 40-yard TD came on a play-action pass and a blown coverage by the Cougars. His 21-yard score came one play after Jack Westover made a diving grab for 19 yards.
For much of the game, Washington State was the better team. The Cougars needed a win to reach bowl eligibility after snapping a six-game losing streak last week against Colorado.
Washington State quarterback Cam Ward threw for 317 yards and three touchdowns, but also had three interceptions. Ward threw touchdowns of 21 yards to Josh Kelly and 25 yards to Kyle Williams in the first half, and his 8-yard TD pass to Lincoln Victor with 5:58 left pulled the Cougars even at 21.
But Washington State couldn’t take advantage of holding the Huskies to a three-and-out on Washington's ensuing possession. Ward was incomplete on third down from his own 47 and the Cougars punted back to Washington with 1:59 remaining.
Victor had 11 catches for 88 yards and Kelly finished with eight receptions for 106 yards.
More Top 25
▶ No. 8 Alabama 27, Auburn 24: Jalen Milroe and Isaiah Bond rescued Alabama’s playoff hopes, connecting for a last-minute touchdown on fourth-and-goal from the 31 to beat Auburn.
Bond caught Milroe’s pass in the left corner of the end zone with 32 seconds left to give the Crimson Tide (11-1, 8-0 Southeastern Conference) a 10th straight win in the latest dramatic Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Trailing by four with 1:43 left, Alabama had first-and-goal at the Auburn 7 before moving backward. The Crimson Tide lost 18 yards on a bad snap and were pushed back 5 more yards with an illegal downfield pass on third down after Milroe crossed the line of scrimmage.
Alabama nearly returned an interception for another touchdown on the final play. But this game will be remembered around the state for fourth-and-31, a play where Auburn didn’t try to put any pressure on Milroe before he spotted Bond.
Ja’Varrius Johnson scored on a 27-yard touchdown catch and a 12-yard run to put the Tigers (6-6, 3-5) in position to win.
Milroe passed for 259 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 107 more yards. Jermaine Burton had 107 yards receiving, including a 68-yard touchdown. Bond had five catches for 75 yards.
Payton Thorne passed for 91 yards and a touchdown and ran for 58 yards for Auburn.
▶ Kentucky 38, (at) No. 9 Louisville 31: Ray Davis broke free for a go-ahead, 37-yard touchdown run with 1:02 remaining and caught two second-half touchdowns, helping Kentucky rally past Louisville in the Governor's Cup.
Davis’ third score capped a wild second half in which the Bluegrass State rivals combined for 42 points and closed by alternating touchdowns.
Louisville (10-2, No. 10 CFP) tied the game at 31-all on Jack Plummer’s 21-yard touchdown pass to Ahmari Huggins-Bruce with 2:33 remaining. Jarvis Brownlee Jr. set up that score by intercepting Devin Leary’s floating pass as he was hit by Ashton Gillotte.
Kentucky (7-5) quickly drove into Louisville territory, and Davis found room on the left side and was gone for his 20th score that broke Benny Snell’s season record set in 2017.
Davis carried 14 times for 76 yards and caught four passes for 51 yards, including two 20-yard TDs from Leary.
The Wildcats won their fifth consecutive Governor’s Cup. Kentucky is bowl-bound but limped in with five losses in six games; Louisville is about to play for the Atlantic Coast Conference title and a possible New Year’s Six bowl game.
Plummer completed 24 of 33 passes for 242 yards and two scores for Louisville.