PULLMAN — Michael Penix Jr. threw for 485 yards and five touchdowns as No. 12 Washington reclaimed the Apple Cup with a 51-33 win over Washington State on Saturday night.
A year after the Huskies watched the Cougars snap a seven-game losing streak on the Husky Stadium turf, Washington kept its New Year’s Day 6 bowl hope alive thanks to its outstanding quarterback and some defensive stops in the second half. .
The 84 total points were the most in 114 meetings between the rivals.
Washington (10-2, 7-2 Pac-12, No. 13 CFP) outscored the Cougars (7-5, 4-5) 23-6 in the second half after a dizzying 55-point, 630-point first half yards of offense and a 28-27 Huskies lead at halftime.
“What a game. You knew it would. We expected it to be crazy, especially in the first half,” Washington coach Cullen DeBoer said. “They showed that they are coming out swinging. And we weathered the storm and still had the lead.”
Rim Odunze had a 5-yard touchdown run in the opening moments of the fourth quarter. Peyton Henry hit a 20-yard field goal with 5:02 left and Wayne Taulapapa secured a 40-yard TD run with 1:28 left.
“We trusted our guys more than we trusted them,” Penix said. “We just took advantage of it. Every time we had a shot, I made sure I gave those guys a chance to come down with the ball and they did.”
The Huskies finished with 703 yards against a Washington State defense that led the Pac-12 in defenses held to less than 20 points per game. If not for two Huskies turnovers in the second half, the margin of victory could have been much larger.
“We gave away 51 points. I’m not focused on offense,” Washington State coach Jake Dickert said. “We win as a team, we lose as a team. It was not our best performance. I thought the offense gave us a chance to stay in the game.”
Washington’s win also sent Utah to the Pac-12 Championship as an opponent for Southern California next week in Las Vegas.
Cameron Ward threw for 322 yards and two touchdowns for Washington State, but the Cougars failed to score on five of their six second-half possessions. Odunze had five catches for 157 yards and a touchdown and Jalen McMillan caught six passes for 150 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown reception on the first play of the second half that gave the Huskies a 35-27 lead.
Washington has won eight of nine in the series and the last four games in Pullman. Washington State has won back-to-back Apple Cups for the first time since 2007-08.
“It’s not easy to win 10 games. Even in our program’s 100-plus years of tradition and history, there have only been select teams, and we’ve done that. It’s been a special year,” DeBoer said.
Penix was 25 of 43 passing and nearly topped 500 yards for the second time this season. He threw for 242 yards in the first half for 55 points, seven lead changes and 630 yards.
Penix threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more in the first half, one of which was a 30-yard run that turned out to be a double lateral.
Penix connected with Ja’Lynn Polk on a 26-yard TD and a 47-yard TD with Odunze on a double play.
Washington State also had some tricks up its sleeve. Running back Nick Haberer hit linebacker Dayon Henley on a 36-yard pass that set up Washington State’s first TD. It was one of four fourth-down conversions for the Cougars and Ward finished the drive with a 14-yard touchdown.
Ward added a 34-yard touchdown pass to Robert Ferrell on fourth-and-10 and a 15-yard TD pass to Nakia Watson. Dean Janikowski’s second field goal on the final play of the half put the Cougars up 28-27 at halftime.
“They were one step ahead of us every step of the way,” Dickert said.
FOR TAKE AWAY
Washington: Odunze and McMillan combined for over 1,000 yards on the season. This is the first time in school history that the Huskies have had two 1,000-yard receivers in the same season.
Washington State: The Cougars had the top scoring defense in the conference starting the game, giving up 19.8 points per game. But there were no answers to slow the Huskies, especially on third down when Washington converted on 11 of 13 attempts.
FURTHER
Both teams will know their destination on December 4 when the competition selections become official.
#12 WASHINGTON 51, WASHINGTON STATE 33
| Washington | 7 | 21 | 7 | 16 | — | 51 |
| Washington St | 10 | 17 | 6 | 0 | — | 33 |
The first quarter
WSU—FG Janikowski 50, 12:18.
WASH — Polk 26 pass from Penix (Henry kick), 5:23.
WSU—C.Ward 14 run (Janikowski kick), :53.
The second quarter
VASH — Odunze 47 pass from Penix (Henry kick), 13:27.
WSU—Ferrel 34 pass from C.Ward (Janikowski kick), 11:05.
WASH—Penix 30 run (Henry kick), 9:41.
WSU—Watson 15 pass from C.Ward (Janikowski kick), 5:07.
WASH—Penix 4 run (Henry kick), 1:40.
WSU—FG Janikowski 29, :00.
The third quarter
WASH — McMillan 75 pass from Penix (Henry kick), 14:50.
WSU—Watson 4 (run failed), 6:30.
The fourth quarter
WASH—Odunze 5 run (kick failed), 2:30 p.m.
WASH — FG Henry 20, 5:02.
WASH—Taulapapa, 40th run (Henry kick), 1:28.
| WASH | WSU | |
|---|---|---|
| The first falls | 30 | 28 |
| Total net yards | 703 | 433 |
| Yard mats | 24-218 | 36-75 |
| Passage | 485 | 358 |
| Punt returns | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Initial return | 2-28 | 4-87 |
| Interceptions Ret. | 0-0 | 1-0 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 25-43-1 | 34-53-0 |
| Sacked-Yards Lost | 0-0 | 6-45 |
| Panty | 1-43.0 | 4-40.0 |
| Matsae-Lost | 1-1 | 2-0 |
| Penalty yards | 10-104 | 5-40 |
| Time of possession | 26:26 | 33:34 |
SEPARATE STATISTICS
RUSHING—Washington, Taulapapa 13-126, K. Davis 6-55, Penix 2-34, Odunze 1-5, Nixon 1-0, (Team) 1-(minus 2). Washington St., Watson 15-73, Jenkins 4-10, (Team) 1-(minus 3), C.Ward 16-(minus 5).
TRANSITION — Washington, Penix 25-43-1-485. Washington St., C. Ward 33-52-0-322, Haberer 1-1-0-36.
RECEIVING—Washington, McMillan 6-150, Odunze 5-157, Polk 4-82, G.Jackson 2-37, Westover 2-14, Culp 2-12, T.Davis 1-12, Taulapapa 1-9, K. Davis 1-6, Moore 1-6. Washington St., Smithson 7-58, Stribling 7-58, Watson 7-41, Ferrel 4-71, Victor 3-24, Ollie 2-39, Henley 1-36, Peters 1-14, Riviere 1-11, Grover 1-6.
