Peyton Henry scored a 22-yard field goal with 8 seconds remaining to complete a 92-yard scoring driving, and Washington scored a No. 24 Oregon on Friday night to keep its hopes up in the Pac-12 championship game. Stopped stat 24-21. Caste.
The Huskies took over on their own 3 with 4:33 remaining. Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. led the march downfield against the Beavers’ stingy defense. Penix was 9 out of 13 for 66 yards on the drive. His push pass to Giles Jackson for 12 yards landed the Husky at Oregon State 2. After a few imperfections, the Huskies set for a short field goal and Henry delivered the winning kick.
Washington (7-2, 4-2 Pac-12) won for the third time in a row and kept alive his slim hopes of a place in the conference title match in Las Vegas. Penicks, the nation’s leader in passing, had 30 of 52 for 298 yards and a 24-yard touchdown pass to Jack Westover in the third quarter.
Wayne Taulapapa ran for two touchdowns for Washington, the second coming early in the fourth quarter to level the score 21-21. Rome Odunja had seven receptions for 102 yards.
The game was not without some typical late-night Pac-12 wackiness. Blurry winds affected the passing and kicking game throughout the night, and play was halted for 25 minutes in the fourth quarter, with some stadium lights illuminating the ground due to a partial power outage.
Deshan Fenwick ran for a pair of touchdowns and linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold returned an interception from 37 yards for a score for Oregon State, his first game in the AP Top 25 since the 2013 season opener was.
But the Beavers (6-3, 3-3) will lament about two missed opportunities in the first half, going fourth at the end of Washington’s field and failing to convert. The windy, foggy conditions made for an adventure all night, but failing to score points on those drives came back to bite the state of Oregon.
The Beavers were given the opportunity to extend their early lead on the property in succession to fourth and 2 in Washington 7 and fourth and 3 in Washington 15.
Damien Martinez had a run of 107 yards for Oregon State.
lights out
Taulpapa scored a 4-yard TD run with 11:36 remaining. But as the Huskies observed, a bank of stadium lights went out on the north side of the stadium. Washington kicked extra point to pull it up 21-21 as well, but the southbound light went down after the kick.
After officials engaged with stadium staff, it was announced that there would be a delay in the return of the lights. After about 20 minutes the lights were on again and the game resumed after a 25-minute break.
flashback
Unstable weather and delays in the fourth quarter brought back memories of 2019 when Washington and California played a night game that was delayed by a lightning storm in the Seattle area. That game was delayed by more than 2 1/2 hours and ended at 1:22 local time.
takeaway
Oregon State: Beaver’s return to rankings will be brief. The state of Oregon has not been ranked for more than a week since 2012 when it reached No. 7 before losing to Washington.
Washington: The Huskies still need help getting into the conference title game and win in Oregon next week if they need a shot.
next
Oregon State: The Beaver will host California next Saturday.
Washington: The Huskies are next Saturday at No. 8, Oregon.
