Utah clinched their first Pac-12 division title and will play the winner of the Apple Cup between Washington and Washington State.
Utah will play for the Pac-12 championship for the first time in program history.
It’s been a great success story for head coach Kyle Whittingham making the jump from the Group of Five into the Power 5 in 2011. They’ve been the best team in the division all year while others have been inconsistent at best and really bad at their worst.
The Pac-12 only has one team left who could be a serious contender for the College Football Playoff, and they certainly put on a show on Saturday. Led by star quarterback Gardner Minshew, the Washington State Cougars pasted the Arizona Wildcats, putting up nearly 70 on their Pac-12 North rival. The Cougs travel to Washington for the annual Apple Cup rivalry game with the Huskies with a spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game on the line. The winner of that game will meet Utah.
Here are our latest 2018 Pac-12 power rankings entering the final week of the regular season.
The Oregon State Beavers may have the worst record in the Pac-12 this season, but there have been some bright spots along the way. Freshman running back Jermar Jefferson is an absolute stud, and he put another exclamation point on a terrific first season for the Beavers on Saturday.
Jefferson rushed for 115 yards for Oregon State, averaging over six yards per carry. Jake Luton threw for nearly 200 yards and a touchdown, as he did not turn the ball over, but the defense just had no answer for the Washington Huskies in this one.
The Huskies were able to run all over the Beavers defense, as they controlled the ball for most of the game, and really put Oregon State out of it early. By the time you could blink, the Huskies had scored 21 points in the first six minutes and rolled to a 42-23 victory. Oregon State will host Oregon this week in the Civil War Game.
The Colorado Buffaloes were one of the hottest teams in the Pac-12 to start the season, as they got out to a 5-0 start. However, they have not won a game since, and incredibly, they are in danger of missing out on a bowl despite the solid start to the campaign.
To make matters worse, the Buffaloes will be looking for a new coach for next season, as the school decided to fire head coach Mike MacIntyre on Sunday. MacIntyre was actually the Coach of the Year in college football back in 2016, when he led Colorado to a berth in the Pac-12 title game, but it has been downhill ever since.
For Colorado, it will be back to the drawing board, as they really have not been able to get anything done on either side of the ball in recent weeks. They have a talented quarterback in Steven Montez, but his weapons have been out, though they were available on Saturday, and the Buffaloes still mustered nothing on offense. They head to play Cal this weekend.