Utah and Washington square off in the Pac-12 Championship on Friday night.
Championship week has arrived and one of the first games on deck this weekend is the Pac-12 Championship. The Utah Utes will face the Washington Huskies in a battle for a conference title and a New Year’s Six Bowl berth. These teams last met in September where Washington defeated Utah 21-7.
Utah finished the regular season strong. They won four of their last five games, their most recent a 35-27 victory over rival BYU in the Holy War. The Utes enter Friday’s contest with a 9-3 overall and 6-3 conference record, putting them at first place in the Pac-12 South.
The road to the championship game has not been easy for Utah. Quarterback Tyler Huntley guided the Ute offense effectively for the first eight games before being lost for the year with an injury he suffered in the loss to Arizona State. In his absence, the team has turned to freshman Jason Shelley. He threw for a season-best 262 yards against Oregon in his first start and has thrown three touchdowns to one interception in his last two games.
Utah has leaned more on their running game down the stretch, but the injury bug got to Zack Moss as well. The junior accumulated 1,092 yards and 11 touchdowns before also going down for the year in the Arizona State game. Armand Shyne has taken over as the primary back and rushed for 174 yards in his first start also against Oregon and has five touchdowns on the year.
Despite two key offensive starters lost due to injury, Utah has weathered the storm. This is also the Utes’ first time playing in the Pac-12 title game since joining the conference in 2011. The last conference title came in 2008 when they were members of the Mountain West Conference in Kyle Whittingham’s third season.
Washington finished the regular season in similar fashion. The Huskies won four of their last five games, the only loss being a 12-10 upset against Cal that crushed their playoff hopes. After wins over Stanford and Oregon State, Washington won their sixth consecutive Apple Cup over rival Washington State.
Quarterback Jake Browning is the catalyst behind an offensive attack averaging 421.3 yards per game. The senior is already regarded as one of the top signal-callers for the upcoming NFL Draft. Browning has thrown for 2,692 yards and 16 touchdowns so far this season.
Like Utah, Washington’s running game has been hit with injuries this season as well. Senior Myles Gaskin was limited earlier in the year with a shoulder injury he suffered against UCLA in October. He missed two games against Colorado and Cal but has started the last three games. In each game he rushed for over 100 yards and has gained 1,076 on the season along with ten touchdowns. Gaskin seems to be back to his old form.
Friday’s game will be nationally televised on FOX and can be streamed on FOX Sports Go.
How to watch and bet Utah-Washington
Date: Saturday, Nov. 30
Start time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: Santa Clara, CA
Stadium: Levi’s Stadium
Spread: Washington -5
TV info: FOX
Stream: FOX Sports Go, fuboTV
Prediction: Washington wins and covers the spread.