Well, Washington, you have our attention
Pac-12 Conference football took center stage Friday night in a meeting of top-10 teams with then-No. 7 Stanford and then-No. 10 Washington.
The Huskies showed up to play and demolished Stanford 44-6. The Washington defense stunned Stanford right out of the gate, as Heisman hopeful Christian McCaffrey was non-existent and limited to only 79 total yards of offense.
The Huskies’ defense threw the Cardinal quarterbacks to the turf eight times, the most sacks Stanford has allowed since 2006.
Quarterback Jake Browning led the Huskies’ offense, throwing for 210 yards and three touchdowns. Running backs Myles Gaskin and Lavon Coleman combined for 174 yards and three scores, showing the offense can do just as much damage as the defense.
A win of this magnitude will throw the Huskies closer to the top four, while leaving the Cardinal outside of playoff contention as David Shaw’s team has issues to address moving forward.
The mighty men of Michigan muster on
Jim Harbaugh’s boys were tested, battered and bruised Saturday in a classic Big Ten game in which then-No. 4 Michigan squared off with then-No. 11 Wisconsin.
The teams battled it out in the trenches before Michigan walked away the winner by a score of 14-7. It puts the Wolverines in good standing to make the playoff this year, and they have a good chance to be undefeated before their regular season finale against rival Ohio State. Michigan’s secondary held Wisconsin’s offense in check throughout the game, forcing three interceptions and completely limiting the Badgers’ offensive productivity.
Though the score was close, Michigan was the better team for a majority of the game, out-gaining Wisconsin by nearly 200 yards. Michigan has shown improvement every week, led by a dominant secondary that is one of the best in the nation. The Wolverines have a great shot to play in this year’s playoff and even a national championship.
Clemson claws its way to victory
The game of the weekend took place in Death Valley, with the first top-five matchup of the season battled out between two of college football’s dynamic quarterbacks.
Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson overcame a first-half deficit and took command of the game toward the end of the first half, ripping Louisville’s secondary to shreds while throwing three touchdowns. Watson led the Tigers to a 28-10 lead at the half-way mark.
In a tale of two halves, however, Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson regained his composure and helped the Cardinals storm back with 20 unanswered points.
Watson and Clemson wouldn’t fade away so easily, though, as the veteran QB overcame his interception-filled second half and gave the Tigers the lead and ultimately the victory after two late scoring drives in the fourth.
This win will give Clemson the edge in the ACC. Only having a two-loss Florida State as the toughest team left on their schedule, it’s fair to say the Tigers have the easiest road to making this year’s playoff.
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