Washington Will Escape With Win

Washington vs. Oregon State, 7:30 ET

The College Football Playoffs are right around the corner and the top four teams currently are not likely to be the top four teams at the end of the season. My guess is that we see a few shakeups between now and the end of the conference championship games. One of the teams in this matchup is hopeful to be on the positive end of a shakeup here. The Washington Huskies take on the Oregon State Beavers in a Pac-12 matchup.

Washington has been perfect to this point in the season. Sitting at 10-0 and 7-0 in the conference, they can secure a spot in the Conference Championship game with a win over Oregon State. They have a perfect record, but they haven't exactly been playing perfect football. Luckily for them they are ending up with more points when the final horn sounds. They have played in one-score games in three of their past five games and all of these games were at home. Sure, they were able to take down a tough USC offense in California, but the Trojans can't really stop anyone on defense. The Beavers will certainly have their hands full with trying to stop Heisman hopeful, Michael Penix Jr. On the season, the quarterback has dished out 3,533 yards, 28 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. Penix has done a solid job of spreading the wealth to receivers, but his clear favorite has been Rome Odunze who has almost a third of Penix yards, and a third of the touchdown receptions. He isn't super tall at just 6'3" but he is a good route runner and has a solid connection. If the Beavers can stop him, it could keep them at least within striking distance of the game.

EUGENE, OR - NOVEMBER 27: An Oregon State helmet sits on the back of a bench during a PAC-12 conference football game between the Oregon State Beavers and Oregon Ducks on November 27, 2021 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Brian Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Oregon State isn't a bad football team. They are good and have a lot of talent. That doesn't exactly mean that I think they win this game, but it wouldn't be all that shocking. In sports, you can see when a team is teetering on a loss, and right now that is kind of how Washington has looked. They seemingly escape with a victory rather than convincingly win the game. It is somewhat unlikely that the Beavers would wind up in the Conference Championship game, but they can at least spoil Washington's bid. They are playing with a lot of confidence right now after winning in Colorado against the hyped Buffaloes, and then demolishing Standford at home last week. The Beavers have a well-balanced offense and quarterback DJ Uiagalelei has been very strong for them this season posting the most amount of yards he's ever had in a season. Obviously, he has more games to play, but it is possible that he can get to 3,000 yards if he has three more good games. He will need to bring his "A" game against the Huskies, a team that was shredded a through the air by USC a few weeks ago.

I do think that Oregon State might have the edge on the ground. If they are able to pound the ball and Uiagalelei is able to find the correct opportunities to throw the ball, they will win the game. If Washington can stop the run and put some pressure, they will win. I think if you took the two teams, you'd probably take the Washington offense and the Oregon State defense. To me though, choosing the offense is easy. Choosing the defense is a little more of a toss-up. That combination of a better offense and fairly even defenses gives me the faith that Washington will pull this out. I'll back the Huskies on the road.

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