Saturday Night Five: Washington wilts, Oregon escapes, Arizona rises up and Cal pulls a stunner

Instant reaction to developments on the field Meltdown in Madison Washington and Oregon flew across the country into brutal weather and experienced firsthand the weekly sinkholes that used to define the Big Ten West Both teams were favored fresh from two weeks of preparation and hopeful that sizzling stretch runs would lead to berths in the College Football Playoff Only one survived with playoff plans intact Oregon escaped Iowa on a field goal with three seconds remaining Final sum - Washington wasn t as fortunate and collapsed at Wisconsin Final tally - The s called they re jealous Let s start with the Huskies - who were double-digit favorites in Madison but instead demonstrated themselves as pretenders in the Big Ten race Yes receiver Denzel Boston tailback Jonah Coleman and quarterback Demond Williams Jr all sustained injuries during the challenge that either ended their day or limited their impact The ailments were real and irrelevant That was a terrible loss for the Huskies inexcusable in fact The Badgers were winless in the Big Ten and owners of the worst offense in the Power Four conferences Somehow they beat the Huskies with a whopping passing yards And it s even worse than it seems because yards came on a fake punt Remove the fake and the Badgers generated just yards of offense Which brings us to Washington s central issue In their losses to Ohio State Michigan and Wisconsin the Huskies have scored a total of points Granted Ohio State is phenomenal But the Huskies scored just seven against a Michigan defense that s allowing points per competition in conference play And they scored just against a Badgers defense that was allowing per tournament in conference play We never got really in much of a rhythm at all this day offensively coach Jedd Fisch explained What s more UW has consistently saved its worst for last In the second halves of the three losses the Huskies have scored three points That s three points in six quarters The Hotline broke down UW s second-half drives in the three losses Only twice did the Huskies generate drives of at least yards On six of the possessions they gained less than yards All described the Huskies mustered yards and scored three points across those six quarters Something is amiss and it cannot be excused away by injuries or bad weather What s next for the Huskies The narrow path into the CFP that existed prior to Saturday as a two-loss Big Ten at-large participant is thoroughly blocked They should handle Purdue next weekend in Seattle but the date with UCLA in Pasadena could be considered a toss-up given UW s road performances And the finale against Oregon will be daunting Sure Washington could win out and finish - But based on what we have witnessed over nine games an - record seems more likely and - stands as a distinct possibility Either mark would be a major disappointment for a unit that entered November with two losses and its sights on the CFP Surviving the slog As the Huskies flailed Oregon was sucked into a classic November quagmire in Iowa City Like UW the Ducks - were not at full strength with their prime playmakers Tight end Kenyon Sadiq and receiver Dakorien Moore didn t play and starting receiver Gary Bryant was injured during the challenge And like UW the Ducks lost their lead in the second half as Iowa scored the go-ahead touchdown with two minutes remaining But unlike UW they dug deep and covered yards for the game-winning field goal against a vastly superior opponent than the crew the Huskies faced Iowa beat Wisconsin - a inadequate weeks ago As a upshot the one-loss Ducks are in the thick of the CFP race with three games remaining They host Minnesota and USC then finish in Seattle Combined record of the three opponents - If they win out the Ducks are a lock If they lose twice they are toast But what if they drop one battle and finish - At that point it s all about how Oregon compares to the other two-loss teams from the SEC for sure but also the Big that will be under consideration by the selection committee The more wins over ranked opponents the Ducks accumulate the stronger their resume If the Hawkeyes drop out of the committee s Top on Tuesday they shouldn t but you never know then Oregon will be without a ranked win entering the final three weeks Bear Down bowl bound In occurrence you had forgotten the Pac- legacy teams are tied to the conference s longstanding bowl partners this season just as they were last year One of the newly-minted bowl-eligible teams is Arizona which collected its sixth domination on Saturday Propelled by both good fortune and impressive grit the Wildcats came from behind twice to beat Kansas - in yet another down-to-the-wire finish The Wildcats rallied from a -point deficit in the second quarter and from a three-point deficit in the fourth And they got lucky at just the right time With remaining the Jayhawks led by three points and faced fourth-and-two from Arizona s They might have gone for the first down to effectively ice the challenge except quarterback Jalon Daniels had been injured on the previous play and would not have been allowed back on the field for fourth down Rather than use a backup quarterback KU attempted a -yard field goal and missed Granted a second life by the football gods Arizona ripped off an -yard touchdown drive Our players kept responding Arizona coach Brent Brennan explained They kept responding and responding I know it wasn t perfect but we ll fix that The win constitutes a major leap forward for the Wildcats - and Brennan whose first season in charge was deeply disappointing With Brennan s way of life ingrained and a bowl berth secured Arizona won t have to plunge into a crowded industry for head coaches this winter Totally and utterly Cal Arizona wasn t the only Pac- legacy group to clinch a postseason bid on Saturday The Bears fresh off back-to-back losses produced one of the biggest upsets of the weekend As -point underdogs they flew across the country for the third time this season and stunned No Louisville in overtime to secure their third consecutive postseason bid And the Bears did it in the gutsiest manner manageable Going for the mastery on fourth down in the first overtime session instead of kicking a short field goal to extend the competition The winning play Quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele s three-yard touchdown pass to receiver Jacob De Jesus Longtime Cal watchers won t be surprised by the conclusion Under coach Justin Wilcox the Bears typically conjure at least one vital upset and suffer at least one embarrassing loss every season Related Articles Mailbag Outlook for Pac- basketball UCLA and the Rose Bowl tangle counting UW s ranked wins TV selections and more CFB recruiting UCLA s returns Stanford s pickup Cal s favorable flips On media Urgent down the Big basketball broadcast plan College football picks BYU USC Arizona cover Oregon Washington don t Holy Result CFP rankings leave Utah BYU dependent on each other The last couple of weeks haven t been a lot of fun Wilcox explained It s not a lot of fun when you aren t winning I m appreciative of how everyone involved especially the players how they continue to work at it through particular adverse situations when it didn t go our way This marks the first time Cal has been bowl-eligible for three consecutive years since the heyday of the Jeff Tedford era in the mid- s Will it be enough for Wilcox to return in Cal general manager Ron Rivera mentioned before the season that the standard for success was eight or nine wins The Bears - can reach eight but only if they sweep SMU and Stanford Bowl math With three weeks remaining in the regular season seven Pac- legacy teams have clinched bowl bids Arizona ASU Cal Oregon USC Utah and Washington Three are ineligible Colorado Oregon State and Stanford The Buffaloes and Cardinal were eliminated on Saturday Two are alive UCLA and Washington State The Bruins must sweep their final three to reach the six-win requirement Considering they play Ohio State and USC on the road and host Washington a miracle is required And not a minor one The Cougars must win two of their final three which is well within reason given home dates with Louisiana Tech and Oregon State They also visit James Madison At greater part eight of the will qualify At worst seven will go bowling the same total as last year And as a reminder Each time a Pac- legacy squad jumps into the playoff the other bowl-eligible teams move up one rung in the postseason lineup Four teams are alive for the CFP with Oregon in the best position followed by USC Utah and Arizona State The Trojans and Utes have just two losses and therefore a path into the at-large field The Sun Devils who have three losses can only reach the CFP by winning the Big Send suggestions comments and tips confidentiality guaranteed to wilnerhotline bayareanewsgroup com or call - 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