2019 Pac-12 Football Championship Game
| 2019 Pac-12 Football Championship Game | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conference Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 6, 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | Sean Kelley (play-by-play), Barrett Jones (analyst), Ian Fitzsimmons (sideline) (ESPN Radio) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 5 Oregon x$ | 8 | – | 1 | 12 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California | 4 | – | 5 | 8 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington | 4 | – | 5 | 8 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon State | 4 | – | 5 | 5 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington State | 3 | – | 6 | 6 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stanford | 3 | – | 6 | 4 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 16 Utah x | 8 | – | 1 | 11 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USC | 7 | – | 2 | 8 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona State | 4 | – | 5 | 8 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UCLA | 4 | – | 5 | 4 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Colorado | 3 | – | 6 | 5 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona | 2 | – | 7 | 4 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship: Oregon 37, Utah 15 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2019 Pac-12 Football Championship Game was a
Previous season
The 2018 Pac-12 Football Championship Game featured North Division champion Washington against South Division champion Utah in the conference's 8th edition of the game. The Huskies won in the game's lowest total scoring, 10–3.[6]
Teams
The 2019 Pac–12 Football Championship Game was contested by the Oregon Ducks, North Division champions, and the Utah Utes, South Division Champions. Oregon and Utah had met 32 times previously before this game, with Oregon holding a 22–10 advantage in the series. The two teams did not meet during the 2019 regular season.
Oregon
Oregon clinched its spot in the Championship Game after its November 16 win over Arizona.[7] This was Oregon's third overall appearance in the Championship Game, having won in their prior two appearances. This was Oregon's first appearance in the game since 2014, the year when the Ducks made their way into the first ever College Football Playoff and to the National Championship Game.[8] Oregon had a 10–2 regular season record in 2019, and was 8–1 in Pac-12 play. The Ducks were designated as the home team, based on the two teams' record over their best common opponent, USC (Oregon won while Utah lost).[9]
Utah
Utah secured its spot in the Championship Game with its November 30 win over Colorado.[10] This was Utah's second appearance in the Championship Game, having also appeared the year prior. Utah entered the game with an 11–1 record, and 8–1 in Pac-12 play.
Game summary
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 13 Oregon | 10 | 10 | 3 | 14 | 37 |
| No. 5 Utah | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 15 |
at Levi's Stadium • Santa Clara, California
- Date: Friday, December 6, 2019
- Game time: 8:00 p.m. ABC): Chris Fowler (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst), Molly McGrath (sideline)
- ESPN game summary
| Game information |
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Statistics
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Utah received the opening kickoff, but their first drive ended in a turnover on downs at the Oregon 33 yard line. Oregon scored on their first possession with a three-yard run by
Oregon received the second half kickoff, but was forced to punt after a three-and-out. On Utah's first possession, they scored their first points of the day via a 24-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Huntley to Zack Moss. Oregon added three points with a 25-yard field goal by Lewis. Late in the third quarter, Utah scored again with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Huntley to Samson Nacua, and converted a two-point conversion from Huntley to Nacua to make the score 23–15. In the fourth quarter, Oregon put the game out of reach with two long touchdown runs by C. J. Verdell, the first a 70-yard run, and the second a 31-yard run. Oregon wound down the remaining seconds to win by a score of 37–15.[11]
C. J. Verdell ran for 208 yards and three touchdowns and was named game MVP.[1]
Aftermath
Oregon, who had been ranked 13th heading into the game, moved up to sixth in the final College Football Playoff rankings, and received a bid to the Rose Bowl against Big Ten runner-up Wisconsin, where they won 28–27. Utah moved down from fifth to 11th and received a bid to play Texas in the Alamo Bowl, where they lost 10–38.
See also
References
- ^ a b Allen, Trevor (December 6, 2019). "Trench Play Cost Utah Pac-12 Championship". KSL Sports.
- ^ "Utah vs. Oregon - Game Summary - December 6, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- ^ "Pac-12 Football Championship Game". Pac-12 Conference. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
- ^ Bolch, Ben (July 24, 2019). "The Pac-12's football championship game is headed for Las Vegas". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
- ^ "Pac-12 Networks on site at Levi's® Stadium for pre and postgame coverage of 2019 Pac-12 Football Championship Game, presented by 76, between No. 5 Utah and No. 13 Oregon". pac-12.com. December 3, 2019. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
- ^ "No. 10 Washington beats No. 17 Utah 10-3 for Pac-12 title". ESPN.com. Associated Press. November 30, 2018.
- ^ Martini, Pete (November 16, 2019). "Oregon Ducks clinch Pac-12 North, but how good is their case for the playoff?". Statesman Journal.
- ^ Thorburn, Ryan. "Oregon Ducks football clinches Pac-12 North Division with win over Arizona Wildcats". The Register-Guard. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
- ^ "Pac-12 Football Championship Game tiebreaker explanation". Pac-12.com. August 26, 2017.
- ^ "Utah clinches Pac-12 South, will meet Oregon in Pac-12 Football Championship Game". pac-12.com. November 30, 2019. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
- ^ "No. 13 Oregon ends No. 5 Utah's playoff hopes with 37-15 win". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 6, 2019.