2016 Pac-12 Football Championship Game

The 2016 Pac-12 Football Championship Game was played on Friday, December 2, 2016 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. It was the sixth championship game in the history of the Pac-12 Conference. The game featured the South Division champion Colorado Buffaloes against the North Division champion Washington Huskies.^[1] FOX broadcast the game, which began at 6 p.m. Pacific Time.^[2] The Huskies defeated the Buffaloes by a 41-10 score to earn their first conference championship since 2000 and their first outright conference title since 1991.

History

Both Washington and Colorado made their first appearances in the Pac-12 Championship Game. This was the first Pac-12 Championship game not won by Oregon or Stanford.

Teams

Washington (North)

Washington advanced to the Pac-12 Championship Game after beating in-state rival Washington State 45–17 in the 109th Apple Cup. Washington became the first team other than Oregon or Stanford to win the North Division.

Colorado (South)

Colorado clinched their first appearance in the Pac-12 Championship Game with a 27-22 win over Utah in the final week of the regular season. This is Colorado's first division championship since they won the Big 12 North Division in 2005.

Game summary

Scoring summary

The 2016 Pac-12 Championship Game pitted the #8 Colorado Buffaloes (10–2) against the #4 Washington Huskies (11–1). The Huskies opened the scoring just three minutes into the game, as Lavon Coleman found the end zone from one yard out. The Buffs responded with a 3-yard rushing touchdown of their own, and the first quarter ended 7-7. The second quarter saw only one score: Heisman hopeful Jake Browning threw his first touchdown pass of the night to put the Huskies up 14-7. That same score held until halftime. The Huskies came into the second half ready to play, as it took just 14 seconds for them to find the end zone on a Taylor Rapp pick-six. On Colorado's ensuing drive, QB Sefo Liufau was picked off by Rapp again, though this time he returned it down to the Buffs 25. Washington kept up the offense in the third quarter, as they kicked a field goal to bump the lead up to 17; Browning threw his second TD pass seven minutes later to increase UW's lead to 24. On the ensuing kickoff, the Buffs returned it to the UW 2-yard line; the Buffs' offense stalled and settled for a field goal. Liufau threw his third interception as time expired in the third quarter; the Huskies started the fourth quarter on the Buffaloes' 13-yard line, up 31-10, and kicked a field goal to up their lead to 24. Washington extended their lead to 31 with 4:23 left in the game after Chico McClatcher found the end zone with an 8-yard rush.

Statistics

See also

• List of Pac-12 Conference football champions

Notes

• This was the first Pac-12 championship game without a California or Arizona team. Washington became the first team other than Oregon or Stanford to win the North, and Colorado became the first team other than UCLA, USC, Arizona or Arizona State to win the South Division.

References