Pac-12 Championship: Utah Utes vs Washington Huskies

Defense May Reign Supreme in Pac-12 Championship Game

Without decorated quarterbacks Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen and Luke Falk barking signals, the Pac-12 took on a more defensive tone in 2018. That's certainly reflected in tonight's Pac-12 championship game. The showdown at Levi's Stadium pits No. 17 Utah Utes against No. 11 Washington Huskies.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, FOX.

LINE: Washington -5; O/U: 45.

Both teams boast top-20 defenses in the FBS in total D and scoring D.  The Huskies are allowing 311.3 yards and 16.5 points and the Utes only allowing 315.8 yards and 19.3 points per game.

Washington will be playing in its second Pac-12 title game in three years. Utah is making its first appearance since joining the conference in 2011.

"It's our first trip to the championship, and I'm proud of our guys for continuing to persevere and fight this season," Utes coach Kyle Whittingham said at his Monday media gathering. "We overcame so many obstacles and so much adversity. They are a great group to be around, and this has been one of the most enjoyable years of coaching for me."

Both Teams Have Something to Prove in Pac-12 Championship

The Utah Utes are 9-3 on the season and feel they have something to prove after suffering late season Injuries.

The adversity Whittingham was talking about centers on the early-November injury losses of starting quarterback Tyler Huntley and tailback Zack Moss. The duo had accounted for 84 percent of the Utes' total offense in the first nine games.

Freshman Jason Shelley has stepped in at quarterback. He's averaged only 208 passing yards over the last three contests. Shelley has also rushed for 112 yards and accounted for six touchdowns with no turnovers.

Defensively, safety-turned-linebacker Chase Hansen has notched a conference-most 22 tackles for loss to pace a unit. The squad has been the Pac-12's stingiest against the run with 100.3 yards allowed , which also ranks fifth nationally.

The Utes figure to have the edge in the kicking game. They rank in the top 14 nationally in field goals made (23) and net-putting average (40.6).

The Washington Huskies are 9-3 on the season as well and feel they have underachieved with the record they have. They felt they had a College Football Playoff team.

The Huskies have the advantage of health and experience. Just in the backfield they have the senior duo of Jake Browning and tailback Myles Gaskin.

Browning averaged a career-low 224.3 passing yards this season. He is the school's career passing yards leader and Pac-12's all-time winningest quarterback.

Gaskin is averaging 107.6 yards on the ground and is the school's all-time leader in rushing yards and touchdowns.

Senior linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven is tied for the lead nationally with 155 tackles. He leads a defense which ranks second in the conference against the run at 121.8 yards allowed per game and passing at 189.4 yards per game.

With a 21-7 road win at Utah on Sept. 15, Washington has won five of the six meetings since Utah entered the Pac-12. Gaskin rushed for 143 yards and a TD on 30 carries. The Huskies' defense forced three turnovers and had a trio of fourth-down stops.

PREDICTION: Washington 23, Utah 13

Recent Form

Name	Record	ATS	Offense	Defense	Diff	ATS Home	ATS Away	OU Record	OU Home	OU Away
Utah Utes	9-3	7-5	30.83	19.25	11.58	4-2	3-3	7-5	4-2	3-3
Washington Huskies	9-3	3-9	28.00	16.50	11.5	1-5	2-4	3-9	2-4	1-5

Power Stats

Yards Per Point

Name	Offense	Defense	Differential
UTAH	13.45	16.42	-2.96
WASH	15.04	18.86	-3.82

Yards Per Pass

Name	Offense	Defense	Differential
UTAH	12.41	11.24	1.17
WASH	13.70	8.98	4.72

Yards Per Rush

Name	Offense	Defense	Differential
UTAH	4.78	2.96	1.82
WASH	4.55	3.62	0.93

Team Records

Utah Utes

Name	Record	Home	Away	ATS	ATS Home	ATS Away	Offense	Defense	Diff
Overall	9-3	5-1	4-2	7-5	4-2	3-3	30.83	19.25	11.58
vs Conf	6-3	3-1	3-2	6-3	3-1	3-2	30.78	20.89	9.89
Last 3	3-0	2-0	1-0	2-1	1-1	1-0	32.33	19.67	12.66

Washington Huskies

Name	Record	Home	Away	ATS	ATS Home	ATS Away	Offense	Defense	Diff
Overall	9-3	6-0	3-3	3-9	1-5	2-4	28.00	16.50	11.50
vs Conf	7-2	4-0	3-2	2-7	0-4	2-3	26.67	18.56	8.11
Last 3	3-0	2-0	1-0	1-2	0-2	1-0	32.33	20.33	12.00

Supergrid

Title	Stat	Rank	Stat	Rank
Away Team Overall Scoring vs Home Team Overall Defense	30.45	57	16.50	10
Home Team Overall Scoring vs Away Team Overall Defense	28.00	76	18.55	16

Head To Head Summary

Name	Record	ATS	OU	Score	Rush	YPR	PA	CP	PY	TY	TO +/-
Utah Utes	1-5	3-3	4-2	20.67	132.33	3.63	30.00	52.78	184.83	317.17	2.33
Washington Huskies	5-1	3-3	4-2	28.83	160.50	4.15	30.17	66.85	242.50	403.00	1.33

Head To Head Detail

Date	Away	Home	Score	Line	Total	OU Result	ARY	APY	ATY	ATT	HRY	HPY	HTY	HTT	Away Team Attempts	Home Team Attempts	Away Team Completions	Home Team Completions
Sep 15, 2018	WASH	UTAH	21-7	172	155	327	1	123	138	261	3
Nov 18, 2017	UTAH	WASH	30-33	117	293	410	1	123	354	477	0
Oct 29, 2016	WASH	UTAH	31-24	199	186	385	1	213	163	376	0
Nov 7, 2015	UTAH	WASH	34-23	191	155	346	3	124	257	381	4
Nov 10, 2012	UTAH	WASH	15-34	133	55	188	2	160	277	437	1
Oct 1, 2011	WASH	UTAH	31-14	185	226	411	1	17	305	322	5

Pac-12 Championship Betting Odds & Trends

Utah Utes
Utah is 6-2 ATS in its last 8 games
Utah is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Utah's last 6 games
Utah is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing Washington
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Utah's last 5 games when playing Washington

Washington Huskies
Washington is 1-6 ATS in its last 7 games
Washington is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Washington's last 12 games
Washington is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Utah
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Washington's last 5 games when playing Utah

Team Last 5 Games

Utah Utes

Date	Opponent	score	Result	line	ATS Result	offensive rush yards	offensive passing yards	offensive total yards	defensive rush yards	defensive passing yards	defensive total yards	turnovers	Location
Nov 24, 2018	BYU	35-27	W	-10.5/45	L/O	155	141	296	153	204	357	0	H
Nov 17, 2018	COLO	30-7	W	-7/47	W/U	169	221	390	34	162	196	-3	A
Nov 10, 2018	OREG	32-25	W	-6/51	W/O	232	262	494	117	288	405	-1	H
Nov 3, 2018	ARIZST	20-38	L	-7.5/54.5	L/O	178	147	325	251	285	536	2	A
Oct 26, 2018	UCLA	41-10	W	-11/54	W/U	325	145	470	127	164	291	-2	A

Washington Huskies

Date	Opponent	score	Result	line	ATS Result	offensive rush yards	offensive passing yards	offensive total yards	defensive rush yards	defensive passing yards	defensive total yards	turnovers	Location
Nov 23, 2018	WSHST	28-15	W	3/50	W/U	258	229	487	85	152	237	0	A
Nov 17, 2018	OREGST	42-23	W	-32.5/58.5	L/O	275	228	503	134	229	363	-2	H
Nov 3, 2018	STANFO	27-23	W	-9.5/44	L/O	177	194	371	77	347	424	-3	H
Oct 27, 2018	CAL	10-12	L	-12/46	L/U	91	159	250	91	151	242	2	A
Oct 20, 2018	COLO	27-13	W	-17/50	L/U	201	150	351	119	144	263	1	H

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