Amid some of the most undesirable conditions that could have been predicted, the No. 5 Washington football team is now 11-0 for the first time since 1991 after pulling away with a 22-20 road win over 10th-ranked Oregon State. The Huskies’ 18th consecutive win also punches their ticket to the Pac-12 Championship game in Las Vegas.

UW was quick to draw first blood in its opening drive down the field, with Michael Penix Jr. dishing out a clean 12-yard touchdown pass to Rome Odunze. The Beavers (8-3, 5-3 Pac-12) responded soon after, courtesy of a three-yard rush from back Damien Martinez into the end zone.

The rainy conditions didn’t do any favors for either team, as both sides proceeded to turn over the ball on consecutive drives. A UW fumble provided Oregon State a prime opportunity to take the lead before the first quarter was over, but a bad snap on the Beavers’ part flew over the punter’s head, resulting in a safety for UW and a 9-7 lead.

After corner Jabbar Muhammad recovered an Oregon State fumble in the second quarter, a five-yard touchdown run from Penix Jr. padded that lead, which was soon followed by an OSU field goal to set the score at 16-10. Odunze came up huge for Washington once again before halftime rolled around, catching a 32-yard dime from Penix to give UW a comfortable 22-10 advantage before halftime.

With eleven seconds to go in the second quarter, Muhammad picked off OSU quarterback DJ Uiagalelei’s pass thanks to a deflection on the part of Carson Bruener.

UW’s defense held its ground come the beginning of the second half, as Muhammad capped off arguably his best game in a Washington uniform with his second theft of the night.

The Huskies’ offense, however, failed to generate any firepower, and the Beavers were able drive down and cut UW’s lead down to five points at the end of the third quarter.

Some questionable offensive play calling, along with a missed field goal, landed the Huskies in a good amount of trouble as they remained scoreless throughout the fourth quarter.

Thankfully, the UW defense stiffened, and held OSU to a field goal.  Unfortunately, the Huskies were unable to capitalize and went three and out during their next drive.

A well-executed punt from Jack McAllister pinned the Beavers inside the five yard line, but with just under eight minutes to go, OSU still had a chance at a game-winning drive – and a few successful first downs raised every Husky fan’s blood pressure.

Once again, when they needed to most, the much maligned UW defense came up big, first by swarming Martinez on third down, and then by pressuring Uiagalelei into an incompletion on 4th and 5 to dash the Beavers’ final hopes of a comeback.

And somewhere a needle dropped onto an old 45 and Elvis sang “Viva! Las Vegas!”