Houston came into the game with BCS dreams, but left with those shattered as they were unable to stop the USM offense. The Golden Eagles rolled up 603 yards of offense and beat the Cougars, despite another five touchdown passes by Heisman contender Case Keenum.
December 10, 2011 – ACC Championship
TEAM
1ST
2ND
3RD
4TH
SCORE
#19 Florida State Seminoles (10-3)
0
14
14
7
35
#14 Miami Hurricanes (10-3)
7
7
7
7
28
The Seminoles were able to gain revenge for their loss to Miami a few weeks ago and claim the ACC title. E.J. Manuel threw for two touchdowns and ran for another and the FSU defense got a score on a pick-six to claim a BCS berth.
December 10, 2011 – SEC Championship
TEAM
1ST
2ND
3RD
4TH
SCORE
#4 Mississippi State Bulldogs (11-2)
14
0
7
0
21
#5 South Carolina Gamecocks (12-1)
7
21
3
7
38
Vick Ballard and Chad Bumphis were back in the lineup for the Bulldogs, but they weren’t enough to overcome three interceptions thrown by Chris Relf in his first poor game of the season. Stephen Garcia threw three TDs on just 20 attempts to lead the Gamecocks to their first SEC title and a bid to the Sugar Bowl.
December 10, 2011 – Pac-12 Championship
TEAM
1ST
2ND
3RD
4TH
SCORE
#21 Southern Cal Trojans (9-4)
7
7
0
13
27
#1 Stanford Cardinal (13-0)
13
0
20
7
40
Andrew Luck had perhaps the best game a signal-caller has had all season. He completed 24-of-34 passes for 527 yards and five touchdowns and also led his team in rushing with 56 yards. Tight end Coby Fleener (11 rec, 189 yds) and wide receiver Griff Whalen (6 rec, 193 yds, 3 TD) were his primary targets. Linebacker Shane Horton had 15 tackles, 10 TFL 3.5 sacks, and an interception, but his efforts were not enough to stop Luck and company as the Cardinal clinched their berth in the BCS Championship game.
December 10, 2011 – Big Ten Championship
TEAM
1ST
2ND
3RD
4TH
SCORE
#12 Michigan State Spartans (9-4)
14
14
7
14
49
#7 Wisconsin Badgers (12-1)
7
14
17
13
51
The inaugural Big Ten title game was a shootout, with both teams going over 500 yards of offense. Russell Wilson threw for 344 yards and five touchdowns while Montee Ball ran for 140 yards and a pair of scores for the Badgers. In a losing effort, Kirk Cousins, threw for four TDs and 393 yards (209 of which went to B.J. Cunningham) and also ran for two touchdowns.
December 10, 2011 - MAC Championship
TEAM
1ST
2ND
3RD
4TH
OT
SCORE
#22 Northern Illinois Huskies (12-1)
14
10
0
7
10
41
Miami (OH) RedHawks (11-2)
0
10
7
14
7
38
Northern Illinois only gained 288 yards of offense (compared to 427 for Miami) and turned the ball over four times, but overcame those obstacles to claim the MAC title. A 23-yard interception return by Jordan Delegal tied the game with 4:48 left and NIU managed to win in OT.
Washington gets repeat trip to San Diego
Seattle Times, December 11, 2011
For the second straight year, the Huskies will end their season at the Holiday Bowl in San Diego, California. Last December, Washington upset Nebraska, 19-7 to win the game. This year, they will be taking on the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who finished tied for fourth in the Big XII at 7-5 overall, 4-5 in conference.
The Holiday Bowl, who got the third selection from the Pac-12 and the fifth from the Big XII, will be played on December 30th this year.
For the first time in several years, the conference will fill all of its bowl contracts, plus two others. Other Pac-12 teams receiving bowl bids were Stanford (who will face Texas A&M in the BCS National Championship Game), Oregon (vs. Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl), Utah (Sun Bowl vs. Boston College), Southern Cal (Las Vegas Bowl vs. TCU), Arizona State (against Georgia Tech in the Fight Hunger Bowl), Oregon State (vs. Penn State in the Texas Bowl), and Arizona (in Compass Bowl vs. BYU). The eight bowl teams sets a conference record.
UW finalizes 2012 schedule
Seattle Times, December 17, 2012
Seattle, WA -- The Washington Huskies had one open date left on their 2012 schedule, and finalized their three non-conference opponents by adding Akron from the MAC as their season-opener.
Washington will play Akron and San Diego State at home to open the year and then travel to LSU before heading into Pac-12 play. The Huskies originally had Portland State University from the FCS division scheduled, but that game was cancelled when the game at LSU was moved to September 8 next year for television purposes.
Future UW schedules include home-and home series with Boise State (2013 and 2015), Illinois (2013-14), Hawai’i (2014-15), and Wisconsin (2017-18). There are also reports that the Dawgs are in discussions with Missouri of the Big XII and Nevada of the WAC (Mountain West after this year) for home-and-homes and several WAC and MWC schools for single games.
Washington has won both meetings against Texas Tech, holding a 2-0 record... The last meeting was 10/23/82, where the #1 Huskies beat Tech 10-3 in Seattle... UW is 1-3 in the Holiday Bowl, winning last year vs. #18 Nebraska, but losing to Colorado (1996), Kansas State (1999), and Texas (2001)... The Red Raiders won their only Holiday Bowl appearance in 2004 against California, 45-31... Husky TB Chris Polk finished the regular season third in the nation in rushing (120.6 ypg) and tied for fifth in rushing touchdowns (15) while leading the country in carries (301)... K Erik Folk of Washington leads the country in field goals made with 25 and has not missed yet this season... Washington will be trying for their first 10-win season since 2000, when they finished 11-1 and #3 in the AP poll.
Tramain Swindall 80 yard pass from Seth Doege (D. Carona kick)
7
7
1:46
Devin Aguilar 9 yard pass from Keith Price (Erik Folk kick)
7
14
SECOND QUARTER SCORING
TT
UW
9:52
Erik Folk 47 yard FG
7
17
3:59
Erik Folk 21 yard FG
7
20
0:03
Erik Folk 22 yard FG
7
23
0:00
Alexander Torres 86 yard kickoff return (Donnie Carona kick)
14
23
THIRD QUARTER SCORING
TT
UW
8:01
Donnie Carona 22 yard FG
17
23
5:30
Alexander Torres 12 yard pass from Seth Doege (Donnie Carona kick)
24
23
2:30
Erik Folk 43 yard FG
24
26
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING
TT
UW
8:16
Erik Folk 38 yard FG
24
29
5:17
Jermaine Kearse 19 yard pass from Keith Price (run failed)
24
35
Texas Tech Red Raiders Boxscore
PASSING
RATING
C/ATT
YDS
TD/INT
AVG
7-Seth Doege, Jr*
110.1
16/38
253
2/1
6.7
24-Eric Stephens, Jr
0.0
0/2
0
0/0
0.0
RUSHING
ATT
YDS
AVG
TD
LONG
24-Eric Stephens, Jr
5
16
3.2
0
17
7-Seth Doege, Jr*
6
-4
-0.6
0
28
6-Austin Zouzalik, Jr*
1
-4
-4.0
0
-4
RECEIVING
REC
YDS
AVG
TD
LONG
11-Tramaine Swindall, Sr*
4
114
28.5
1
80
24-Eric Stephens, Jr
6
56
9.3
0
16
86-Alexander Torres, So*
3
52
17.3
1
23
2-Cornelius Douglas, Jr*
1
20
20.0
0
20
6-Austin Zouzalik, Jr*
1
7
7.0
0
7
88-Jace Amaro, Fr
1
4
4.0
0
4
DEFENSIVE
TKL-SO
SACK
TFL
PDEF
INT-YD
SS 16-Cody Davis, Jr*
14-8
1
2
1
0
OLB 41-Sam Earl Fehoko, Sr*
12-6
1
3
1
0
MLB 51-Coulin Hubert, So
12-4
0
2
1
0
FS 12-D.J. Johnson, Jr
11-3
0
0
1
1-0
SS 1-Terrance Bullitt, Fr*
10-6
0
1
0
0
CB 5-Tre Porter, So
9-4
0
0
2
0
DE 94-Scott Smith, Sr
8-6
3
4
0
0
DT 92-Delvon Simmons, Fr
6-2
0
0
0
0
DT 97-Lawrence Rumph, Sr
3-1
0
1
0
0
Others
16-11
0
0
1
0
KICKING
FGM/A
PCT
LONG
XPM/A
PTS
49-Donnie Carona, Sr
1/1
1.000
22
3/3
6
PUNTING
PUNTS
YDS
AVG
IN20
TB
43-Ryan Erxleben, Jr
7
278
39.7
0
0
KICK RETURNING
RET
YDS
AVG
LONG
TD
86-Alexander Torres, So*
4
166
41.5
86
1
6-Austin Zouzalik, Jr*
3
80
26.6
29
0
PUNT RETURNING
RET
YDS
AVG
LONG
TD
86-Alexander Torres, So*
2
2
1.0
2
0
Washington Huskies Boxscore
PASSING
RATING
C/ATT
YDS
TD/INT
AVG
17-Keith Price, So*
121.4
18/33
208
2/1
6.3
RUSHING
ATT
YDS
AVG
TD
LONG
1-Chris Polk, Jr*
34
182
5.3
1
17
24-Jesse Callier-So
9
30
3.3
0
11
23-Johri Fogerson, Sr
2
16
8.0
0
11
17-Keith Price, So*
7
-12
-1.7
0
21
RECEIVING
REC
YDS
AVG
TD
LONG
15-Jermaine Kearse, Sr
6
102
17.0
1
37
2-Kasen Williams, Fr
2
39
19.5
0
20
88-Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Fr
3
38
12.6
0
26
9-Devin Aguilar, Sr
2
15
7.5
1
9
8-Kevin Smith, So
2
14
7.0
0
8
24-Jesse Callier, So
2
1
0.5
0
2
7-Cody Bruns, Sr
1
-1
-1.0
0
-1
DEFENSIVE
TKL-SO
SACK
TFL
PDEF
INT-YD
MLB 31-Cort Dennison, Sr*
6-6
0
1
0
0
SS 1-Sean Parker, So
4-3
0
0
1
0
CB 18-Gregory Ducre, So
3-3
1
1
0
0
FS 20-Justin Glenn, Jr*
3-3
0
0
0
0
DE 52-Hau'oli Jamora, So
3-3
2
3
0
0
CB 28-Quinton Richardson, Sr*
3-2
0
0
0
1-31
FS 29-Nate Fellner, Jr
2-1
0
0
1
0
OLB 37-Princeton Fuimaono, So
2-2
0
0
0
0
SS 14-Taz Stevenson, So
2-1
0
0
0
0
DT 74-Alameda Ta'amu, Sr
2-2
1
2
0
0
DE 92-Everrette Thompson, Sr
2-2
0
1
0
0
MLB 3-Thomas Tutogi, So
2-1
0
0
0
0
Others
4-1
0
0
1
0
KICKING
FGM/A
PCT
LONG
XPM/A
PTS
17-Erik Folk, Sr*
5/5
1.000
47
2/2
17
PUNTING
PUNTS
YDS
AVG
IN20
TB
94-Kiel Rasp, Sr*
2
105
52.5
1
0
KICK RETURNING
RET
YDS
AVG
LONG
TD
25-Bishop Sankey, Fr
3
71
23.6
29
0
PUNT RETURNING
RET
YDS
AVG
LONG
TD
9-Devin Aguilar, Sr
4
54
13.5
22
0
Huskies win second straight Holiday Bowl
Seattle Times, December 31, 2011
San Diego, CA -- The Washington Huskies closed out this season on a positive note last night in the Holiday Bowl, topping Texas Tech 35-24. They will finish 2011 with 10 wins, a dramatic improvement for a school that was 0-12 just three seasons ago.
This final victory didn’t come easily though, as the Red Raiders gave UW all they bargained for. Chris Polk, the Huskies’ workhorse all year, once again carried the load for Washington, toting the rock 34 times for 182 yards. He was named the Offensive Player of the Game in the Holiday Bowl for the second consecutive year.
Polk got the scoring started in the first, closing out a nine-play drive with a four-yard TD run. Tech quickly answered though with an 80-yard touchdown pass to senior Tramaine Swindall to tie the game. The UW offense moved the ball effectively on all four of their ensuing drives, but the Red Raiders defense stiffened inside the red zone, allowing the Dawgs into the end zone just once.
A 22-yard field goal by Erik Folk with just three second remaining in the second quarter appeared to close out the scoring in the half, but Alexander Torres had other ideas. He fielded a squib kick from Folk at the 14-yard line and found a seam in the Huskies coverage and raced up the middle of the field for a surprising touchdown, cutting UW’s lead to 23-14 at the break.
Texas Tech kept the momentum on their side to start the second half as well, scoring the first 10 points to take a 24-23 lead. On their touchdown drive, quarterback Seth Doege scrambled for 28 yards on third-and-three to set up his scoring toss to Torres.
UW fought back though, getting two more field goals from Folk, who tied a team record by booting five field goals, before Keith Price hit Jermaine Kearse for his 11th touchdown of the season, putting Washington ahead 35-24.
Head coach Steve Sarkisian On winning a second Holiday Bowl: It’s spectacular. We know last year we were just thrilled to be in a bowl game and getting another shot at Nebraska. Now, we kind of expect to be here, which is what I want from our players, coaches, and fans.
On the overall play: It really hurt not being able to get into the end zone. We had lots of opportunities, but couldn’t finish drives, which we’ve preached all year long. Luckily we have a solid kicker in Erik Folk to help put some points on the board.
On what it means to the seniors: We closed out their last home game in a great way, winning the Apple Cup, now we got another bowl win for them as well. I hate seeing guys like Jermaine Kearse and Alameda Ta’amu, Cort Dennison, Quinton Richardson, Erik Folk -- all our seniors, I hate to see them go because we’ve been so close the last three years. I’ve seen them grow up and improve a lot. But, that’s the nature of college football.
Sophomore defensive end Hau’oli Jamora On being named Defensive Player of the Game: It’s a great honor. We felt like they were going to come out and throw the ball a lot, so us on the defensive line had to win our individual battles and get some pressure on their quarterback. We did a pretty good job, and thankfully it worked out for us.
Junior tailback Chris Polk On the workload: I’d carry the ball on every play if coach let me. I feel like I get better a the game goes on, you know, like they’re wearing down when I’m just getting my legs.
On being named Offensive Player of the Game: It’s a nice award, nice to be recognized. We had alotta guys show up and make plays though. Price, Kearse, those guys in the passing game did their job, the offensive line, man, they opened up some holes. I just gotta run through ‘em man.
On possibly forgoing his senior year: Not something I’m thinking about right now. I just wanna enjoy this, close out the year, then I’ll go home and talk to my momma, my family, and make a decision.
09-07-2011, 06:46 PM
Chris Polk 4 yard run (Erik Folk kick)
Tramain Swindall 80 yard pass from Seth Doege (D. Carona kick)
