Washington defends the belt, 27–20, at a neutral site over Texas.
AP poll, week 15: Texas No. 21 at Washington No. 12 · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
Washington came in 47 days into reign #321, which began with a win over Oregon, with 2 defenses already behind it; this was its third defense. Washington went on to defend it 14 more times before Michigan took it on January 8, 2024, 422 days after the reign began.
For Texas this was its 10th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 4 times before.
It was the first of 2 meetings between the two with the belt on the line; all-time Washington leads 2–0.
Recap
Washington's defense forced an early interception to Quinn Ewers, setting up Peyton Henry's 46-yard field goal for the game's first score. The Huskies struck quickly in the first quarter when Wayne Taulapapa broke through for a 42-yard touchdown run to take a commanding 10-3 lead. Texas answered with a touchdown pass from Ewers to Jonathon Brooks covering 34 yards in the third quarter, but Washington maintained control with touchdown passes from Michael Penix Jr. to Taj Davis and Jalen McMillan in the fourth quarter. Despite Texas mounting a late comeback with a Brooks rushing touchdown and a field goal, the Huskies' 27-20 victory was sealed by superior third-down efficiency (11-20 vs 6-15) and time of possession dominance (35:46 to 24:14), allowing them to hold onto the belt.
- Jerrin Thompson's first-quarter interception of Michael Penix Jr., which gave Washington prime field position and led to the opening field goal
- Wayne Taulapapa's 42-yard rushing touchdown in Q1 that gave Washington a 10-3 lead and set the tone for the game
- Michael Penix Jr.'s touchdown pass to Jalen McMillan in the fourth quarter that pushed Washington's lead to 27-13, effectively sealing the belt defense
Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.
Team stats
CFBD box scoreFull team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.
Key plays
CFBD play-by-play| When | Team | Yards | Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 14:53 | Washington | +35 yd | Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Ja'Lynn Polk for 35 yds to the Texas 40 for a 1ST down |
| Q1 14:01 | Washington | +0 yd | Michael Penix Jr. pass intercepted Jerrin Thompson return for no gain to the Texas 27 |
| Q1 12:40 | Texas | +4 yd | Daniel Trejo punt blocked by Edefuan Ulofoshio blocked by Edefuan Ulofoshio |
| Q1 11:44 | Washington | +46 yd | Peyton Henry 46 yd FG GOOD |
| Q1 11:44 | Washington | +20 yd | Grady Gross kickoff for 65 yds , Keilan Robinson return for 20 yds to the WASHINGTON 45 TEXAS Penalty, Offensive Holding (10 Yards) to the Texas 10 |
| Q1 7:52 | Texas | +29 yd | Bert Auburn 29 yd FG GOOD |
| Q1 9:19 | Texas | +27 yd | Quinn Ewers pass complete to Casey Cain for 27 yds to the Wash 10 for a 1ST down |
| Q1 3:17 | Washington | +42 yd | Wayne Taulapapa run for 42 yds for a TD (Peyton Henry KICK) |
| Q2 0:00 | Washington | +24 yd | Peyton Henry 24 yd FG GOOD |
| Q3 13:48 | Texas | +21 yd | Quinn Ewers pass complete to Xavier Worthy for 21 yds to the Wash 34 for a 1ST down |
| Q3 12:31 | Texas | +34 yd | Quinn Ewers pass complete to Jonathon Brooks for 34 yds for a TD (Bert Auburn KICK) |
| Q3 6:44 | Washington | +6 yd | Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Taj Davis for 6 yds for a TD (Peyton Henry KICK) |
| Q4 13:08 | Washington | +8 yd | Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Jalen McMillan for 8 yds for a TD (Peyton Henry KICK) |
| Q4 13:08 | Washington | +20 yd | Grady Gross kickoff for 59 yds , Keilan Robinson return for 20 yds to the Texas 26 |
| Q4 9:50 | Texas | +3 yd | Jonathon Brooks run for 3 yds for a TD (Bert Auburn KICK) |
| Q4 1:40 | Texas | +26 yd | Bert Auburn 26 yd FG GOOD |
| Q4 3:09 | Texas | +23 yd | Quinn Ewers pass complete to Casey Cain for 23 yds to the Wash 26 for a 1ST down |
| Q4 0:00 | Texas | +49 yd | Quinn Ewers pass complete to Casey Cain for 49 yds to the Wash 41 for a 1ST down |
Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).
Player stats
CFBD player statsPassing
Washington
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Penix Jr. | 32/54 | 287 | 5.3 | 2 | 1 |
| Team | 0/1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Texas
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quinn Ewers | 30/46 | 320 | 7.0 | 1 | 0 |
Rushing
Washington
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wayne Taulapapa | 14 | 103 | 7.4 | 1 | 42 |
| Richard Newton | 11 | 44 | 4.0 | 0 | 9 |
| Michael Penix Jr. | 3 | 6 | 2.0 | 0 | 4 |
Texas
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keilan Robinson | 8 | 27 | 3.4 | 0 | 7 |
| Jonathon Brooks | 6 | 18 | 3.0 | 1 | 5 |
| Quinn Ewers | 4 | 6 | 1.5 | 0 | 13 |
Receiving
Washington
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jalen McMillan | 8 | 58 | 7.3 | 1 | 14 |
| Rome Odunze | 5 | 57 | 11.4 | 0 | 18 |
| Ja'Lynn Polk | 3 | 45 | 15.0 | 0 | 35 |
| Taj Davis | 4 | 32 | 8.0 | 1 | 11 |
| Jack Westover | 4 | 32 | 8.0 | 0 | 16 |
| Devin Culp | 4 | 29 | 7.3 | 0 | 9 |
| Quentin Moore | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 0 | 17 |
| Wayne Taulapapa | 3 | 17 | 5.7 | 0 | 9 |
Texas
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Casey Cain | 4 | 106 | 26.5 | 0 | 49 |
| Xavier Worthy | 7 | 84 | 12.0 | 0 | 21 |
| Jordan Whittington | 5 | 44 | 8.8 | 0 | 13 |
| Keilan Robinson | 6 | 42 | 7.0 | 0 | 15 |
| Jonathon Brooks | 2 | 37 | 18.5 | 1 | 34 |
| Ja'Tavion Sanders | 5 | 36 | 7.2 | 0 | 17 |
| Gunnar Helm | 1 | 19 | 19.0 | 0 | 19 |
| Savion Red | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 |
Show more stats (6 more categories)
Defense
Washington
| Player | TOT | SOLO | SACKS | TFL | PD | QB HUR | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bralen Trice | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Voi Tunuufi | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Texas
| Player | TOT | SOLO | SACKS | TFL | PD | QB HUR | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jerrin Thompson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Interceptions
Washington
No recorded stats in this category.
Texas
| Player | INT | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jerrin Thompson | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Kick Returns
Washington
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giles Jackson | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 12 | 0 |
Texas
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keilan Robinson | 2 | 40 | 20.0 | 20 | 0 |
Kicking
Washington
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peyton Henry | 2/2 | 100.0 | 46 | 3/3 | 9 |
Texas
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bert Auburn | 2/2 | 100.0 | 29 | 2/2 | 8 |
Punt Returns
Washington
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rome Odunze | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Texas
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xavier Worthy | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Punting
Washington
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack McCallister | 3 | 117 | 39.0 | 1 | 2 | 52 |
Texas
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daniel Trejo | 3 | 145 | 48.3 | 1 | 1 | 51 |
Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.
Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 401442034) · This game in the downloadable dataset