November 25, 2023 Week 13 · Regular Season Belt defended

Washington defends the belt, 24–21, at home over Washington State.

Home · Defending Holder

WashingtonAP No. 4 24

Away · Challenger

Washington State 21

AP poll, week 13: Washington State unranked at Washington No. 4 · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Washington came in 378 days into reign #321, which began with a win over Oregon, with 14 defenses already behind it; this was its 15th defense. Washington went on to defend it 2 more times before Michigan took it on January 8, 2024, 422 days after the reign began.

For Washington State this was its 16th shot at the belt; it had held the belt twice before.

It was the 4th of 4 belt games between the two; going in, Washington led the belt series 2–1; all-time Washington leads 3–1. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

Washington held off Washington State 24-21 in a defensive struggle to retain the College Football Belt. The Huskies struck first with a Dillon Johnson 1-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, but the Cougars answered quickly when Cameron Ward connected with Josh Kelly for a 21-yard score to tie it up. Michael Penix Jr. and Rome Odunze dominated the second and third quarters for Washington, combining for touchdown passes of 40 and 21 yards to build a commanding lead. Washington State kept it close with two late scores from Ward, including a final touchdown to Lincoln Victor with under six minutes remaining, but the Huskies sealed it with a Grady Gross field goal with no time remaining on the clock.

Penix to Odunze 40-yard TD (Q2 5:37) -- gave Washington a 14-7 lead and established early control
Penix to Odunze 21-yard TD (Q3 0:00) -- extended Washington's advantage to 21-14 heading to the fourth quarter
Ward to Victor 8-yard TD (Q4 5:58) -- pulled Washington State to within three points and gave them a late lifeline
Gross 42-yard FG (Q4 0:00) -- final kick secured the belt for Washington on the last play

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.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

WashingtonWashington State

Total yards306381

Rushing yards10264

Passing yards204317

First downs1722

3rd down conv.6/147/17

Turnovers12

Penalties–yards7–4910–85

Time of possession27:1932:41

Full 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.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 7:40	Washington	+22 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Rome Odunze for 22 yds to the WSU 18 for a 1ST down
Q1 3:54	Washington	+1 yd	Dillon Johnson run for 1 yd for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q1 3:49	Washington	+24 yd	Grady Gross kickoff for 65 yds , Leyton Smithson return for 24 yds to the WSU 24
Q1 2:34	Washington State	+37 yd	Cameron Ward pass complete to Kyle Williams for 37 yds to the WASH 21 for a 1ST down
Q1 2:15	Washington State	+21 yd	Cameron Ward pass complete to Josh Kelly for 21 yds for a TD (Dean Janikowski KICK)
Q1 2:06	Washington State	+34 yd	Colton Theaker kickoff for 65 yds , Daniyel Ngata return for 34 yds to the WASH 34
Q2 11:06	Washington	+43 yd	Grady Gross 43 yd FG MISSED
Q2 7:13	Washington State	+0 yd	Cameron Ward pass intercepted Thaddeus Dixon return for no gain to the WSU 49
Q2 5:37	Washington	+40 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Rome Odunze for 40 yds for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q2 0:28	Washington State	+28 yd	Cameron Ward pass complete to Lincoln Victor for 28 yds to the WASH 16 for a 1ST down
Q2 0:08	Washington State	+25 yd	Cameron Ward pass complete to Kyle Williams for 25 yds for a TD (Dean Janikowski KICK)
Q3 14:13	Washington	+0 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass intercepted
Q3 3:49	Washington State	+50 yd	Dean Janikowski 50 yd FG MISSED
Q3 0:00	Washington	+21 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Rome Odunze for 21 yds for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q4 14:11	Washington State	+0 yd	Cameron Ward pass intercepted
Q4 14:55	Washington	+23 yd	Grady Gross kickoff for 61 yds , Lincoln Victor return for 23 yds to the WSU 27
Q4 5:58	Washington State	+8 yd	Cameron Ward pass complete to Lincoln Victor for 8 yds for a TD (Dean Janikowski KICK)
Q4 1:07	Washington	+23 yd	Rome Odunze run for 23 yds to the WSU 48 for a 1ST down
Q4 0:00	Washington	+42 yd	Grady Gross 42 yd FG GOOD

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).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Washington

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Michael Penix Jr.	18/33	204	6.2	2	1	53.1

Washington State

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Cameron Ward	32/48	317	6.6	3	2	62.2
Lincoln Victor	0/1	0	0.0	0	0	4.6

Rushing

Washington

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Dillon Johnson	21	82	3.9	1	9
Rome Odunze	1	23	23.0	0	23
Tybo Rogers	3	14	4.7	0	11
Team	1	-1	-1.0	0	0
Germie Bernard	1	-3	-3.0	0	0
Will Nixon	1	-4	-4.0	0	0
Michael Penix Jr.	2	-9	-4.5	0	0

Washington State

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Nakia Watson	11	64	5.8	17
Djouvensky Schlenbaker	2	14	7.0	13
John Mateer	2	4	2.0	3
Lincoln Victor	1	1	1.0	1
Cameron Ward	11	-19	-1.7	6

Receiving

Washington

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Rome Odunze	7	120	17.1	2	40
Jalen McMillan	5	26	5.2	0	9
Jack Westover	2	25	12.5	0	19
Germie Bernard	2	15	7.5	0	9
Denzel Boston	1	12	12.0	0	12
Dillon Johnson	1	6	6.0	0	6

Washington State

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Josh Kelly	8	106	13.3	1	21
Lincoln Victor	11	88	8.0	1	28
Kyle Williams	5	85	17.0	1	37
Isaiah Hamilton	2	19	9.5	0	16
Billy Riviere III	1	11	11.0	0	11
Nakia Watson	4	6	1.5	0	3
Cooper Mathers	1	2	2.0	0	2

Show more stats (6 more categories)

Defense

Washington

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD
Carson Bruener	14	9	0	0	0
Dominique Hampton	8	5	0	0	1
Alphonzo Tuputala	6	1	1	1	0
Jabbar Muhammad	5	5	0	0	1
Edefuan Ulofoshio	5	4	1	1	0
Mishael Powell	4	3	0	0	0
Makell Esteen	3	3	0	1	0
Bralen Trice	3	2	1	1	0
Sekai Asoau-Afoa	3	1	1	1	0
Zion Tupuola-Fetui	3	1	0	0	0
Elijah Jackson	2	2	0	0	0
Denzel Boston	2	2	0	0	0
Faatui Tuitele	2	1	0	0	1
M.J. Ale	2	0	0	0	0
Lance Holtzclaw	1	1	1	1	0
Jacob Bandes	1	1	0	0	0
Drew Fowler	1	1	0	0	0
Ralen Goforth	1	1	0	0	0
Tristan Dunn	1	1	0	0	0
Tybo Rogers	1	1	0	0	0
Thaddeus Dixon	1	1	0	0	0
Jacob Lane	1	0	0	0	0

Washington State

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD
Ron Stone Jr.	9	5	0	1	0
Kyle Thornton	7	5	0	0	0
Sam Lockett	5	5	0	0	0
Brennan Jackson	5	3	1	1	0
Taariq Al-Uqdah	5	3	0	1	1
Jaden Hicks	4	2	1	1	0
Cam Lampkin	4	1	0	0	0
Kapena Gushiken	2	2	0	0	0
Jamorri Colson	2	2	0	0	2
David Gusta	2	1	0	0	0
Na'im Rodman	2	0	0	0	0
Jackson Lataimua	1	1	0	0	0
Billy Riviere III	1	1	0	0	0
Joseph Roback	1	1	0	0	0
Nusi Malani	1	0	0	0	0
Quinn Roff	1	0	0	0	0
Jernias Tafia	1	0	0	0	0
Khalil Laufau	1	0	0	0	0

Interceptions

Washington

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Thaddeus Dixon	1	14	0
Makell Esteen	1	0	0

Washington State

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Jaden Hicks	1	0	0

Kick Returns

Washington

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Daniyel Ngata	2	42	21.0	34	0

Washington State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Leyton Smithson	2	43	21.5	24	0
Lincoln Victor	1	23	23.0	23	0

Kicking

Washington

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Grady Gross	1/2	50.0	42	3/3	6

Washington State

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Dean Janikowski	0/1	0.0	0	3/3	3

Punt Returns

Washington

No recorded stats in this category.

Washington State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Isaiah Hamilton	1	2	2.0	2	0

Punting

Washington

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Jack McCallister	6	228	38.0	0	1	46

Washington State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Nick Haberer	5	202	40.4	0	3	49

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 401524068) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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