The 2016

Pac-12 Football Championship Game The Pac-12 Football Championship Game is an annual college football game held by the Pac-12 Conference to determine the season's conference champion. The game from the 2011–2021 seasons had the champion of the North Division against the champi ...

was played on Friday, December 2, 2016 at

Levi's Stadium Levi's Stadium is an American football stadium located in Santa Clara, California, just outside San Jose in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has served as the home venue for the National Football League (NFL)'s San Francisco 49ers since 2014. T ...

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara (; Spanish for " Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in the Bay Area. Located in the southern Bay Area, the cit ...

to determine the champion of the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

in football for the 2016 season. It was the sixth football championship game in

history. The game featured the South Division champion

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado. The university sponsors 17 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden Buffalo ...

against the North Division champion

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-1 ...

. Washington defeated Colorado by a score of 41–10 to win their first conference championship since 2000 and their first outright title since 1991.

History

Both Colorado and Washington made their first appearances in the Pac-12 Championship Game. The matchup ensured that the 2016 edition of the game would be the first not to be won by

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

or Stanford.

Teams

Washington (North)

Washington secured their berth in the Pac-12 Championship Game after beating in-state rival

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

45–17 in the 109th

Apple Cup The Apple Cup is an American college football rivalry game between the University of Washington Huskies and Washington State University Cougars, the two largest universities in the state of Washington. Both are members of the North Division of th ...

. Washington became the first team other than Oregon or Stanford to win the North Division.

Colorado (South)

Colorado clinched their first appearance in the Pac-12 Championship Game with a 27–22 win over

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

in the final week of the regular season. This was Colorado's first division championship since winning the

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

North Division in 2005.

Game summary

Scoring summary

The 2016 Pac-12 Championship Game featured the #8 Colorado Buffaloes (10–2) against the #4 Washington Huskies (11–1). The Huskies opened the scoring just three minutes into the game when

Lavon Coleman Lavon Coleman (born December 10, 1994) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Washington. Professional career Houston Texans Coleman was signed by the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent on May 11, 2018. ...

ran for a 1-yard touchdown. The Buffaloes responded with a 3-yard rushing touchdown of their own, and the first quarter ended 7–7. The second quarter saw only one score:

Jake Browning Jake Browning (born April 11, 1996) is an American football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Washington Huskies football, Washington Huskies and signed with the Minn ...

threw his first touchdown pass of the night to put the Huskies up 14–7 going into halftime. On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, Washington safety

Taylor Rapp Taylor Rapp (born December 22, 1997) is an American football safety who is a free agent. He played college football at Washington, and was selected by the Rams in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Early years Rapp was born in Atlanta, G ...

intercepted a pass from

Sefo Liufau Iosefo Sua Liufau (born October 29, 1994) is a former American football quarterback . He played college football at Colorado. Early years Liufau attended Bellarmine Preparatory School in Tacoma, Washington. During his career he led the team to ...

and returned it for a touchdown to give the Huskies a 21–7 lead. On Colorado's ensuing drive, Rapp intercepted another pass from Liufau returned it to the Buffaloes' 25 yard-line. Washington kicked a field goal to push their lead up to 24–7. Browning threw his second TD pass later in the third quarter to make the score 31–7. A long return on the ensuing kickoff gave Colorado possession at the Huskies' 2-yard line, and the Buffaloes kicked a field goal on the drive. Liufau threw his third interception as time expired in the third quarter. The Huskies added another field goal and touchdown in the fourth quarter to seal a 41–10 victory and their first conference title since 2000.

Statistics

Notes

*This was the first Pac-12 championship game without an Arizona or California team. Washington became the first team from the North Division other than Oregon or Stanford to make an appearance.

References

{{Washington Huskies football navbox

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

Pac-12 Football Championship Game Colorado Buffaloes football games Washington Huskies football games Sports in Santa Clara, California Pac-12 Football Pac-12 Football