It’s going to be hard to keep Washington out of the College Football Playoff now.

Washington, ranked No. 4 in the most recent rankings, walloped No. 8 Colorado 41-10 Friday night in the Pac-12 title game in a performance that could prove to be the cherry on top of the Huskies’ College Football Playoff resume.

After the latest CFP rankings were unveiled Tuesday, selection committee chairman Kirby Hocutt said the separation between Washington and No. 5 Michigan was “very, very small.” But two-loss Michigan won’t play this weekend because of its defeat to Ohio State last weekend, leaving the door open for Washington to widen the gap.

Washington’s defense gave up only 163 yards in a 41-10 win over Colorado. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) More

Washington didn’t exactly put on an offensive clinic Friday night in Santa Clara, but its defense proved that it is one of the nation’s best by limiting the Buffs to 163 yards and forcing three interceptions. And though Jake Browning and the Huskies’ passing attack struggled, the ground attack of Myles Gaskin and Lavon Coleman proved to be too much for Colorado.

Gaskin led the way with 159 yards on 29 carries, but it was Coleman, who put up 101 yards on 18 attempts, who opened up the scoring for UW with a one-yard touchdown on the first drive of the game.

Things were tight early as Colorado tied things up later in the first. But with Colorado senior quarterback Sefo Liufau sidelined with an ankle injury, the Buffs’ offense struggled mightily the rest of the half and UW went into the half up 14-7 after Browning threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Darrell Daniels.

Hoping to provide a spark, Liufau returned to start the second half but promptly threw a pick-six on the first play of the third quarter. Liufau’s pass hit off Jay MacIntyre’s hands and into the hands of Taylor Rapp, who returned it 35 yards for a score.





Things didn’t get much better for Colorado from there.

Liufau was again intercepted by Rapp on CU’s next possession to set up a short field goal and open up a 24-7 lead for UW. And after the teams traded punts, UW pretty much put things out of reach on a highlight reel touchdown catch by John Ross.

It looked like Browning may have been trying to throw the ball as he felt pressure from the Buffs defense, so he lobbed one over toward Ross near the sideline. Ross had other ideas. He jumped high in the air and snagged the ball with one hand in front of a Buffs defender. From there he scampered 20 yards for a touchdown.

John Ross just doing John Ross things in the #Pac12FCG for @UW_Football. ???? ???? FOX https://t.co/a4yYFtXLi6 — #Pac12FCG (@Pac12Network) December 3, 2016





Colorado was able to add a field goal after a long kickoff return before Washington sealed the 41-10 win with another touchdown drive.

The win clinched the first conference title for Washington since 2000 and the first 12-win season for the program since it won the national title back in 1991.

Even with this performance, there will be folks who believe the 12-1 Huskies should be on the outside looking in. The Pac-12 was down this year, and Washington lost to No. 11 USC by two scores. Still, when Washington won, it won big. As pointed out by Fox Sports’ Stewart Mandel, Washington won seven of its 10 Pac-12 games by at least three scores. It’s going to be hard to justify leaving UW out.

On top of that, this result makes it tough for the Big Ten to potentially get two teams into the Playoff. A slip-up for No. 3 Clemson in the ACC title game against Virginia Tech is the two loss Big Ten champion’s — whether it’s No. 6 Wisconsin or No. 7 Penn State — only hope to join No. 2 Ohio State in the CFP.

And for Colorado, which dropped to 10-3, this loss could prove costly. Though it edged USC for the Pac-12 South title, the Buffs lost to USC in their head-to-head matchup. At No. 11, USC could move ahead of Colorado and in to the Rose Bowl.

Nonetheless, this was a resurgent year for Colorado, which had won 10 games and only two Pac-12 games combined over Mike MacIntyre’s first three years running the program.

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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!

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