Cal Football

Bears Dig Themselves a Hole With 31-24 OT Loss to Washington

By Jim McGill

September 25, 2021

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SEATTLE, WA -It’s only week four but with both Cal and Washington coming into the game with identical 1-2 records in a season where both were expected to compete for a division championship, today’s Pac-12 opener could safely be called a must-win game for both programs.

In the end, it was the Bears walking away with the 1-3 record and steep mountain to climb to salvage a decent season, falling in OT to UW, 24-31.

“We played a quality football team with a big-time quarterback,” said UW head coach Jimmy Lake. “He has been in this conference for a long time and we knew we had to try and limit him as much as we could. He still got a lot of yards on us and made a bunch of plays on us, but I am just so proud of our guys for holding together and continuing to fight until the end.”

Garbers finished with a solid stat line, going 30-for-41 for 319 yards and two TDs through the air and 71 yards on the ground along with a game-tying fourth quarter TD but two interceptions helped derail his otherwise excellent game. Garbers’ 71 yards led the Bears’ ground game and Kekoa Crawford’s return from the injured list was fruitful, with the senior hauling in eight passes for 107 yards on the night. Redshirt frosh Jeremiah Hunter chipped in six catches for 77 yards for the Bears.

On defense, OLB Cameron Goode and safety Daniel Scott led the Bears with eight tackles a piece, with redshirt frosh DE Ethan Saunders chipping in the Bears’ lone sack of the night, Even though they only managed that single sack, Husky QB Dylan Morris was under pressure much of the second half, throwing away at least a half dozen balls to avoid a sack or INT. Morris finished the night going 19-for 32 for 232 yards and two touchdowns and no interceptions. On the ground, the Bears held UW to just 92 yards in 30 carries -just 3.2 YPC.

That the Bears even managed to force OT was a bit of a surprise after the way they were dominated in the first half to the tune of a 24-10 lead but a second half resurgence on both sides of the ball by the Bears helped bring the game into OT.

Despite the Huskies virtually moving the ball at will in the first half, Cal managed to outgain Washington 457 to 356 on the night but fell short where it counts: On the scoreboard.

“First, I’ll say the Cal scheme gives a lot of team’s problems to begin with,” said Lake....“We were facing a really good defense. For us to score on four possessions is a feat in itself. But we knew we would make adjustments. I know there were some plays where we could have executed better and kept some drives going as well.”

Not one for moral victories, Cal head coach Justin Wilcox was asked his thoughts after the game.

“I’m sure you can imagine, it doesn’t feel real good,” said Wilcox. “I’m proud of how our team competed. We had plenty of opportunities throughout the game and we didn’t quite get it done. It’s painful.

“We go into all the games that way (expecting a win). But that’s why we play them. The outcome’s not predetermined. We had to do a better job in certain areas and we didn’t get it done. You could pick from 30 plays in the game that are critical to the outcome. We didn’t get it done.

“The first half defensively, we gave up way too many third down conversions. We had the field goal that we didn’t convert. In the second half, I thought the defense did a much better job. They competed very hard, got off the field quite a few times, got a turnover. We needed to find a way to get one more turnover in that game and we didn’t quite get it done.”

The Huskies got on the board first to start the game. After the Bears forced a 3-and-out on the Huskies’ first possession, Garbers threw an ill-advised errant sideline pass that was intercepted on the Cal 36 by Husky DB Kyler Gordon. The Huskies were able to convert on a crucial 4^th an 2 on the first series and immediately capitalized, with Morris hitting receiver Taj Davis for a 19-yard TD pass over redshirt frosh cornerback Collin Gamble for the score. After the Peyton Henry conversion, the Huskies went up 7-0 with 8:38 left in the quarter.

Garbers shook off the interception quickly, driving the Bears down the field for the tying score, going 67 yards in 13 plays, twice converting fourth down plays on the drive, including a 23-yard completion to WR Kekoa Crawford, on 4th-and-2 and again on a masterfully-executed play action call on a 4th-and-goal from the 1, with Garbars pulling the ball back and hitting a wide open Jake Tonges for the score with 1:59 left in the quarter.

The Huskies answered right back, driving 74 yards in just six plays on four straight completions to the Cal 10 and a 6-yard Morris passing TD on 2nd-and-goal to Jalen McMillan over frosh cornberback Lu Hearns to go up 14-7 after the PAT with 14:14 to go in the half. A Bears’ defense playing as soft as margerine was not what the doctor ordered if they were to earn their third straight win over the Huskies in the 100th showdown between the two teams.

The Bears tried to answer back and tie it, driving 68 yards to the Husky 7 but the drive stalled and in a familiar refrain, special teams disaster struck when holder Jamieson Sheahan mishandled the snap on a field goal attempt and the Huskies took over on downs at the UW 29.

The Huskies methodically drove the field in the next possession, including corverting on a 4th-and-1 in the red zone, driving to the Cal 10. The Bears appeared to hold them to a field goal attempt after Morris threw away the pass under heavy pressure but the Bears were called for defensive holding, extending the drive and giving the Huskies the ball on the Cal 5. UW gladly accepted the gift, scoring on a Sean McGrew wildcat TD scamper on the next play to take a 21-7 lead.

The Bears took over with 1:27 left in the half and put together an impressive drive to the UW 11. With 2 seconds left, kicker Dario Longhetto hit the chip shot for a 29-yard field goal to narrow the deficit to 21-10 at the half.

Washington picked up right where they left off in the second half, driving 51 yards to the Cal 19 before settling for a Peyton field goal to extend their lead back to 14 with 7:34 left in the third quarter at 24-10.

With the game in danger of getting away from them, the Bears put together a solid drive, Taking over at the Cal 25, Garbers drove the Bears straight down the field with four straight completions, including a 32-yard catch by receiver Trevon Clark and a swing pass that tailback Damien Moore took down the sideline for a 26-yard catch and scamper TD for his first career touchdown reception. The Longhetto PAT brought the Bears to within 7 at 24-17 with 5:09 left in the 3^rd quarter. The Huskies managed to hold Moore in check on the ground overall, limiting the redshirt frosh to 67 yards in 18 carries (3.7 ypc) on the night.

The Cal D finally got a 3-and-out stop on the next possession and got the ball back with the chance to tie it for the first time since the first quarter.

Facing 3rd-and-3 at the Cal 27, Garbers uncorked his second interception of the half on an ill-advised pass to a covered Clark down the sideline at the Husky 49.

For the second possession in a row, the Bears’ D stepped up, forcing a Kamari Pleasant fumble by Marquez Bimage, recovered by safety Elijah Hicks at the Cal 39.

After the Husky defense held on a 4th-and-3 attempt from the UW 43 on a Garbers to Moore pass that fell just short of the marker, the Huskies took over with 11:14 remaining in the game at their 41.

Again in their resurgent second half, the Cal defense held, forcing a 47-yard Washington fied goal attempt with 9:44 remaining that missed wide right.

After both teams traded possessions, Garbers led the Bears on a critical drive, taking over with 6:34 remaining at the Cal 38 after a 10-yard return on a booming 60-yard Race Porter punt by Nikko Remigio. Remigio was helped off the field after the play and didn’t return. The drive was punctuated with a Garbers keeper up the middle from the 7 for the score. Other key plays in the drive were a 23-yard Garbers run and a 19-yard completion to Hunter. After the Longhetto PAT, the score was tied, 24-24 with 2:52 remaining.

Again, the Cal defense held, forcing another 3-and-out, with the Bears getting the ball back at their 20 with 1:16 remaining.

Driving the ball to the Husky 37 with 2 seconds remaining, the 55-yard Longhetto field goal attempt fell just short, forcing overtime as the clock expired.

In OT, the Bears won the coin toss, opting to start on defense. The Huskies managed to strike first, with tailback Sean McGrew scoring on a controversial two yard touchdown where it appeared his knee was down, going up 31-24 after the conversion.

The Bears could not answer. After driving to the UW two on an 8-yard Moore run, Moore was stopped short of the goal line on the next play and fumbled, with the Huskies recovering to seal the win and move to 2-2 (1-0) on the season.

“I think everyone on our team absolutely just despises losing,” said 7^th year senior DE Luc Bequette. “We’re never going to be happy after a loss. It was a really hard-fought game on all sides. I think our guys played very hard. Kind of like a lot of stories go, there’s just kind of those couple of plays here and there that if we get those, we can win the game. That just starts on us, the players.

“It’s definitely encouraging for us that we were able to turn around that second half, but we have to play like that all four quarters. That’s again on us, the players. We’re getting the right calls, we’re getting everything, we just have to execute better in the first half.”

“When you play this game, stuff doesn’t always go your way,” said Garbers. “Losing sucks but we’re gonna move on. We’ve got Washington State I believe next week. So we’re gonna learn from this. We’re a real tight group in the locker room. We’re a family so no matter what happens out there, we always stick together. We’re ride or die guys. We’re gonna learn from this tomorrow and look on to Washington State.

The Bears fell to 1-3 (0-1) on the season. They will face a struggling WSU team in Berkeley who also comes in 1-3 (0-1) after the Cougars fell to Utah tonight in what becomes the next in a series of must-win games to salvage the season.

Final Minutes and OT video: