3 possessions with Jackson we scored TDs and the 4th could have been another but for some reason we decided to run out the clock once we hit the red zone. The incompletes were largely when Jackson wisely threw the ball away. Why is Wilcox being so stingy with his praise?
Photo by Ken Lambert / Seattle Times
Cal Football
Bears Lay an Egg in Seattle
HUSKY STADIUM - With the upcoming dissolution of the Pac-12, the Bears made what may be their final trip to Seattle to face undefeated #8-ranked Washington and they couldn’t get out of town fast enough to avoid an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Huskies as they fell 59-32 in a defeat that seemed worse than the final score indicated.
Failures in all phases of the game doomed the Bears after they suffered three Ben Finley interceptions, including a pick-six, a punt return for a TD and two missed extra points for starters.
The decision to start Finley in hindsight appears to be a poor one. Jackson struggled at times in the last two games, particularly with decision-making and reading the field but Finley was a disaster, committing all three of Cal’s interceptions while completing just 17-of 32 passes (53%) for 207 yards and a 108 passer rating on the night in 3 quarters of work.
"Last week, we felt like we needed to do a better job at the quarterback position," Cal head coach Justin Wilcox said of the decision to start Finley at QB over Jackson. "We wanted to open it up for competition again. Getting the ball to the right spots in the run game, RPO game, in the pass game. That position along with most every other position didn't play well enough tonight."
As for the decision to stick with Finley as long as they did when he clearly didn’t have what it took to keep the Bears in the game, Wilcox noted: “We felt like coming into the game, we were going to have to hit some downfield throws. Ben, we felt like had done a good job of that in practice.
“Obviously, the turnovers in the game were costly. Now, basically, both guys have two games under their belt, and it's unsettled. I mean we've got to find more consistent play at that position. And that's the one that gets the most attention for obvious reasons.
“I think Sam's got a big upside. He's still a very young player and learning to play the quarterback position, Ben has played more. Obviously, the decision-making, knowing where to go with the ball wasn't as good as it should have been, or we expected it to be tonight. He made some good throws, but obviously, the turnovers were so costly.”
In contrast, Jackson created a spark after coming in, completing 10-of-14 passes for 156 yards and a TD and an eye-popping 188 passer rating while leading the Bears to two TDs in his quarter plus of play.
Washington QB Troy Penix diced up the Bears’ defense all night, much as he has for the last season and a half for the Huskies, completing 19-of-25 passes for 304 yards and 4 TDs along with one interception, coming away with an otherworldly 222 passer rating.
In all, the Huskies piled up 389 yards through the air and 140 on the ground in their blowout win.
“Yeah, they're pretty at good.scoring points,” MLB Jackson Sirmon said after the game. “And it doesn't help when you're first playing defense when you're (already) down 14-0. That’s as bad a start in a game that I've ever been part of so that's a tough place to start when you're playing a really good offense.”
It didn’t take long for disaster to strike in the contest. After UW won the toss and elected to defer to the 2nd half, QB Ben Finley was intercepted by UW linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio and returned 43 yards for a TD just 2:23 into the game. The Jack McAllister PAT gave the Huskies a quick lead. Finley got the surprise start in place of regular starter Sam Jackson even though Jackson appeared healthy and ready to play.
After the Bears were stopped on third down at the Bears 35, Cal’s putrid special teams struck again as receiver/punt returner Rome Odunze fielded a 48-yard Lachlan Wilson punt and took it 83 yards to the house to give the Huskies a quick 14-0 lead after the PAT with 9:43 still remaining in the quarter before Cal’s defense had even played a down.
The Bears finally showed signs of life on the next possession, putting together a solid 8-play, 75-yard drive keyed by a 27-yard catch and run by former Husky receiver Taj Davis to the Washington 7 followed by a one-handed circus catch TD reception by receiver Jeremiah Hunter. Again, special teams struggles reared it’s ugly head with a poor snap and hold that resulted in another missed PAT. The TD narrowed the score to 14-6 with 5:52 left to go in the 1st quarter.
Hunter led the Bears with 5 receptions for 85 yards and a TD on the night. Several other Cal receivers also performed well, with Washington transfer Taj Davis hauling in 5 passes for 60 yards and a TD, redshirt frosh receiver Trond Grizzell with the best game of his young career with 4 catches for 86 yards and a TD and redshirt frosh tight end Jack Endries also with his best game, with 4 catches for 54 yards.
“It doesn't matter what I do if we’re not winning,” Hunter said after the game. “ We need to all get better. That’s the main goal.”
The Huskies wasted no time extending their lead, going on a quick 5-play, 75-yard scoring drive on the next possession on the strength of a 19-yard Dillon Johnson run, a 23-yard reception by Odunze and an 8-yard Troy Penix back-shoulder TD pass to receiver Ja’Lynn Polk to extend Washington’s lead to 21-6 with 2:42 left in the quarter.
The next possession, FInley was intercepted again, this time by safety Dominque Hamption at the Cal 27. The Bears’ defense finally held the next possession, with Washington settling for a 41-yard Grady Gross field goal to push their lead to 24-6 with 38 seconds left to close out the frantic first quarter scoring fest.
The Bears’ offense temporarily came out of hibernation the next possession, putting together a 7-play, 80-yard drive, with 20-yard Trond Grizzell and 25-yard Hunter receptions followed by a 24-yard toss from Finley to Davis doing the damage on the drive. A failed 2-point conversion attempt left the score at 31-12 with 9 minutes left in the half.
The next possession, Penix was picked off by cornerback Lu-Magia Hears at the Husky 37 but the Bears wasted no time giving it right back as Finley chucked his third interception of the half, this time picked by Washington cornerback Jabbar Muhammad and returned 42 yards to the Cal 48. Seven plays later, the Huskies found paydirt again, as Penix hit Polk for a 24-yard TD to extend their lead to 38-12 with 4:08 left in the half.
The Bears were unable to close out the half with the 26-point deficit, surrendering a 6-play, 80-yard TD drive to close at the end of the half as Penix hit Odunze with another TD pass, this time from 35 yards over a badly-beaten Hearns to push their lead to an embarrassing 45-12 at the half. It was the most single half points given up by the Bears in the program’s history, tying Alabama’s 45-point half against Cal in 1973. It was also the most points the Huskies have scored in a half as well.
The Bears finally looked like they were going to catch a break to start the second half after Cam Sidney recovered a Germie Bernard fumble at the Husky 32 but the officials overturned the call, ruling the ground caused the fumble. The Huskies capitalized, driving 68 yards in 7 plays to go up 52-12 3 minutes into the half on a 13-yard Odunze TD grab and run.
Faced with a 4th-and-2 at the Cal 23 on their next possession, Washington elected to go for it on fourth down but the Bears were able to hold, stopping the Huskies from scoring for just the second time in the game. Following the turnover on downs, the Bears strung together a 9-play, 77-yard drive, with much of the damage coming on a 50-yard Finley completion to Hunter.
The Bears almost didn’t score on the drive when Finley threw an ill-advised pass picked off by cornerback Thadeus Dixon and returned 95 yards for a touchdown, but just as a Cal TD was wiped off the board earlier in the drive, Dixon was whistled for a facemask penalty on the play and the ball came back to the Washington 8. For the second time in the drive, running back Jadyn Ott scored and this time it counted as the soph running back punched it in for a 2-yard TD run to bring the score to 52-19 after the Luckhurst PAT - his first and only PAT of the game.
On the ensuing drive, the Bears’ defense held, forcing the first Huskies punt of the day 1:27 into the fourth quarter. The Bears capitalized, marching 87 yards in 8 plays behind a rejuvenated Cal offense with former starter Sam Jackson making an appearance and sparking the Bears with several key completions and a pretty 20-yard TD completion to Grizzell, who wrestled the ball away from the defender. After yet another Luckhurst missed PAT, the Bears trailed 52-25 with 10:48 left in the game.
The Huskies weren’t content to rest on their 52-point laurels and put together a 9-play, 75-yard drive behind backup QB Dylan Morris, with Washington extending their lead on a 9-yard TD run by backup running back Sam Adams to push their lead to 59-25 with 7:08 left in the game.
Jackson and the Cal offense continued their rejuvenated play -granted against a 2nd and 3rd string Husky defense- driving 75 yards in 11 plays, with key plays coming from an 11-yard Marquis Montgomery reception along with a 33-yard Grizzell grab before running back Ashton Stredick scored on a 3-yard run. Frosh kicker Mateen Baghani came on in relief of the struggling Luckhurst to hit the PAT to bring the final margin to 59-32 to close out the scoring.
The Cal defense was led by safety Patrick McMorris and inside linebacker Kaleb Elarms-Orr with 7 tackles a piece. The Huskies surrendered no sacks in their victory and just 3 tackles for loss.
"I think when something like this happens, there's a couple of ways that a team can take it,” Sirmon said after the game. "And Coach Wilcox's message, my message, the entire team's goal and message is going to be to learn from this to remember how much it sucks and use that to get our minds right to win a football game next week."
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