Defense does it as Bears Upset Huskies, 12-10
Statistics might say that Washington’s defense is the best in the Pac-12, but Cal’s was the better one Saturday in Memorial Stadium. It scored the Bears’ only touchdown and stifled the Huskies offense and star quarterback Jake Browning in a 12-10 upset of the 15th ranked visitors.
Linebacker Evan Weaver returned an interception for a touchdown in the third quarter, Greg Thomas kicked two field goals and Cal pulled of one of biggest surprises of the Pac-12 season.
The Bears (5-3, 2-3 Pac-12) can now realistically think of the postseason, having won two straight after three consecutive losses. Washington (6-3, 4-2) can probably forget about winning the Pac-12 North.
The Cal offense, which could not get into the end zone, did clinch the game with a gutty drive on its last possession.
"They're all big, I mean it's huge. It gives guys validation It gives them confidence," head coach Justin Wilcox said afterwards. "We've got to build on it. That's what's important. It's a great environment in the locker room as you might expect, but I don't think anyone is surprised."
Chase Garbers was at quarterback for all but a handful of plays and was 16-for-23 passing for for 153 yards. Most importantly he did not throw an interception. Wilcox praised his passing efficiency and also what he did "with his feet." He was sacked four times, but did net 28 yards and kept the damage on a lot of plays to a minimum.
The Bears gave up a touchdown on Washington's first possession of the game, then limited the Huskies to a field goal the rest of the way. Besides Weaver's pick, cornerback Camryun Bynum killed a Washington drive with a sideline interception in the first quarter and the defense made enough third and fourth down plays to stymie the Huskies offense.
They finally yielded that field goal, but that might have been the most impressive sequence of the day. Washington had kept the Bears pinned deep in their own territory much of the fourth quarter, and when Aaron Fuller returned a Steven Coutts punt 28 yards to set the Huskies up on the Cal 22 with just under seven minutes left, the Cal fans in the crowed of 39,138 was understandably nervous.
Two plays later Browning had his team on the Bears 9 and poised to take the lead. However they could get no farther and were forced to kick the field goal. Still they had hope, with 4:51 left and a defense that had been stubborn. But Washington never owned the ball again. Cal took the ball on its 25 and picked up a couple of first downs. With just one time out Washington watched helplessly as the clock ran out.
"The o-line had a little huddle before that drive," said Patrick Laird, who carried the ball three times and caught a pass that was good for a first down (barely) during the drive. "I tried to get into it but they wouldn't let me. They just said, 'Two first downs.' They did a great job."
Garbers gained six yards on two runs, and on third down managed to get a pass off to Laird who was just beyond the first down distance. Garbers then hit Vic Wharton III for six yards, Laird picked up six more and that was all she wrote for the Huskies. As soon as Garbers ran around on third down to eat up the clock, the crowd stormed the field.
Laird said he took "about 70 selfies," during the celebration.
The team stats were pretty much even. Cal had 242 offensive yards, UW 250. They each had 91 rushing and Cal 151 passing to Washington's 159. The big difference was time of possession. Cal had the ball 33:13, nearly seven minutes more than the Huskies. In the second quarter the difference was a whopping 12:37 to 2:23.
That might have been the reason Huskies coach Chris Petersen pulled Browning in the third quarter, he was temporarily replaced by freshman Jake Haener.
"Pulling Jake had out had more to do with me, trying to do something to help this offense," Petersen said.
But Haener is not Browning and the Bears exploited the difference. Haener could not move the team in his first series and in his second threw the game-changing interception, He tossed the ball towards the middle of the field and Weaver grabbed it at the Huskies 37. He headed downfield and dived into the end zone.
"I dropped back, he threw me the ball, I caught it and I just didn't want to fall down." Weaver said. "I was thinking two or three more yards I was going to run out of steam."
That put the Bears up 12-7.
"I wasn't surprised," said Laird of Weaver's jaunt. "If you know the type of guy that Weaver is, then you know that if he has a chance to score he is going to do everything he can. That was exactly what our team needed and that got us the lead and we were able to hold it. It was awesome."
The day did not start well. After Cal went three and out on its first possession of the day, Washington moved smartly down the field, 64 yards in 14 plays for a touchdown. A 23-yard Browning pass to Fuller on 3rd-and-13 and a roughing the passer call on the Bears were the key plays. The TD was a 3-yard pass to Ty Jones all alone at the back of the end zone.
However, the Cal defense did not allow the Huskies any more points in the half, while the offense did enough to keep in interesting.
Following the Husky score Ashtyn Davis found an opening in the middle of the field and returned the kickoff 55 yards to the Washington 42. Laird ran for 14 on first down, and Garbers hit tight end Ray Hudson for 20 more. However the drive stalled and Thomas kicked his first field goal of the day from 36 yards.
The Bynum interception ended the next Washington drive, the teams exchanged punts and Garbers had the Bears on the move again. He led them from their 20 to the Washington 18, but could take them no further and Thomas hit from 35 yards out to make the score 7-6.
The Bears had a chance to grab the lead at halftime, but a very promising drive was abbreviated by a holding penalty and a sack. The Bears were nonetheless close enough to try a field goal. But Thomas missed from 41 yards out.
Next up for the Bears is Washington State, Saturday night in Pullman. The game against the Cougars kicks off at 7:45.
The Bears say they will be ready after their big upset. "We went through a tough stretch and we made a decision as a team," Laird said. "Sometimes teams, players and organizations and don't follow through. i think that we proved to ourselves that we can follow through with what we were saying among our team."
Notes:
The last time Cal won a game without an offensive touchdown was 1998 in a 24-14 win over WSU. ...Washington was averaging 28 points per game. ...Laird was the only running back to carry the ball for the Bears. He finished with 85 yards on 22 carries. ...Weaver's interception was the first of his career. ... Thomas kicked two field goals in a game for the first time this year. ...McIwain completed his only pass attempt, but it was good for a minus two yards.