Cal Sports Report

Cal Game Summary: No. 8 Washington Clobbers the Bears 59-32

Huskies score the most points against Cal since Justin Wilcox became the Golden Bears' head coach. Bears' starting quarterback situation unsettled for next week

Jake Curtis

In this story:

Eighth-ranked Washington defeated Cal 59-32 Saturday night in Seattle in both teams’ Pac-12 opener.

Washington's 59 points were the most points scored against Cal since Justin Wilcox became the Golden Bears' head coach prior to the 2017 season. The Huskies took a 14-0 lead before they ran their first offensive play and continued to add on.

Ben Finley was Cal’s starting quarterback Saturday, and he threw three interceptions in the first half, as Washington took a 45-12 lead at halftime.

Quarterback Sam Jackson V, who started two of the first three games including last week's 31-17 win over Idaho, entered Saturday's game with 2:50 left in the third quarter after Finley left with an injury. The Bears trailed 52-12 at the time.  Jackson went 10-for-14 for 156 yards and a touchdown.

Justin Wilcox said he was not sure who would be his starting quarterback next week against Arizona State.

Washington Michael Penix Jr. passed for 304 yards, his lowest total of the season, but had four touchdown passes and one interception and did not play in the fourth quarter.

Michael Luckhurst missed two extra points for Cal, and Mateen Bhaghani made the extra point after Cal's final touchdown.  Wilcox said he's not sure who will do the place-kicking for Cal next week against Arizona State.

The summary:

WASHINGTON 59, CAL 32

RECORDS: CAL (2-2, 0-1 Pac-12), WASHINGTON (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Washington receiver Rome Odunze. In the first half alone  Odunze had an 83-yard punt return for a touchdown and four receptions for 112 yards and a touchdown, helping Washington a 45-12 lead at halftime. He finished with five catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns.

TURNING POINT: On the sixth play of the game, Washington’s Edefuan Ulofoshia intercepted a Ben Finley pass and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown that gave the Huskies a 7-0 lead before the game was three minutes old.

KEY PLAY 1: On a third-and-4 play from the Cal 43-yard line, Bears quarterback Ben Finley threw a pass that was intercepted by Washington’s Edefuan Ulofoshia, who returned it 45 yards for a Washington touchdown. That gave the Huskies a 7-0 lead with 12:37 left in the first quarter. Ulofoshia nearly lined up offside on the play, but it was not called.

KEY PLAY 2: Washington’s Rome Odunze runed a punt 83 yards for a touchdown to give the Huskies a 14-0 lead with 9:13 left in the first quarter. The Huskies have yet to run an offensive play.

KEY PLAY 3: Cal’s Ben Finley threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Hunter, who wrestled the ball away from the defender in the end zone. That touchdown came one play after Cal’s Taj Davis made a 27-yard reception from Finley on a third-and-10 play. The extra point by Michael Luckhurst was missed leaving Cal’s deficit at 14-6 with 5:52 left in the first quarter.

KEY PLAY 4: Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. completed an 8-yard touchdown pass to Ja’Lynn Polk to complete a 73-yard drive and give the Huskies a 21-6 lead with 3:27 left in the first half.

KEY PLAY 5: On a third-and-8 play from the Cal 27-Yard line, Cal’s Ben Finley threw a pass that was intercepted by Dominique Hampton at the Cal 27-yard line. Washington turned that into a 41-yard field goal by Grady Gross, putting the Huskies ahead 24-6 with 38 seconds left in the first quarter.

KEY PLAY 6: Michael Penix Jr. completed a 44-yard pass to Rome Odunze, putting the ball at the Cal 31-yard line. Three plays later, Washington’s Dillon Johnson had a 3-yard touchdown run, giving the Huskies a 31-6 lead with 11:27 left in the first half.

KEY PLAY 7: Cal’s Ben Finley completed a 24-yard touchdown pass to Taj Davis. Finley’s two-point conversion pass was incomplete, leaving Cal behind 31-12 with 9:00 left in the second quarter. Finley completed a 20-yard pass to Trond Grizzell and a 25-yard pass to Jeremiah Hunter in that drive as rain fell.

KEY PLAY 8: One play after Cal’s Lu-Magia Hearns III intercepted a Michael Penix Jr. pass, Cal’s Ben Finley threw a pass that was intercepted by the Huskies’ Jaivion Green at the 10-yard line and returned 42 yards to the Cal 48-yard line. That was Finley’s third interception of the game.

KEY PLAY 9: Michael Penix Jr. threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Ja’Lynn Polk, giving Washington a 38-12 lead with 4:08 left in the first half.

KEY PLAY 10: Michael Penix Jr. threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Rome Odunze, giving the Huskies a 45-12 lead with 44 second remaining in the first half. 

KEY PLAY 11: Michael Penix Jr. completed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Rome Odunze to give Washington a 52-12 lead early in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY 12: Cal's Jaydn Ott scored a touchdown on a 2-yard touchdown run, reducing the Bears' deficit to 52-19 late in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY 13: Cal's Trond Grizzell caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Sam Jackson V early in the fourth quarter, but Michael Luckhurst missed the extra point to make it a 52-25 game.

STAT OF THE GAME: The 45 points Washington scored in the first half tied the most points any Cal opponent had scored against the Bears for an entire game since Justin Wilcox became Cal's head coach prior to the 2017 season.  (Oregon scored 45 points for the game against Cal in 2017.)

STAT OF THE GAME II: Cal starting quarterback Ben Finley threw three interceptions in the first half, one of which was returned for a touchdown.

STAT OF THE GAME III: Washington averaged 10.03 yards per play in the first half when it took a 45-12 lead.

STAT OF THE GAME IV: Despite losing decisively, Cal had 502 yards of total offense.

INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE GAME: Washington had two players with 100 receiving yards or more in the same game for the fourth time this season. Ja'Lynn Polk (127 yards) and Rome Odunze (125) did it Saturday. Neither played in the fourth quarter.

QUARTERBACK STATISTICS: Cal's Ben Finley was 17-for-32 for 207 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. Cal quarterback Sam Jackson V was 10-for-14 for 156 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.

Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. was 19-for-25 for 304 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.  It was the first time this season he was held under 400 passing yards, although he did not play the fourth quarter. Washington quarterback Dylan Morris was 4-for-7 for 85 yards.

WHAT IT MEANS: Cal showed it is not ready to compete against the top teams in the Pac-12 conference. The Bears were not expected to win, but losing so decisively does not provide optimism for the rest of the season.

CAL'S BOWL BAROMETER: Cal’s chance of landing a bowl berth remain at about 40%. Saturday's loss was not surprising, but it’s hard to find four more games on the schedule the Bears can win.

NEXT GAME: Cal (2-2, 0-1 Pac-12) vs. Arizona State (1-3, 0-1 Pac-12) at Cal’s Memorial Stadium in Berkeley on Saturday, September 30. Kickoff: noon. TV: Pac-12 Network. Arizona State won its opener against FCS opponent Southern Utah 24-21, then lost its next two games, losing to Oklahoma State 27-15 and getting shut out by Fresno State 29-0. The Sun Devils lost to USC 42-28 in their Pac-12 opener Saturday night. Drew Pyne is expected to be ASU's starting quarterback against Cal.

Cover photo of Washington's Edefuan Ulofoshio by Joe Nicholson, USA TODAY Sports

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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