Huskies Flex Their Muscles In Every Phase Of Cal Win
Any football coach will say that a championship team is dominant in all three phases of football. Kalen DeBoer's Washington Huskies put on a superior display of scoring on offense, defense and special teams against California in a 59-32 win on Saturday night.
"It all becomes contagious," DeBoer said after the game. "I think the last couple weeks, just attacking defensively, those things become contagious and you're excited and you can't wait to go make that next play, that big hit, that interception, whatever it may be."
With Edefuan Ulofoshio's 45-yard pick-six on the game's opening drive, the confidence spread quickly to the rest of the team.
Offense
Michael Penix Jr. might have asserted himself as the frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy with the win, even though the Huskies didn't reach their season average of 614.7 yards per game, finishing with 529 yards of offense. Penix ended his day early once again, exiting with 304 passing yards and 4 touchdowns, even going without wide receiver Jalen McMillan, missed the contest with an injury.
Washington's other receivers supplied plenty of production, with Rome Odunze scoring 3 touchdowns, 2 receiving and the other on a punt return, while picking up 125 receiving yards.
On the other flank, Ja'Lynn Polk was just as impressive. The one-time Texas Tech transfer led the Huskies with 8 catches and 127 yards while also pulling in 2 touchdowns.
On the ground, Washington's rushing attack continued to improve. Against the Golden Bears, Mississippi State transfer Dillon Johnson ran 10 times for 66 yards and a touchdown, while the Huskies finished their day with 153 yards on the ground.
Defense
Even though the Huskies didn't record a sack, Cal quarterback Ben Finley felt the heat from the pass rush. He threw three interceptions in the first half to Dominique Hampton, Jabbar Muhammad and Ulofoshio.
Those 3 interceptions brought Washington's total to 7 through the team's first four games, matching its season total in 2022.
The Huskies permitted 502 total yards on the day, but the majority of it came late in the second half, long after the starters had been removed from the game. At the end of the third quarter, the impressively stingy defense had allowed 297 yards.
Special teams
With McMillan sidelined, Rome Odunze wasted no time showing off what he can do as a punt returner. On Cal's first punt of the game, the preseason first-team All-America receiver took Lachlan Wilson's kick 83 yards for the Huskies' first punt return score since receiver Aaron Fuller scored from the same distance against BYU in 2019.
As a kick returner, receiver Germie Bernard broke a few big runbaacks early in the season and this time he added even more energy to Washington's special teams. The sophomore totaled 66 yards on kick returns and nearly broke off a huge one to open the second half before barely being tripped up by Cal's Cam Sidney.
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