Huskies lose Pac-12 opener to Golden Bears

“We’re not anxious about that now”.

– And opened conference play with a victory for the first time since ’08. The Bears are coming off a 280-yard rushing game at Texas – their best performance in 27 games under coach Sonny Dykes. The run game was poor – though Utah State has a really, really good run defense – and offensive coordinator Jonathan Smith and head coach Chris Petersen still haven’t figured out what to do with Jeff Lindquist.

“We hung in there”. Still, trailing 27-21, the Huskies had a chance to take the lead early in the fourth quarter.

That’s when the Huskies rally started.

Ending a 10-year victory drought at Husky Stadium wasn’t easy and wasn’t artistic, but Cal forced five turnovers and kicked three field goals on the way to a 30-24 win over Washington in front of 61,066 fans on Saturday afternoon. A sack by Cory Littleton forced the Bears to punt, and Washington regained possession on its own 28 with 2:51 left.

Six Pac-12 players who have combined for eight touchdowns receptions this season are on the watch list for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the nation’s top receiver. However I believe the Huskies have a few other positives going for them in this game. “It’s all things that we can control, a lot of this stuff”.

“Our guys were embarrassed”. Browning, who was received comparisons to Goff, looked like a freshman quarterback, as he threw for only 152 yards and turned the ball over three time, twice via interception and once by fumble. Cal beat UW five straight times from 2002 through 2006 but otherwise is 1-26 overall against the Huskies since 1977, including a 19-game losing streak through 2001…. The Husky defense, which had five sacks, sniffed out the play and forced Goff to improvise. He has reeled in 14 catches for 204 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The Bears led 20-7 at halftime despite converting four red-zone opportunities into just one touchdown and two field goals. Cal launched an emphatic 11-play, 79-yard drive to re-take the lead and forged ahead when Enwere bounced off a blocker and three Washington defenders to pinball into the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown. But he also lost the fumble to Jones and was stopped three straight times from the 1-yard line midway through the second quarter. Cal is 7-19 SU on the road over the past 5 years and as GoSooners points out, they are just 3-16-1 ATS as a road favorite in their last 20. Darius White recorded his second interception of the year, and Damariay Drew, who entered the game dealing with an ankle injury, picked off his first pass. “It’s going to feel better (to be) 5-0”. We’ve got to go back and set our feet and put the ball on our receivers. Jalil’s knee has been sore lately, Dykes said.

The teams traded field goals, and Jake Browning had a chance to bring the Husky offense down the field for a game-winning drive. The experience of the Washington front seven and relative inexperience of Cal’s offense was the main reason, but that’s flipped this year.

Taylor undoubtedly was a brilliant quarterback and he can definitely spot a great talent when he sees one. With Danny Shelton, Hau’oli Kikaha, Shaq Thompson and many others, the plan was to push Goff off of the launching platform and make him uncomfortable.

Jared Goff was 14 for 21 for 191 yards and his 28-yard TD pass to Bryce Treggs made it 20-7 with 2 minutes left in the second quarter. He’s two TD passes shy of tying Kyle Boller’s school record of 64. It was also the first touchdown pass allowed this season by the Huskies.

The ground game played another large role in leading the Bears to another win.

While the Pac-12 is filled with intriguing games this week, one of the best quarterback matchups could be Cal’s proven veteran, Jared Goff, and Washington’s young star Jake Browning.

But, when Cal needed a big play, the defense was there to provide it. With the Huskies driving, Marcus Manley punched the ball out of Dwayne Washington’s hands and White recovered, giving the Bears their fourth takeaway and possession with 10:53 left to play.