UW Football News: Huskies 31, Cal 7
Don’t look now, but the University of Washington Huskies are off to a great start this year. They came into this week’s matchup with Cal as a team that had only one loss, but still had something to prove in-conference. And against a good Golden Bears team, they emerged victorious.
This was UW’s first game since a disappointing 20-13 loss to Stanford in Seattle last month, and only their second Pac-12 contest of the season. They rolled into the matchup having spent a week resting their legs, and proceeded to tear Cal apart. 31-7. Not too shabby!
UW did this without a big advantage in total yards, only barely besting Cal’s 368 with their own 384. 273 of those were Cyler Miles, who threw for 273 yards and three touchdowns. Jared Goff, who quarterbacks an offense that is usually one of the most explosive in the nation, threw for an impressive 304 yards. But he saw his effectiveness limited as the Huskies managed to keep the pressure on throughout the game, limiting him to mostly short gains as he finished 35-51 in the air. Three fumbles really hurt Cal, too.
John Ross came up big for the Huskies, turning a short pass into an 86-yard touchdown. That score made it 28-0, and Ross added three more catches on the day to bring himself up to 118 yards. That total would have been significantly higher were it not for Joshua Perkins, who was ejected for targeting a defenseless player during a long run by Ross. The penalty killed the play, of course, and could have long-term reprocussions for Perkins.
Shaq Thompson scored his eye-popping fourth defensive touchdown of the season so far, a 100 yard return on a play that Goff intended to finish in the Cal endzone. Instead it was a fumble and a sprint down the field. Cal’s defense really didn’t get anything done on the day, and the Huskies leaned on the pressure created by their own defensive squad to limit an offense that entered the day averaging 50 points per game.
All in all, a much-needed pick-me-up win for the Huskies. They’ll be in Eugene next to play Oregon on Saturday the 18th, with game time set for 5:00pm.