Cal gives up 45 points in first half, routed 59-32 at Washington

If this was the last time Cal faces Washington on the football field, it will be remembered as one of the Bears’ worst experiences.

Behind 14-0 before the No. 8 Huskies had even run an offensive play, Cal lost 59-32 in a game that was not that close at Husky Stadium on Saturday night.

The Huskies (4-0) won their opener in their f givesinal Pac-12 season before moving to the Big Ten, and looked every bit a contender to not only win the conference title but challenge for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

The Bears (2-2), who will move to the Atlantic Coast Conference next fall, looked entirely overmatched in their final Pac-12 opener. They trailed 45-12 at halftime, at which point they had surrendered as many points as they’d allowed in a full game since 2016.

UW led 52-12 after the first series of the third quarter, threatening to make this the most one-sided defeat of the seven-year Justin Wilcox era. The Bears lost 35-0 at Utah in 2019 when they were forced by injury to use a third-string quarterback.

Cal started Ben Finley at quarterback in this one and the North Carolina State transfer passed for 207 yards with touchdowns of 7 yards to Jeremiah Hunter and 24 yards to ex-Husky Taj Davis.

He also threw three interceptions, including a 45-yard pick-six by linebacker Edefaun Ulofoshio on his second pass attempt of the game, setting the tone for the night.

The Bears were forced to punt on their second possession and UW’s electrifying receiver/return specialist Rome Odunze ran it back 83 yards for a TD that made it 14-0 before the Huskies’ potent offense had even taken the field.

Hunter’s one-handed catch of Finley’s first touchdown pass made it 14-6 after a missed PAT with 5:52 left in the quarter and Cal had run 20 plays to zero for the Huskies.

When quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and the UW offense finally got their chance, things only got worse for the Bears. Penix, a Heisman Trophy contender, was 19 for 25 for 304 yards with four touchdowns before sitting down late in the third quarter.

Ja’Lynn Polk caught eight passes for 125 yards and two of those TDs. Odunze had five receptions for 122 yards and one score, besides his punt return.

Finley threw all three of his interceptions in the first half, leading to 17 UW points, but he continued as the Bears’ quarterback in the second half.

He apparently threw a 12-yard TD pass to Jaydn Ott with 3:15 left in the third quarter but the play was wiped out by a penalty for an ineligible receiver downfield.

On the next snap, Finley was picked off by Thaddeus Dixon, who returned it 95 yards for a touchdown, despite being pursued the entire way by Ott. That TD was scrubbed also because of a personal foul-facemask penalty.

Finley left the game at that point, holding his lower back and slamming his helmet to the turf just before entering the medical tent on the Cal sideline.

That brought on Sam Jackson V, who lost a week-long practice competition for the starting job. He handed the ball to Ott for a 2-yard TD burst that made it 52-19 with 1:49 left in the third quarter.

Jackson directed the Bears to another touchdown on the next series, hitting Trond Grizzell with a 20-yard TD to cap an eight-play, 87-yard drive with 10:48 to play.

Jackson finished 10-for-14 for 156 yards as the Bears totaled 502 yards. Washington wound up with 524 yards.

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