Cal’s Webb takes blame for loss as short-handed defense struggles

Cal’s Webb takes blame for loss as short-handed defense struggles

PULLMAN, Wash. —

Quarterback Davis Webb was the best Cal player on the field late Saturday night, completing 34 of 53 passes for 425 yards and three touchdowns.

56-21 loss to No. 23 Washington State under clear skies at Martin Stadium in the Palouse.

“We got our butts kicked, and it starts with me,” Webb said.

Webb continues to move up the school’s single-season record book, but Cal (4-6, 2-5 Pac-12) has lost three straight games and needs to win its final two (at home against Stanford and UCLA) to become bowl-eligible.

Washington State (8-2, 7-0) has won eight games in a row for the first time since 1930, when the Cougars won their first nine before losing 24-0 to Alabama in the Rose Bowl.

Washington State sure looked the part of the team that leads the Pac-12 North Division by itself after Washington’s loss to USC.

The announcement of that score got one of the largest first-half cheers, but the Cougars’ play got plenty of ovations, too.

Junior quarterback Luke Falk completed 36 of 50 passes for 373 yards, with five touchdowns and an interception.

River Cracraft had nine catches for 87 yards and three scores, the last tying his career best, and after being shut out in the first half, Gabe Marks had seven catches for 87 yards and two touchdowns to move past Colorado’s Nelson Spruce as the Pac-12’s all-time leader in receptions (294 from 2012 through ’15).

Washington State racked up 254 rushing yards, averaging 8.2 yards a carry, and the Cougars ran 86 plays.

Cal continued to play without top cornerback Darius Allensworth (groin), lost defensive backs Luke Rubenzer and Chibuzo Nwokocha last week in practice and then lost safety Jaylinn Hawkins in the first quarter after he was ejected for targeting.

“We’re playing sometimes three or four walk-ons in the secondary,” Cal head coach Sonny Dykes said.

After missing a field-goal try and throwing an interception in the end zone, plays that, if executed, probably would have had Cal trailing only 21-17, the Bears were not closer than three scores of Washington State in the second half.

Webb completed passes to 10 teammates, including getting big production from Chad Hansen and Demetris Robertson.

Robertson had six catches for 141 yards and a touchdown, moving him past DeSean Jackson for the school’s freshman receiving yards mark.

Hansen, still bothered by a sprained ankle, had 11 catches for 139 yards.

“I feel fine,” Hansen said.

Ankles are a tough thing to come back from, because you tweak them all of the time.

After holding Cal to a three-and-out on its first possession, Washington State’s Kalbe Fossum scored on a 75-yard punt return.

With the Bears trailing 21-7, Webb threw an interception in the end zone on a play that could have cut Cal’s deficit to one score.

Washington State then used a little more than three minutes to go 79 yards and capped the drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Falk to Cracraft for a 28-7 advantage.

Cracraft’s dominant night continued during the opening drive of the second half, when he caught a 9-yard touchdown pass that put Washington State up 35-7 with 11:13 remaining in the third quarter.

Webb’s 19-yard touchdown strike to Bug Rivera in the closing minutes of the third quarter only slightly improved Cal’s chances of winning the game, but it added to Webb’s record-setting year.

“We’ve gotten our butts kicked three weeks in a row, and it sucks,” Webb said.

[...] what opportunity do we have this week?

Rusty Simmons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

Email: rsimmons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Rusty_SFChron

Cal schedule

at Ariz.

at Oregon State

at USC

UCLA

TBA

The 119th Big Game between Stanford and Cal will kick off at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium, the Pac-12 announced Sunday.

The game will be televised by Pac-12 Network.