By Khalid Bennett
The Seattle Medium
Coming off a victory in the season opener against Eastern Washington, the Huskies were looking to get their first conference win as they took on California Saturday evening at Husky Stadium.
Husky Quarterback Jacob Eason was looking to follow up on his stellar performance in week 1 when he torched the Eastern Washington defense for 349 yards passing and 4 touchdowns in his Husky debut. Last season, Washington lost a tough game on the road at Cal, 12-10. Senior quarterback Jake Browning was benched in that game in favor of Jake Heaner in the fourth quarter. The decision ultimately backfired on head coach Chris Petersen as Heaner threw an interception for a touchdown with a 10-6 lead which gave California what they needed to pull off the upset. Heaner was involved in an intense quarterback battle during camp with Eason. Eason, a 6’6” 227lb junior transfer, was one of the top high school players in the country out of Lake Stevens, Washington. He chose the University of Georgia, but transferred after losing the starting job to Jake Fromm. After sitting out last season due to the NCAA transfer agreement, Eason was able to win the job over Heaner which lead to Heaner’s transfer to Fresno State.
Washington and Cal were ranked 1stand 3rdrespectively in the conference in team defense last season. Only one offensive touchdown was scored during last year’s match-up. After a 2hr 39min delay due to severe weather and lightning in the area, the teams retook the field with just over 9 minutes left in the first quarter at 10:30pm PST. The first score of the contest came in the 2ndquarter via a 36yrd field goal by Washington kicker Peyton Henry to put the Huskies up 3-0. Cal went three and out on the next series and a poor 14-yard punt put Washington in excellent field position on the Cal 43 yard line. That is where Eason threw his first interception of the season attempting to go down the field to junior tight end Hunter Bryant. Eason’s pass ended up in the hands of Cal cornerback Camryn Bynum, a junior out of Corona, California.
The Husky defense was able to get the ball back to the offense, and on their next possession junior tailback Salvon Ahmed had his longest rush of this short season with a 21-yard run to the right side for a Washington touchdown.
California was able to get on the board for the first time on their ensuing drive with a 23 yard field goal as the Husky defense stood strong to keep the Golden Bears out of the endzone. Washington was able to go into the locker room at halftime with a 10-3 lead.
Cal was able to generate some offense on their opening drive in the second half by way of big plays thanks to a 23 yard run and a 20 yard touchdown run up the middle by junior running back Marcel Dancy to knot the game at 10-10.
The Huskies milked over 6 minutes off the clock on their next drive only to manage another field goal by Henry making the score 13-10.
Cal was able to answer back with a 73 yard drive capped off by an 8 yard touchdown run by Darcy for his second rushing touchdown of the day, giving Cal their first lead 17-13 going into the fourth quarter.
With a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter, the Huskies were able to drive down to the Cal 1 yard line. Coach Chris Petersen facing a fourth down and 1 situation, was set to go for it to try and give Washington the lead, but a false start penalty forced them to attempt a 22 yard field goal which was made by Henry to pull Washington to within one as Cal lead 17-16.
The Husky defense was able to get the ball back quickly for their offense to mount a game winning drive with just under 5 minutes to play in the game. A dropped pass on 3rddown forced Washington into a long 50 yard field goal attempt by Henry that he nailed, giving the Huskies a 19-17 lead with just over 2 minutes left. That would end up being enough time for Cal to mount a game winning drive as they managed to move the ball more than 70 yards in their 2 minute offense to set up a 23 yard field goal attempt to take the lead with 8 seconds left on the clock which would seal the deal for the upset as California was able to defeat Washington 20-19.
Although Ahmed was able to rush for 119 yards on 21 carries, the Husky offense wasn’t able to erase some of the mistakes that were made throughout the game. Eason accounted for two turnovers and only 162 yards passing which was a stark contrast to the big game he had the week previous against Eastern. Dropped passes by the Husky receivers happened at crucial moments in the game. A questionable pass interference call kept the California winning drive alive, and the defensive front getting dominated in the fourth quarter were all contributing factors in the Huskies first loss of the 2019 season. Washington will face Hawaii next week in Husky stadium.
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