Washington football gets upset by Cal again

Washington football falls to the Cal Golden Bears for the second straight year, 20-19 at home. The Huskies fell all the way to 23rd in the latest AP Poll

Washington football was looking to exact revenge on Cal after the Golden Bears upset them in Berkley last year, but a late field goal sealed the two point win.

The big story

A two and a half hour delay caused by a lightning storm after only five minutes of game time, and the game didn’t end until around 1:20 am on Sunday morning. The crowd was 70,000 strong at the beginning of the game, and only around 15,000 diehard fans remained through the storm.

A tale of two halves

The Huskies dominated the first half leading 10-3; however, the Cal dominated the third quarter scoring two touchdowns on their only two possessions. The Huskies, on the other hand, were only able to hit three field goals. Quarterback Jacob Eason went 18/30  for 162 yards with an interception and a fumble both taking place in the first half, but you have to factor in five or six drops from the wide receivers.

An offensive game

Most people would have expected a defensive game from both teams, but it turned out the offenses played much better than the defense. The weather delay is probably a big reason why the defenses didn’t play as well as expected. Also, the offenses wanted to establish their play much in part because of the field conditions. You would’ve thought both teams would have wanted to grind the ball on the ground. They both did well running the ball, however both teams tried to establish the passing game. The passing game wasn’t terrific on either side, Cal quarterback Chase Garbers went 11/18 for 111 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. Both Cal touchdowns came from running back Marcel Dancy.

Personal bests

Despite the loss, the Huskies had two players who put up career highs. Running back Salvon Ahmed ran for 119 yards, and scored the Huskies’ only touchdown of the game. Ahmed had never run over a hundred yards in a game. The other was kicker Peyton Henry , who went 4/4 and hit a 49-yard field goal at the 2:08 remaining in the game putting the Huskies ahead 19-17 at the time. Henry’s previous longest kick was 41 yards which came in the loss to the Oregon Ducks on the road in Eugene, Oregon.

The Huskies are looking to bounce back this weekend when Hawaii comes to Husky Stadium. Good things can still come if the Dawgs win out!