It wasn’t pretty, but the job got done and Washington escaped Cal’s house of horrors with their first road victory of the season. The Husky offense, which came into the game averaging 42 points per game, was able to muster just six points in the first half, due in part to a missed field goal from Peyton Henry. The offense looked much better in the second half, scoring on their first three drives to help put the game away.
Against a middling at best Cal offense, the Husky defense also had its best game in almost a month, holding the Golden Bears to 21 points and 306 yards of offense. The defense also recorded five sacks on the night, with Bralen Trice hitting home twice, and Jeremiah Martin, Zion Tupuola-Fetui, and Voi Tunuufi all joining the party as well.
Michael Penix has been excellent all season, and that held true against Cal, as he set yet another school record, becoming the first Washington quarterback to throw for over 300 yards in eight straight games. He finished his day with 374 yards passing to add to his nation-leading total, and also threw two touchdowns. Cameron Davis also added to his conference-leading 10th touchdown of the year to his ever-growing case to be the every-down running back.
In somewhat shocking news, Rome Odunze was held under 100 yards receiving for the first time in over a month, and he didn’t lead the team in receiving either, that title went to the Northern California product, Jalen McMillan. McMillan hauled in a team-high eight passes for 81 yards and a touchdown, while Odunze finished with six catches for 63 yards, and he also had a clutch 15-yard catch called back in the final minutes after a phantom holding call on left tackle Troy Fautanu.
It felt like the referees (and ESPN’s ninth-string broadcast crew), were both slanted against the Huskies all night. While the Huskies looked undisciplined on Saturday, the holding call on Fautanu and a play that got reviewed for targeting on Bralen Trice in the final minute were both questionable at the very best, the Pac-12 referees were out in full force in the Bay Area.
Not only did DeBoer’s team come away with a clutch victory for the first road win of his tenure as head coach, but after last year’s 4-8 atrocity, the Huskies are officially bowl-eligible. With a bye coming up, Washington not only has a chance to get healthy, but also to get right schematically on the defensive side of the ball. They don’t take the field again until Friday, November 4th, when they’ll return to Husky Stadium for a matchup with the Oregon State Beavers.
