The number 8 Washington Huskies ran their record to 4-0 in its 59-25 victory over the California Golden Bears at Husky Stadium. The night began with the promise of rain throughout the night, but Washington linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio got UW on the board with a 45-yard interception return on Cal’s first possession.
The Washington defense forced a punt on the Golden Bears’ next possession Rome Odunze returned the punt 83-yards for a touchdown giving the Huskies a 14-0 lead before Michael Penix even stepped onto the field.
When Penix did get onto the field he put Husky Stadium’s new LED lights to the test passing for 4 touchdowns and a cool 304 yards over the course of just three quarters. With that performance under the lights the Penix4Heisman train just keeps on chugging.
The Huskies seemed to move the ball whenever and however they pleased. Dillon Johnson got going early and contributed to a scoring drive that ended with a Ja’Lynn Polk score to get the Huskies up 21-6.
It took Rome Odunze exactly 11 minutes and 49 seconds of football to hit the 100 all purpose yards mark. Of course, he wouldn’t finish the game there as an array of spectacular catches and big plays. He finished Odunze at 125 yards and 2 touchdowns, going over 100 for the 4th game in a row–the first player to do so as a Husky.
The Husky defense did their part early in the game holding Cal to just 6 in the first quarter, and 12 in the entire half. Big plays where made in big situations including Maurice Heims getting a big pressure forcing Ben Finley to fire the ball into the arms of Dominic Hampton who happily collected the Huskies second interception of the night.
When the Huskies had the ball they were moving it with ease. Getting the ball up 24-6 Penix wasted no time to find Rome Odunze in a seam for a 44 yard shot, the Dillon Johnson capped off the drive by smashing his way into the end zone.
Cal would score a touchdown to cut the lead to 31-12 but a confusing call for a two point conversion had Finley running for his life before tossing the ball away for his own safety.
Penix had one mistake on the day, a bad decision under pressure ended up in opposing hands. But it wouldn’t be an issue for long as Jabbar Muhammad would take the football back on the vry next play for interception number three.
Ja’Lynn Polk would be the benefactor of that turnover as another Husky drive got to the endzone for another touchdown and a 38-12 lead.
The crowd was rocking all game, especially for a game in poor weather against Cal. They had their moments including helping to get a big false start call on the Golden Bear’s late in the half. The Huskies would make the stop and have one more opportunity to cash in.
Odunze had one if the best catches of the day twisting and turning over his shoulders to locate the football and hall in the last score of the half to give the Huskies a commanding 45-12 lead at the break.
With that touchdown this Husky team became the first since 1944 to score 40+ points in 4 consecutive games in a season since 1944. That team faced Willamete and Whitman. Twice.
UW got the ball out of the break and kept the momentum going. You could see the shifting identity as Dillon Johnson and Will Nixon began to pick up more and more work. Working with Penix they marched the Huskies down to the red zone where Penix hit Rome Odunze on a screen play and the receiver battled his way in for a 9-yard score. 51-12 Washington.
From that point on it was cruise control. With a 39 point lead Cal was all but buried. The Huskies would get one scoring drive out of Dillon Morris as Sam Adams found the end zone. Cal would throw on plenty of late points to cut the score but the Huskies were too far ahead to ever feel the threat. 59-25 would be wraps from Seattle as the Huskies start Pac-12 play 1-0.
Polk would just beat out Odunze with 127 yards and a matching 2 touchdowns. Johnson and Nixon combined for 105 yards on the ground and a score.
