Overtime defeat at Washington reveals a disturbing trend
Luc Bequette is playing his seventh season of college football — his sixth at Cal — and he recognized a discouraging trend after the Golden Bears’ 3124 overtime loss at Washington in both teams’ Pac-12 opener on Saturday night.
“Everyone on our team absolutely despises losing. I think our guys played really hard,” the 24-year-old defensive end said. “Kind of like a lot of our stories go, it’s just those couple plays here and there ... if we get those, we can win the game.”
Whether the Bears (1-3, 0-1) can win going forward hinges on their ability to remedy their shortcomings. This one ended when sophomore running back Damien Moore fumbled at the goal line on a first-down play in overtime and Washington’s Ryan Bowman recovered.
“We had plenty of opportunities throughout the game. So it’s painful,” Cal coach Justin Wilcox said. “You could pick from 30 plays in the game that are critical to the outcome.”
That’s a lot to wade through before Cal returns to action Saturday at home against Washington State. But the Bears will have to get to work if they hope to avoid their first 1-4 start since 2013.
Here are takeaways from the 100th all-time meeting between Cal and Washington and where the Bears go from here:
DID THE DEFENSE TURN A CORNER? >> A week after giving up 30 points to FCS-level Sacramento State, the Bears fell behind 21-10 at halftime on Saturday. But they allowed Washington just three points in the third and fourth quarters and held the Huskies to 40 yards and one first down in the fourth quarter.
“They did a really good job of getting us the ball back in the second half,” quarterback Chase Garbers said. “Offensively, we’ve got to turn more points out of that.”
The Bears pressured Dylan Morris more effectively in the second half, but Ethan Saunders’ sack was the only one Cal has managed in its past two games.
MISTAKES KEEP COMING >> Cal trailed by 11 points at halftime largely through its own fault. The Bears botched a 37-yard field goal try when holder Jamieson Sheahan mishandled the snap. Cal was flagged for three false starts, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and defensive holding that helped set up Washington’s third first-half touchdown.
Two Garbers interceptions — one in each half — also contributed to a game the Bears lost despite rolling up 457 yards, 131 more than Washington. GARBERS AS DUAL THREAT >> Cal expected the Huskies to play their safeties deep and make downfield passing more difficult. The Bears also knew that could open up running opportunities for Garbers.
In addition to completing 73% of his passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns, the senior was the game’s leading rusher with 71 yards, including a 7-yard designed run into the end zone to tie the score at 24 with 2:51 left in regulation.
“He did some really good things,” Wilcox said.
By boosting his career rushing total to 892 yards, Garbers needs just 40 yards to eclipse Joe Kapp’s 63-year-old school record of 931 rushing yards by a quarterback.
INJURIES MOUNT >> Cal still doesn’t know if fifth-year senior outside linebacker Kuony Deng will play again after missing most of the past three games with a lower-body injury.
Wilcox had no immediate medical reports on four players who were injured at Washington: wide receiver and return specialist Nikko Remigio, tight end Jake Tonges, nose guard Stanley McKenzie and Moore, who scored on a 26-yard pass reception midway through the third quarter but was slow to get off the turf after the big hit that caused his game-ending fumble.