Cal Football: Bears' Sept. 23 Pac-12 Opener at Washington Set For 7:30 P.M. Kickoff

Kickoff for Cal’s game at No. 8 Washington on Sept. 23 has been set for 7:30 p.m.

For the second time in three weeks, the Bears will play in front of an ESPN national audience. ESPN carried Cal’s 14-10 loss to Auburn on Saturday.

Cal (1-1) is at home this Saturday against Idaho (2-0) while the No. 8 Huskies travel to Michigan State for a duel of 2-0 teams.

The game at Husky Stadium will open the Pac-12 schedule with a matchup of teams that first met in 1904 but may never square off again with UW headed to the Big Ten Conference in 2024 and Cal joining the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Coach Justin Wilcox’s teams have engaged in some competitive, entertaining games against the Huskies.

Washington has won the past two meetings vs. Cal, taking a 28-21 victory in Berkeley last season after a 31-24 overtime win in Seattle in 2021.

The teams did not play in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, but Cal posted a memorable 20-19 win at Husky Stadium on Sept. 7, 2019 in a game that was delayed by more than 2 1/2 hours by a first-quarter lightning storm, finally ending at 1:22 a.m. when Greg Thomas delivered a 17-yard field goal.

Cal also beat UW in 2018 at Berkeley, a 12-10 victory punctuated by linebacker Evan Weaver’s 37-yard return of an interception for the go-ahead score late in the third quarter.

Washington leads the all-time series 56-41-4.

Cover photo of Evan Weaver diving for the end zone in against Washington in 2018 by Al Sermeno, KLC fotos

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo