Cal Football: 5 Questions For Washington Huskies Beat Writer Dan Raley
Cal returns home Saturday to face Washington for the 101st time. The Bears will be tasked with trying to tame an offense that averages 42.1 points.
To get insights on the Huskies, we checked in to ask 5 Questions of Dan Raley, who operates Inside the Huskies on the SI.com network. Raley is a Seattle native who has covered sports in the city for four decades.
We started our conversation by asking him about first-year coach Kevin DeBoer, who came to UW from Fresno State and has the team off to a 5-2 start.
Asked what DeBoer did to turn things around, Raley said it starts with the men alongside him.
“He brought a coaching staff that was probably two times better than they had before,” Raley says in the video at the top of this story.
“He’s a real pleasant guy but he’s got three or four guys that are kind of the hard-nosed coaches you want to develop a competitive attitude.”
Raley called DeBoer “an offensive genius — he’s done this everywhere he’s been.”
The Husky defense isn’t nearly as good as the offense. “They’ve made it interesting,” Raley said. “They’re not perfect — their defense is a real mess right now — but they working on it.”
— Quarterback Michael Penix Jr., has been dynamite. How surprised are you by how prolific he has been and what makes him so good?
Raley says in the video above he’s not entirely surprised.
“I thought he’d be pretty good when he came in because he was second-team All-Big Ten in 2020, behind only Justin Fields of Ohio State,” Raley says.
Penix’s problem was he never played more than six games in a season, all four years suffering an injury that ended his seson.
Raley called Penix “the real deal,” citing his strong arm and mobility. “You put those two things together and it’s really scary for a defensive coordinator to try to stop that.”
After Penix arrived in the for spring ball, many expected a three-man race for quarterback with Dylan Morris and Sam Huard also in contention.
“After one practice I said, `What three-man race? It’s a one-man show out there.”
— Wide receiver Rome Odunze has a school-record four straight 100-yard receiving games. Is there any way to slow this guy down? Describe his skillset.
“In Seattle, we have a wide receiver that is widely considered one of the best in the NFL in DK Metcalf,” Raley says of the Seattle Seahawks' star. “Well, Rome Odunze is a skinny DK Metcalf. He’s 6-foot-3, about 205 (pounds). If you put on 25 more pounds he’d look like DK Metcalf.”
And Odunze is just as fast, Raley says,
Odunze was hidden last year, Raley explains, in an offense that was run first. When DeBoer was hired, he had to convince Odunze things would change. And they have.
“He could play anywhere for anybody,” Raley says..
— Both Washington and Cal have struggled to defend the pass, with the Huskies giving up a conference-worst 17 touchdown passes. Has their youth in the secondary been the biggest issue? And are you seeing any progress?
The problem has been the combination of youth and injuries, Raley says.
A year ago, the Huskies had a pair of All-Pac-12 cornerbacks in Trent McDuffie and Kyler Gordon. Both are now playing in the NFL.
Raley reports that nine different players have earned starts in the Huskies’ five-man secondary. Freshman Jaivion Green will get his first start on Saturday night.
Both Washington and Cal are allowing about 258 passing yards per game, ranking them 10th and 11th, respectively, in the Pac-12.
“It’s just been open season for throwing the football on the Huskies.” Raley says. “Cal’s got all kinds of opportunities this weekend to exploit this.”
— The past 3 meetings between Washington and Cal have been decided by one touchdown or less, with the Bears winning twice. With a new UW coaching staff in place and so many offensive players out of the transfer portal, do those recent results have any bearing on this game or do you expect the Huskies to continue scoring at will?
“Oh, the Huskies will score at will on anybody,” Raley says. "It’s just whether they can stop anybody.”
While Washington has scored at least 32 points in all seven games, it is giving up 28.6 per game, which ranks seventh in the Pac-12. Cal is second in scoring defense at 21.7. Over the past three games, the Huskies have allowed 41.3 points per game.
“Even if Cal has some offensive struggles coming in,” Raley says, “they’re going to get well really quick. It’s going to be a shootout.”
Cover photo of Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze by Joe Nicholson, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
