Short-handed Huskies Find Enough Firepower to End Hex Against Cal in OT
Husky Stadium was three-quarters full of fans, which was a vast improvement over the previous weekend, but no-shows still presented a concern for the University of Washington football team.
On Saturday against California, the UW showed up without All-Pac-12 tight end Cade Otton, second-team all-conference cornerback Trent McDuffie and heavily utilized H-back Jack Westover for various health reasons.
But nothing was going to derail the Huskies on a glorious fall night for football in Seattle — certainly nothing meteorological, biological or illogical — as they finally defeated the Golden Bears 31-24 in overtime.
Still, it looked like these teams were trying to play until 1:22 a.m. again as they did in 2019.
The game ended in the extra session with UW safety Cameron Williams and inside linebacker Jackson Sirmon slamming into Cal running back Damien Moore on first-and-goal from the 2, separating him from the ball and outside linebacker Ryan Bowman recovering it in the end zone.
Williams had both hands tightly wrapped as he was dealing with injuries but he still came up with the game-deciding play.
"He came over the top and laid his shoulder in there and it was just an extraordinary play by Cam," UW coach Jimmy Lake said. "He was just doing what he could with whatever body parts were still working."
That play sent the crowd into bedlam — and it was only 10:23 p.m.
Sean McGrew drew a surprise start at running back after not playing in the first two games of the season and subbing last week, and he scored two touchdowns again, coming up with the OT game-winner on a 2-yard run from the Wildcat formation.
Continuing his hot hand at quarterback, Dylan Morris threw pinpoint first-half touchdown passes of 6 yards to Jalen McMillan and 20 yards to Taj Davis, while moving aside for McGrew to score from the 5, again from the Wildcat.
"I'm feeling so comfortable in it, I wish we could call some pass plays," McGrew said of the direct snap to the back. "I've got a cannon for an arm."
This helped release a lot of built-up frustration for the Huskies after losing to Cal in 2018 on a pick-six from an untested quarterback in Jake Haener who inexplicably replaced four-year starter Jake Browning and falling again after a near three-hour lightning delay in 2019, plus having last year's came wiped out by the pandemic.
Compared to that, this game was pure sanity.
Jalen McMillan caught a TD pass for the second week in a row.
Stephen Brashear/USA TODAY Sports
The Huskies (1-0 Pac-12, 2-2 overall) did it the hard way, substituting sophomore Devin Culp for Otton, who wasn't in the stadium because of virus contact tracing and likely will miss next week's game, too; and starting walk-on redshirt freshman Mishael Powell at corner for McDuffie, who got hurt against Arkansas State and was in street clothes.
They also were missing Westover, who likewise was in street clothes, and got extra creative in finding his replacement at H-back, ultimately using another walk-on in Javon Forward.
And in bit of a surprise, McGrew started in place of sophomore Richard Newton, who was available but went unused. The little guy, a sixth-year senior, didn't even play in the first two games of the season, but his two-touchdown performance against Arkansas State earned him a promotion.
Cam Davis and Kamari Pleasant also ran the ball for the UW, but Newton never stirred from the sideline, a scenario that's happened before.
No matter who was in the lineup, the UW got solid play across the board, never trailed though tied twice, and showed enough poise in OT to beat its Berkeley nemesis (1-3, 0-1).
Morris completed 19 of 32 passes for 234 yards and the 2 scores without a turnover. Cal quarterback Chase Garbers was even better, hitting on 30 of 41 passes for 319 yards and 2 TDs, though he had 2 picks; the versatile player also led all rushers with 71 yards and scored once in 16 carries.
In the absence of Otton, Culp stepped up and led all Husky receivers with 5 catches for 81 yards. Freshman wide receiver Rome Odunze came off an injury to make his season debut and caught 3 passes for 56 yards.
Cornerback Kyler Gordon, taking the lead role in coverage from McDuffie, stepped in front of a Garbers pass on Cal's first possession and his interception set the Huskies up on the Bears 36 for their first scoring drive. Gordon had both pass thefts against Garbers and also topped the Huskies in tackles with 10.
Dylan Morris was comfortable in the pocket against the Bears.
Stephen Brashear/USA TODAY Sports
Seven plays later, Morris threw one over the middle to Davis, just out of the reach of Bears cornerback Collin Gamble, and the freshman receiver from Chino, California, tumbled into the end zone for his first career Husky touchdown.
The Bears came right back and tied the game at 7 when Garbers faked into the line to draw the defense in and found tight end Jake Tonges wide open on a fourth-and-1 play in the left corner of the end zone.
In perhaps his most efficient series of the season, Morris next came out firing the next time his team got the ball and took the Huskies 75 yards in 6 plays. He completed consecutive passes of 15, 27, 7 and 16, handed off to McGrew for 4 yards, and found McMillan in the right corner of the end zone with two steps on a defender. That made it 14-7 early in the second quarter.
Another Cal mistake on its next series led to the Huskies' third score — a bad snap on a field goal.
The Bears drove to the UW 7 only to stall out and attempt a 37-yard field goal. The snap was off target and fumbled by holder Jamieson Sheahan, who was smothered by the Huskies' Edefuan Ulofoshio.
Ten plays later, the Huskies made Cal pay with points. McGrew, not Newton, took the direct snap at the 5, picked his way up the middle and dove into the end zone for a 21-7 advantage.
The Bears were able to convert a field goal on the final play of the half, picking up a 29-yarder from Mario Longhetto.
Into the second half they went and Cal made the Huskies earn it.
Peyton Henry kicked a 32-yard field midway through the third quarter, but the Bears came back with a touchdown.
Cal scored on Garbers' 26-yard flat pass to a wide-open Damien Moore, who sidestepped Sirmon halfway to the end zone and it was 24-17 with 5:09 left in the third quarter.
The Huskies came up with a huge fourth-and-2 stop early in the fourth quarter, with safety Alex Cook and Gordon dropping Moore a yard short on a dump pass.
"We don't just bring in cover corners," Lake said of the hard-hitting Gordon. "They'd never play here."
But it wasn't over. After all, this was Cal.
Garbers engineered a 62-yard drive that he capped with a 7-yard TD run with 2:51 left to play to tie score at 24.
The Bears next tried a 55-yard field goal that fell short on the game's final play of regulation.
Cal outgained the Huskies 457-326 in total offense yards.
The home team, patchwork and all, just found a way to come out on top.
"It was just satisfaction because we put in a lot of work to get that win," Bowman said.
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