SEATTLE — When Jake Browning was hammered to the turf by a late hit after scampering into the end zone midway through the second quarter, the University of Washington quarterback popped right up and let out a primal scream that not only could be felt throughout Husky Stadium, but also served a sort of catharsis for the Dawgs.
Yes, Washington’s first-half concerns are truly a thing of the past.
The Huskies finally put together a first half worth of a national championship contender as sixth-ranked Washington blew past the California Golden Bears 38-7 Saturday night.
For all of the Huskies’ domination so far this season, almost all of it has come in the second half of games. Washington struggled to assert itself in the first 30 minutes of its season opener against Rutgers, and the issue persisted through the Huskies’ first two Pac-12 games against Colorado and Oregon State before eventually pulling away.
But the Huskies (3-0 Pac-12, 6-0 overall) made sure they didn’t have to sweat out any of the second half against Cal (0-3. 3-3). Washington boat raced the Bears in the first half, outgaining Cal 221-46 and outscoring the Bears 24-0. The Huskies defense sacked Cal quarterback Ross Bowers four times in the opening 30 minutes.
”Loved the first half,” Washington coach Chris Petersen said. “Really liked how our defense played the entire game, probably the best we’ve played. We challenged [our players] pretty good this week, we have a lot of respect for Cal and what they’re building there. For those guys to play the way they played in the first half I’m really proud of them.”
For Washington’s defense it wasn’t just about the first half. The Huskies completely shut down a Bears offense that came into the contest averaging 395.6 yards and 27.8 points per game. Washington limited Cal to 93 yards — including a remarkable minus-40 rushing — and sacked the Bears’ quarterbacks eight times. The only points Cal scored came via its defense.
“I think it starts with that D-line,” Petersen said. “When you can make someone one-dimensional it really changes the game, and the rush yards were backwards there for most of the time. Then we got some pressure on [Bowers] as well. I think it starts with those big guys up front.”
Browning finished the game 27-for-40 for 215 yards and two touchdowns. Much of his production was to true freshman tight end Hunter Bryant, who had a breakout game with nine catches for 121 yards and a first-quarter touchdown in which he wrestled away an apparent interception.
“He’s making a lot of plays,” Browning said about Bryant. “He’s pretty good with the ball in his hands, and he’s continuing to take on more and more. You want to be careful about overloading him with too much stuff, so he can still play fast and do what he does. But he’s going to play more and more of a role just because of what he can do in the passing game.”
Myles Gaskin added 91 yards rushing on 24 carries and scored two TDs for the Huskies.The Lynnwood native now has 3,234 yards in his Washington career, passing Joe Steele to move into fourth place on the Huskies’ career list. The only players still ahead of Gaskin are Napoleon Kaufman (4,106), Chris Polk (4,049) and Bishop Sankey (3,496).
Washington announced right away that it was ready to end its first-half struggles. The Huskies stopped the Bears on the opening drive of the game, then marched 64 yards on 11 plays on their first drive. It culminated in Browning, on the run to his right, sending an 11-yard pass up for grabs into the end zone, where Bryant snatched the ball out of the hands of Cal defensive back Josh Drayden, and with the two battling for possession it was ruled a touchdown as Washington took a 7-0 lead.
And this time the Huskies didn’t let off the gas. A short field goal made it 10-0 Washington early in the second quarter, then the Huskies methodically went down the field before being faced with fourth-and-2 from the Cal 21-yard line. Washington decided to go for it, with Browning keeping the ball on an option play left. Browning wriggled through a hole and dashed into the end zone, where he was nailed late by Cal’s Alex Funches, prompting a personal-foul penalty and Browning’s guttural yelp.
“I didn’t really care, it was a clean hit, he just hit me late in the end zone,” Browning said. “I don’t really care, I was just happy we scored.
“I think it’s the longest run I’ve ever had in my life,” Browning added. “I was more fired up about that than getting drilled.”
Washington had one more drive in it before the first half expired, and the Huskies had the benefit of a short field thanks to the defense forcing the Bears to punt from their own 3-yard line. Gaskin took an inside handoff, stuttered, then darted untouched into the end zone for an 8-yard score as the Huskies headed to halftime with a commanding 24-0 lead.
As if the Huskies needed more reason for self confidence, they found it in the third quarter when they received a touchdown reception from a player listed as a linebacker, as Justiss Warren lined up as a fullback on third-and-goal from the 2, flared out on a play-action pass and hauled in the throw from Browning to make it 31-0 and essentially end it. Even a 37-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Cal’s Darius Allensworth did little to spoil Washington’s evening.
Extra points
There was a kicker change for Washington. Tristan Vizcaino missed wide right on a 38-yard field-goal attempt in the first quarter, his fifth miss in his last six field-goal tries. Van Soderberg, who competed with Vizcaino for kicking duties during the week, received the second try in the second quarter, connecting from 23 yards, and had the scoring kicking duties the rest of the way. However, the lack of faith in the kicking game was illustrated when the Huskies decided to go for it on Browning’s TD run. … The Huskies got two players back from injury as receiver Andre Baccellia and tight end Drew Sample both returned. Sample (leg) missed the previous three games while Baccellia (undisclosed) missed the previous two. … Mountlake Terrace High School graduate Devante Downs, a senior linebacker for Cal, had six tackles. Downs came into the game leading the Pac-12 in tackles with 10.8 per game.
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