BERKELEY, Calif. – Geoff McArthur’s 79-yard touchdown catch on California’s first play from scrimmage wasn’t exactly an anomaly for the University of Washington lately.
As a matter of fact, in the last two games, giving up The Big Play is a disturbing trend for the Huskies’ defense.
Washington gave up nine plays of 30 yards or more against the Golden Bears Saturday, which totaled 441 yards. Against Arizona the previous game, Washington gave up five plays of 33 yards or more for a total of 258 yards.
On Saturday, Cal coach Jeff Tedford gave a lot of credit to offensive coordinator George Cortez, who calls the Golden Bears’ plays.
“He really kept them off balance with the run and the pass and different formations,” Tedford said. “It felt like we locked them into some things by formation and that gave us an advantage. Then our players did it from there as far as executing.”
On McArthur’s touchdown, he beat both corner Sam Cunningham and safety James Sims. It looked much the same as a play on which Arizona wideout Ricky Williams burned two UW defenders for a 52-yard gain.
It wasn’t that coverage was bad, but that the receiver made the play, while Washington watched.
“It’s ridiculous,” UW coach Keith Gilbertson said.
But it’s more than that, defensive tackle Terry Johnson said. Cal recognized formations and regularly burned Washington in both the run and the pass, as though it had the UW defensive playbook.
“Teams are figuring us out,” he said. “That’s the problem. That’s when it becomes a problem, is when teams can completely figure you out.”
Huskies pull out stops: Washington used a couple of trick plays in a desperate attempt to put points on the board.
Cal led 33-7 in the second quarter when the Huskies broke the huddle with wideout Reggie Williams in the backfield, lined up as a tailback. Williams gained two yards on a pitch to the left to the Cal 6-yard line, but Cody Pickett threw an interception on the next play.
With the Bears up 47-7 in the fourth quarter, tailback Shelton Sampson threw a halfback option pass to Charles Frederick for a 24-yard gain. The Huskies did little with it, however, later losing the ball on downs.
Quick bursts: Saturday’s loss was the ninth-worst in UW history, the worst since 2001, when Miami came away with a 65-7 victory. The worst loss came against Cal in 1921 (72-3). … Reggie Williams had four catches for 23 yards, the lowest yardage output of his UW career. … Cal outscored Washington 20-7 in the second quarter. In their six victories, the Golden Bears have outscored their opponents, 116-14 in the second quarter. … Pickett became the fourth Pac-10 passer to break the 10,000-yard passing-yards mark in his career.
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