Washington Huskies beat Cal in OT – 5 takeaways

Herb Nightengale   |  

Sep 26, 2021

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It took a little longer than four quarters but the Washington Huskies won their Pac-12 opener over Cal. These are our top takeaways from the 31-24 victory.

The Washington Huskies finally beat the Cal on Saturday night 31-24 in overtime. The victory came after a pair of Huskies’ disappointing losses in close games the last two times these teams met. Here are our five takeaways from a big win.

Dylan Morris – A tale of two halves

The Washington Huskies offense had a good first half, scoring three touchdowns to take a 21-10 at halftime. UW quarterback Dylan Morris threw 14 passes with 11 completions for 141 yards. After the Break, Morris was only able to complete 8 of 18 for 93 yards. Credit Cal’s defense for making adjustments at the half.

Super Sub

Tight end Devin Culp led the Huskies with five catches for 81 yards. Culp played in place for all-American Cade Otton, who missed the game having covid-19 symptoms. His biggest catch came in the Huskies’ first possession of the second half for 27 yards which set the Huskies up for a field and a 24-10 lead.

Otton obviously was missed, especially in the second half. He is one of Morris’s go-to receivers in critical downs, but Culp did an excellent job of stepping up.

When it counts

It was a decent day for the Washington Huskies defensive front. They stopped the run on several key occasions to go along with three sacks. When it counted, the UW defense stood tall. At the end of overtime, it looked like California would tie the game from the two-yard line. Instead, the Huskies caused a fumble and recovered to end the game.

A hard man to stop

Unfortunately, they struggled to contain Cal quarterback Chase Garbers, who beat the UW with both his arm and legs. Garbers had 16 carries for 71 yards, including a game-tying touchdown to send the game into overtime. The senior had plenty of confidence in his passing game. Garbers connected on 30 of 41 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns.

The invisible man appears

There was a Sean McGrew sighting in Seattle. The Washington Huskies’ forgotten man had 17 touches for 58 yards. More importantly, McGrew found the end zone twice, including the go-ahead score in OT.

Big Foot

Punter Race Porter had an awesome day with four punts for 222 yards, part of which a sixty-yarder late in the game to pin Cal deep in their own territory and forcing them to use more clock. Even though he only had four punts, Porter was key to flipping the field when Washington’s offense stalled in the second half.

Next week the Huskies go to Corvallis, Oregon, to take on the Oregon State Beavers, who upset the USC Trojans in Los Angeles on Saturday, 45-27. The 2-2 Huskies have a fight on their hands going for their third victory of 2021. Go Dawgs!