Two weeks ago in Boulder, the Colorado Buffaloes arguably outplayed the California Golden Bears, shredding the defense. But they couldn't punch it in the red zone, whiffing on all their opportunities. It ended up being the difference for Cal between winning and losing.
The tables were turned in Seattle, as Cal could only get one touchdown inside the red zone in five trips. Three times Cal had to settle for Giorgio Tavecchio field goals. Instead of going for the win late, California had to score late to send the game into overtime, and again came up short when Maynard threw an errant fade route to his brother Keenan Allen on 4th and goal. There was some questionable decision-making to put in running back Isi Sofele as the goal-line back instead of the stronger C.J. Anderson, as Sofele was stuffed on two straight runs to set up the 4th down incompletion.
Zach Maynard again struggled with his accuracy. Although he managed four crucial hook-ups with Allen on the final drive to get the Bears into scoring position, Maynard went cold midway through the second half and required some great adjustments by Allen and Marvin Jones to haul in his throws. Maynard threw for over 343 yards and 8.1 yards per attempt, but completed only 53.5% of his passes.
Cal also struggled defensively, giving up three touchdowns on early first half drives to fall into a 21-10 hole, then gave up a Keith Price bomb to Chris Polk early in the 4th quarter that made all the difference in the end. The Huskies were 6 of 11 on third down, and Price managed 11.7 yards per passing attempt in completing 76% of his passes. The Bears also struggled in kick coverage and kick returns, having to play much longer down the field and accumulate more yardage to get their scores as opposed to Washington. Still, Cal
Cal falls to 3-1 on the season, and will have their bye week to rest up before a daunting trip to Autzen to face the Oregon Ducks.
For more on Cal football, head to the California Golden Blogs. For more on Washington football, head to UW Dawg Pound.