On a wild and crazy night, lightning struck against the Washington Huskies twice, as they lost a 20-19 nail biter to the California Golden Bears for a second consecutive season
The game was a tale of two halves as the Huskies got out to an early 10-0 lead on the Bears and looked poised for a victorious night.
Early in the first quarter with 9:46 left on the clock, chaos rocked Husky Stadium when “Mother Nature” came calling.
With thunderstorms and lightning strikes in the Seattle area, an “Extreme Weather Advisory” was in effect which caused all Husky fans to evacuate their seats and find shelter.
The delay lasted for over two hours with both teams waiting in their respective locker rooms wondering if the game would resume.
Shortly after 10:00 p.m., Washington head coach Chris Petersen got on the microphone to tell fans that the game would begin again at 10:30 p.m.
Once play resumed, Husky Stadium lost a ton of fans as a lot of them headed home knowing the things would run late into the night.
On the field, the Huskies went into halftime with a 10-3 lead and seemingly in control of the game at that point.
Throughout the game, the Husky offense really struggled to find it’s rhythm with the redzone woes from last season plaguing them again.
Multiple drops by wide receivers played a big role in the offense not gelling all night, which caused the Huskies to flounder.
Facing a talented defense this week, the offense was humbled and couldn’t score touchdowns when they needed them.
On defense, the Huskies had a great first half with holding the Cal offense at bay and keeping them away from the endzone.
In the second half, the Husky defense couldn’t stop the run and wrap up the ball carriers which resulted in big plays.
The Bears were more efficient and effective in the second half against the Huskies and that was the difference in the game.
One will always wonder if the long delay played a part in the Huskies performance earlier tonight.
Coming into the game, the Huskies were a two-touchdown favorite against the Bears and the clear favorites to win.
The Huskies finished the game garnering 348 yards on offense with 186 rushing and 162 passing.
Cal gained 303 total yards throughout the game with 192 yards coming off the ground and 111 yards through the air.
Husky quarterback Jacob Eason finished 18 for 30, 162 yards with 0 TD’s and 1 interception. Running back Salvon Ahmed had 21 carries for 119 yards and 1 TD. Tight End Hunter Bryant had 4 catches for 40 yards and 0 TD’s.
Defensively, the Huskies were led by outside linebacker Joe Tryon who recorded 7 total tackles on the night.
The Huskies fall to 1-1 overall on the season and drop to 0-1 on the season in Pac-12 Conference play.
Next up for the Huskies is the Hawaii Warriors, who come to town next Saturday afternoon at Husky Stadium with a kickoff time of 4:30 p.m.
Washington vs. California Final Game Stats
Below is the actual video of the Chris Petersen Postgame Press Conference…..
