"I tip my hat to (Stanford's) Andrew
Luck and (USC's Matt) Barkley and these other guys in
our conference. But the level of play that Keith Price
is playing at is as high as anybody in our conference,"
UW head coach Steve Sarkisian was quoted as saying.
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Another ursine of a game for Cal Husky Stadium, Seattle. Behind Keith Price who passed for 292 yards and 3 touchdowns and a valiant goal-line stand by its defense, the Washington Huskies held on to beat the California Golden Bears, 31-23, before 60,437 fans. It was the second straight year the Dawgs beat the Bears on a game that went down to a fourth-down play in the final minute. Last year in Berkeley, Chris Polk scored on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line to post the decisive touchdown for the Huskies in a 16-13 thriller. Like last year, this contest turned out to be another "Bear" of a game for Cal (pun intended). Trailing 31-23, with 4:19 remaining in the game, Cal drove to the Husky 2-yard line from its own 13, where it was first down and goal-to-go. Following an incomplete pass and a 1-yard run, Cal had a third and goal on the Huskies one-yard line with 31 seconds left. The Bears had a chance to avenge Polk's one-yard run from a year ago and called a timeout. After a conference with the coaches on the sidelines, Zach Maynard handed the ball off to Isi Sofele, who was almost stopped in the backfield by DT Alameda Ta'amu. Filling a hole from the left side, Justin Glenn threw Sofele for a one-yard loss, setting up a fourth-and-2. (The Huskies are tied for 104th in the FBS in tackles for a loss.) After another timeout, this time by Washington, Maynard overthrew Keenan Allen on a fade route in the end zone, and in the last 21 seconds, Washington ran out the clock. Since Washington's defense had surrendered 309 yards on the ground to Nebraska last week, the game with California this week was supposed to be a referendum on stopping the run. Cal came into the game averaging 178.67 rushing yards per game, 47th best in the FBS and 4th best in the Pac-12. The mission was to stop the run and force the Golden Bears to pass. Mission partly accomplished. The Huskies held the Bears to just 108 yards rushing -- but yielded a whopping 349 yards through the air. As a result, the Huskies' defense is still a work in progress, ranking 108th in the FBS in total defense and 117th in pass defense (327.50 yards per game). Rushing defense ranks 48th best at 125.75 yards per game. Nick Holt's embattled defense still has some work to do. Keith Price performed sensationally, completing 19 of 25 passes for 292 yards and 3 touchdowns, with a passing efficiency of 213.71. His PE of 176.58 on the season ranks 9th best in the FBS. Table 1. Keith Price's cumulative passing efficiency.
Although California held Polk to just 60 yards rushing, Price connected with Polk on a 70-yard touchdown pass on a third-and-12 to give the Huskies a 31-23 lead -- the final score of the game -- at the 12:13 mark in the fourth quarter. Polk -- for you name game buffs: the Pres from REV -- raced past defender D. J. Holt, caught the ball at the 40 in full stride, and took it to the house untouched. On the day, he caught four passes for 85 yards. Erik Folk booted a 40yard field goal and had 1 touchback on a kickoff, which was his third of the season. TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins, a stud in the making, caught two touchdown passes.
Richard Linde, aka Malamute can be reached at malamute@4malamute.com |
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