With 4:39 left on the clock, Jake Locker led the
Washington Huskies on a 79-yard, time-consuming, come-from-behind, touchdown drive to
secure a 16-13 victory over the Cal Bears in the rain and hail at
Memorial Stadium, Berkeley.
Sarkisian was quoted as saying that
the last drive "was really a Jake Locker drive, with him
running and throwing and all the things he was doing.''
Sark thinks Jake probably thought "I came back to do
something special, that's to get to a bowl game, and
here's another chance to get to that point.''
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Bereft Bears left bowl 'Bear' on a drive for the ages Huskies keep bowl hopes alive, squash Cal's Malamute, 27 November 2010
Serve up another tasty morsel by the Dawgs' artful chef -- a drive de jour -- on a cold, wet field al fresco, that rivaled the two drives that led to wins over USC the last two years. Historically speaking, this drive mollifies the painful memory of Don Heinrich's fumble on the Cal two-yard line that cost Washington (8-2) a trip to the Rose Bowl in 1950. With its win sixty years later, UW eliminated California from bowl contention. The Huskies are now one win away from a bowl after eight years of stupefying bowl deprivation and a gut-wrenching, naught-for-12 season in 2008. This drive, one for the ages, pitted the conference's number six offense against the league's second best defense. On the drive, Chris Polk (photo above) converted a third and two from the Huskies' 29, on a run that gained 5 yards, on a day when the Huskies converted just 4 of 14 third down attempts, in a league where Washington ranks last in third down conversions. On the drive's long gainer, Locker completed a 46-yard pass to Jermaine Kearse, who made a spectacular, sliding catch on the ball at the Cal 20. After Jesse Callier ran for 5, Locker, broken rib and all, bravely bolted up the middle for 14 more on two runs, to get the ball to the one with 1:29 left and a second and goal. After Locker was stopped twice on quarterback sneaks for no gain, Polk scored the winning touchdown on fourth down from the one as the clock ran out. His mom gave Mr. IE a big hug after the game. Before Polk's run, the Huskies huddled around coach Steve Sarkisian, who eschewed a field goal attempt that would have taken the two teams into overtime. Locker said he would have been 'shocked' if Sarkisian had opted for the tying field goal, this per Bob Condotta of
the Seattle Times. Overall, Jake completed 17 of 27 passes for 237 yards and 1 touchdown, with 1 interception -- which computes to a passing efficiency rating of 141.51, an amazing stat when you consider his broken rib, the spotty pass protection and the off-and-on again rain and hail. His counterpart at Cal, Brock Mansion -- sounds like a corporate CEO out of a romance novel -- was 12 for 23 and 92 yards, with one interception, and a mediocre PE of 77.08. Mimicking the Heinrich fumble, Locker, who was hit from behind, coughed the ball up to Cameron Jordan who took it to the house from 21 yards out, giving the Bears a 10-7 lead in the third quarter. Sixty years ago, Cal's Dick Groger raced Heinrich's fumble back to the Washington 15. Cal won the game 14-7 and went to the Rose Bowl. Playing mostly sold defense, the Huskies held Cal to 283 yards, but gave up 191 yards on the ground, yielding 5.1 yards per running play. The win keeps Washington's (5-6, 4-4) bowl hopes
alive, while ending California's (5-7, 3-6) bid for bowl eligibility.
The Huskies need to beat WSU (2-9, 1-7) in the Apple Cup next week to
become bowl eligible and an almost most certain invitation.
Richard Linde, aka Malamute can be reached at malamute@4malamute.com |
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