By George Devine, Sr.

After a 49-17 loss to Oregon State at Memorial Stadium on October 19, Cal heads to Seattle to play Washington at 8:00 p.m. PDT on Saturday, October 26. The Bears are hurting to the extent that they cannot run a nickel defense due to a multiplicity of injuries. The defense was already becoming known as a weak one, by way of contrast to Sonny Dykes’ “Bear Raid” headed by Jared Goff. But now Goff’s position as quarterback is seen as doubtful and Kevin Kline — who came off the bench against the Beavers — may get the next Saturday’s start.

Meanwhile the Huskies are mourning the loss of legendary coach and father figure Don James, and smarting after a 53-24 loss at Arizona State that left them 1-3 in conference and 4-3 overall. Quartrerback Keith Price suffered an injured right thumb in that game, but subsequent X-rays were negative. The Dawgs were no match for the ASU defense but are hoping to regroup and do better against Cal. Coach Steve Sarkisian is hoping for a more physical game against the Bears, whose weakened defense and suspect offensive line may give the home team some opportunities. Washington wound up with a negative 5 yards rushing against the Sun Devils and this is largely due to being sacked in the desert. Cal’s secondary is not likely to achieve anything near that.

After the showdown in Seattle, the remaining games for Cal are:

November 2: Arizona

November 9: USC (Joe Roth Game)

November 16: @ Colorado

November 23: @ Stanford

All of the above games’ kickoff times are to be determined.