Category: Stanford Cardinal

Stanford Cardinal Football podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Cardinal go against Cal after losing four of last five games

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Photo credit: @paloaltoweekly

On the Stanford Cardinal Football podcast with Jerry:

#1 The Stanford Cardinal (5-4) wide receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside will be out of action for Saturday’s game against the Cal Bears.

#2 Whiteside has a right ankle injury after he got tackled by Washington’s Bryron Murphy after an 11-yard touchdown.

#3 The Cardinal, who lost 27-23 last Saturday to the Washington Huskies, have lost four out of their last five games.

#4 Also not appearing this Saturday against Cal, Stanford kicker Jet Toner, OLB Joey Alferi, guard Foster Sarell…with three players out and five players as probables, this could be a tough game against Cal.

#5 Stanford’s bowl hopes gone, but coach David Shaw said that Arcega-Whiteside is a candidate for the NFL draft.

Jerry does the Cardinal podcast each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Stanford’s 96-74 win opens the season against Seattle U

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Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By Joey Friedman

PALO ALTO, Calif. — The 2018-2019 regular season got off to an energetic start for the Stanford Cardinal on Tuesday night as they hosted Seattle University at Maples in the season opener. The Cardinal beat the Redhawks by a score of 96-74.

Stanford’s return to the court got off to an energetic start, however, the energy didn’t translate into a favorable score for the Card. Despite collecting the opening tip, a Daejon Davis bucket on the first offensive possession, and a shot clock violation on their first defensive possession, Seattle kept pace as the Stanford defense began to yield easy buckets and the offense began to stagnate.

Two early fouls on Josh Sharma sent him to the bench and gave Trevor Stanback substantial playing time, however his play was inadequate as he provided little support to Stanford on both offense and defense. Seattle’s lead grew to eight points with the score 24-16 at which point Stanford seemed unwound and lacked defensive discipline.

Stanford was able to climb within two points of Seattle on three separate occasions as the clock wound down on the first half. The first two times, Seattle was able to counter with the three-point shot, however, they couldn’t respond the 3rd time and Stanford was able to tie the game on a pair of foul shots for KZ Okpala. A Jaiden Delaire three-pointer took the lead with a minute and a half left and Stanford closed the first half with a 40-36 lead while shooting only 42% from the field.

KZ Okpala led the force in the first half with a team-leading 13 points and 6 rebounds. Alternately, for the Redhawks, Junior forward Anand Hundal came off the bench to contribute a team-high 11 points while going 3 of 4 from beyond the arc.

Stanford rode the 3-ball to a twelve point lead within the first ten minutes of the second half; Cormac Ryan hit 4 consecutive three-pointers just as Daejon Davis and KZ Okpala each hit one. Fittingly, after the game, Ryan couldn’t remember the last time he lost a game of horse.

Stanford started to heat up on the backs of KZ Okpala, who contributed another 3 as well as a number of points in the paint, and Josh Sharma who contributed six points of his own, Stanford stretched the lead to 20 points with just under six minutes to play. Stanford only got hotter as the lead grew to 29 points by the time there were only three minutes left.

KZ Okpala finished a double-double with a whopping 29 points to pair with 10 assists in 36 minutes of play. The others to collect double digits in the points column were Cormac Ryan with 16 (5/6 from beyond the arc), Daejon Davis with 15, and Marcus Sheffield with 10. Despite KZ’s big night, after the game Coach Hasse was quick to recognize the 3 turnovers he had, the high ceiling he posesses, and room for growth KZ still has as only a sophomore.

For Seattle, the following four players scored more than 10 points: sophomore guard Terrell Brown had 16, junior guard Matej Kavas and junior forward Anand Handal each had 13, and junior guard Morgan Means finished with 11.

Stanford shot an immaculate 73% (11/15) from three while finishing the game with a 52% overall field goal percentage. Seattle finished shooting 44% from the field. Stanford outrebounded Seattle 39-28 but unfortunately turned the ball over more as well, by a 13-11 margin.

Stanford will be back in action on November 9th on the road against UNC Wilmington at 1:00 PM PT. They will have the 8th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels on the road on November 12th before they return to Maples to play Wofford at 7:00 PM on November 16.

Cardinal look to snap out of losing skid, but more importantly, get set for Senior Day

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Photo credit: gostanford.com

By: Ana Kieu

As you may already know, the Stanford Cardinal lost its last two games on the road to No. 8 Washington State and No. 25 Washington, respectively. So the Cardinal are looking to snap out of a losing skid, but more importantly, get set for Senior Day. The soon-to-be Stanford alumni have a lot to celebrate in the coming weeks, including this football game. Congratulations to the Class of 2018!

Here’s what you need to know about Saturday’s game vs. Oregon State:

By the numbers
Stanford Cardinal (5-4, 3-3)
Oregon State Beavers (2-7, 1-5)

Nov. 10, 2018 at 6:00 pm PT
Stanford Stadium (50,424) in Stanford, Calif.

Television
Live national broadcast on Pac-12 Network with Guy Haberman (play-by-play), Chad Brown (analyst) and Camryn Irwin (sideline).

Radio
Live coverage on Stanford’s flagship station–KNBR 1050 AM–with Scott Reiss ’93 (play-by-play), Todd Husak ’00 (analyst) and John Platz ’84 (sideline). The broadcast begins one hour before kickoff with the Cardinal Tailgate Show and concludes with the postgame Cardinal Locker Room Report. The game can be heard on Stanford student radio–KZSU 90.1 FM–and online at kzsulive.stanford.edu.

Internet
GoStanford.com • OSUBeavers.com • #GoStanford

Tidbits

  • 1 • Stanford is 5-0 this season when forcing at least one turnover, and 0-3 when not forcing a turnover.
  • 1 • Junior Kaden Smith ranks first in the nation among tight ends in receiving yards (601) and receiving yards per game (66.8). He is second in the country—first among Power 5 tight ends—with 44 receptions (only San Jose State’s Josh Oliver has more receptions with 49).
  • 3 • Stanford football players have conducted interviews in three foreign languages this season—JJ Arcega-Whiteside (Spanish), Jesse Burkett (Japanese) and Osiris St. Brown (German). All other Stanford football interviews this year have been done in English.
  • 4 • Stanford’s four losses this season have come against the AP’s current No. 3, No. 10, No. 20 and No. 26th-ranked teams in the nation (Notre Dame, Washington State, Washington, Utah). Those four teams have a combined record of 30-7 (.811) this season.
  • 5 • One of the most disciplined teams in the nation, Stanford has the fifth-fewest penalty yards in the nation this year with just 37.00 per game–also the fewest in the Pac-12.
  • 7 • Don’t expect many points immediately after halftime. Stanford has allowed just one touchdown and never more than seven points in the third quarter this season. The Cardinal has only allowed 25 third-quarter points in its first nine games (2.78). The only touchdown allowed was vs. Washington State.
  • 8 • Stanford has won eight in a row against Oregon State.
  • 8 • Smith has produced three games with 8+ receptions and 100+ yards this season (Utah, Washington State and Washington). The rest of the tight ends in the country have combined for five such games. He is the only tight end to do it more than once and has done it in back-to-back games. Smith is the first tight end to accomplish that feat three times in a season since Texas Tech’s Jace Amaro in 2013 (Baker Mayfield and Davis Webb were the Red Raiders’ quarterbacks).
  • 11 • Senior wide receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside ranks second nationally–and first among Pac-12 players–with 11 receiving touchdowns. That’s the second-most in a season in Stanford history and the most receiving touchdowns for a Cardinal in 38 years–Ken Margerum had 11 in 1980, while James Lofton set the school record with 14 in 1978.
  • 13 • In addition to his 49 receptions and 754 receiving yards this season, Arcega-Whiteside has drawn 14 penalties this year–12 pass interference and two holding calls for 190 penalty yards (1.6 penalties/game and 21.1 penalty yards/game).
  • 15 • Sophomore cornerback Paulson Adebo ranks second nationally with 15 pass breakups and fourth in the NCAA with 16 passes defended. He ranks atop the Pac-12 in both categories.
  • 20 • Junior quarterback K.J. Costello ranks among the Top 25 nationally in completion percentage (18th), completions per game (19th), passing efficiency (22nd), passing touchdowns (17th), passing yards (13th), passing yards per game (17th) and yards per attempt (21st). He leads the Pac-12 in efficiency (153.1) and is second in the conference in passing yards (2,512) and yards per attempt (8.46).
  • 37 • Sure-handed senior wide receiver Trenton Irwin has at least one reception in 37 consecutive games, a streak that ranks seventh nationally.
  • 100 • Smith is the first Stanford tight end with back-to-back 100-yard receiving games since Alex Smith did it in three straight games in 2004. Smith had 112 against Washington State and 107 against Washington. Smith is also the first Cardinal tight end since Zach Ertz with three 100-yard receiving games in a season. Smith’s career-high 120 yards receiving against Utah (Oct. 6) were the most by a Stanford tight end since Zach Ertz’s 134 vs. Cal in 2012.
  • 249 • Stanford made a school record 249 consecutive extra-point attempts between Oct. 26, 2013 to Nov. 3, 2018. During the streak: Colin Riccitelli–2-2, Jet Toner–79-79, Conrad Ukropina–108-108, Jordan Williamson– 60-60.
  • 1000 • Smith is the fourth Cardinal tight end with 1,000 career receiving yards (1,015). He joins Coby Fleener (1,543), Zach Ertz (1,434) and Alex Smith (1,291).

NCAAFB podcast with Daniel Dullum: UW pick gets the win past Stanford; Alabama’s unstoppable against LSU; Wazoo’s on the climb, takes out Cal

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photo espn.com: Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw for 295 yards against LSU and ran for a season-high 49 yards

Daniel Dullum for Michelle Richardson on the NCAAFB podcast:

Top 25 Colleges
Washington holds off Cardinal with late interception.

Alabama’s quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, No. 1 Alabama roll over No. 4 LSU at Baton Rouge.

No. 8 Washington State defeats Cal.

Arizona State stuns No. 15 Utah 38-20.

Mountain West’s Fresno State Bulldogs beating UNLV 48-3; UNLV took their second straight loss.

Second coaching firing David Beatty will be fired from the Kansas Jay Hawks with only six wins total during his time at KU.

Daniel is filling in for Michelle this week for the NCAAFB podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Huskies hold off Cardinal on last-second interception; Stanford suffers second straight loss 27-23

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photo from mercurynews.com: Stanford’s Frank Buncom tries to strip the ball from Myles Gaskin on a 6-yard touchdown run by the Washington back.

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, November 3, 2018

Despite a late charge, Washington safety Taylor Rapp’s interception on the game’s final play secured a 27-23 Pac-12 football win over visiting Stanford Saturday.

An announced crowd of 69,069 watched Rapp make a leaping pick of Stanford quarterback K.J. Costello and take a knee in the end zone, allowing the Huskies (7-3 overall, 5-2 Pac-12) to remain in the thick of the conference race.

After Washington took a 21-0 lead in the second quarter, the Cardinal (5-4 overall, 3-3 Pac-12) rallied in the second half. Costello’s 33-yard scoring pass to Trenton Irwin with 3:24 remaining pulled Stanford to within 27-23, though Cardinal kicker Jet Toner missed the PAT attempt.

Washington caught a break on the Huskies’ next play, when Myles Gaskin fumbled at the end of a 10-yard run, and tight end Drew Sample recovered it at the Huskie 35. The Cardinal defense held, and Washington had to punt to Stanford, which started its last drive at its own 15 with 2:05 to play and no timeouts.

After Costello completed four straight passes, moving Stanford to the Huskie 35, he spiked the ball there with 10 seconds remaining. With two shots at the end zone, Costello’s first pass was incomplete; the second one was perfectly timed by Rapp, the Huskies’ third interception of the night.

Gaskin, the Huskies’ all-time leading rusher, gained 148 yards on 28 carries after returning from a shoulder injury.

Costello finished 29 of 43 for 347 passing yards, two touchdowns, and the three picks. Bryce Love carried 18 times for 71 yards, and Kaden Smith snared eight passes for 107 yards and a touchdown.

The Cardinal return home next Saturday to host Oregon State. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.

Stanford Cardinal Basketball podcast with Joey Friedman: Developing talent looks promising for Cardinal

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photo from @StanfordMBB

On the Stanford Cardinal Basketball podcast with Joey:

#1 Was the exhibition game against the Sonoma State Seawolves an indication how Stanford will have some good looks in their 75-59 win on Tuesday night?

#2 No more Reid Travis, Michael Humphrey, and Dorian Pickens. Big holes to fill for head coach Jerod Haase.

#3 Oscar da Silva has lots of expectations from coach Haase.

#4 Talk about senior center Josh Sharma and sophomores Daejon Davis and KZ Okpala.

#5 The Cardinal host Seattle University Tuesday, November 6th at Maples. Joey will be on hand and set the stage for the home opener.

Joey Friedman does the Stanford Cardinal podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Stanford Cardinal Football podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Shaw expects less passing at Washington this Saturday

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Photo credit: @GoldenBlogs

On the Stanford Cardinal podcast with Jerry:

#1 The Stanford Cardinal (5-3) probably won’t up the passing game much like they did last Saturday at Pullman against the Washington State University Cougars in their 41-38 loss when they face University of Washington Huskies.

#2 The loss to WSU put some doubts for Stanford’s chances to get to win the Northwest title.

#3 After Stanford quarterback KJ Costello had his hand stepped on during their visit to Arizona State University, he came up throwing against WSU for a nice recovery last Saturday, going 33-43 for 323 yards.

#4 The last time Stanford had a quarterback open up the passing game was when Andrew Luck threw 29-46 for 241 yards in a 52-31 loss to Oregon in Eugene back on October 2, 2010. Costello threw eight passes last Saturday.

#5 Head coach David Shaw said of playing in Seattle that rain, cold, and the 11th man (the noise) could be a factor and that he expects Costello to keep the ball against the Huskies more than he did against WSU.

Jerry does the Stanford Cardinal podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cardinal rout the Seawolves 75-59 in exhibition game at Maples Pavilion

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Photo credit: gostanford.com

By: Joey Friedman

PALO ALTO–The new 2018-19 season opened Tuesday night at Maples Pavilion for the Stanford Cardinal with an exhibition game against the DII Sonoma State Seawolves. Stanford beat Sonoma State 75-59.

The obvious absence left by the graduate transfer of Reid Travis and the graduations of both Michael Humphrey and Dorian Pickens is leaving much to be desired on the leadership and in-game production fronts. Head coach Jerod Hasse, this exceptionally young Cardinal team, and the fans looked for their first game to help break the ice and find some answers. Senior center Josh Sharma and playmaking sophomores Daejon Davis, KZ Okpala, and Oscar da Silva are expected to be the leaders of this team on and off the court.

Out of the gate, da Silva delivered with a three-pointer on the first play after the tip. Immediately afterward, Josh Sharma showed a spark of energy and leadership when he dove in an all-out effort on the defensive boards which yielded a Stanford possession. Sharma’s was the first floor-burn of the year for the Cardinal which is an official statistic recorded now in the Jerod Hasse era of hustle and heart.

Concerns of inexperience certainly manifested in Stanford’s play early on as sloppy play and turnovers, especially for Okpala, who had 3 in the first half, prevented the Cardinal from pulling away from the Seawolves in the early going. However, glimmers of elite talent emerged from the underclassmen who put together Hasse’s two consecutive highly ranked recruiting classes. Freshman shooting guard Cormac Ryan made a 3-pointer on his first attempt while Okpala and Davis created offense at will by driving to the hoop when they needed to in order to keep Stanford in stride with the Seawolves in the first half. Sonoma State had a 5-point lead with 3 minutes left in the first half, yet Stanford was able to trudge their way to a 36-32 lead by the end of first half regulation which was capped by junior Marcus Sheffield’s first 3-pointer of the game.

Okpala and da Silva shared the team lead in points in the first half; both had 9. da Silva led the team with 5 rebounds. The Seawolves’ sophomore forward Wesley Gilbert led his team with 8 first-half points. Sonoma State lost the turnover game to Stanford in the first half by a 9-6 margin while maintaining an even overall shooting percentage with the Cardinal at 45%. Stanford also outplayed the Seawolves in transition, outscoring them 10-0 in fast-break points.

The second half got off to an energetic start, but the Seawolves kept it within three to five points for the first eight minutes. Defensively, a pair of exciting blocks by Davis and Sharma energized the Cardinal but, again, turnovers and a lack of experience and flow on offensive stunted any serious momentum. Offensively, in the first 10 minutes, a pair beautiful finishes at the rim by Okpala and Davis, a Sharma offensive rebound and slam, and a da Silva three-pointer all combined to inch Stanford up slowly to a lead of 10 points with the score 56-46. Davis hit his first 3-pointer of the season with just over 4 minutes left in the game to push the lead up to 11 points in favor of the Cardinal. Just about 20 seconds later, Okpala did the same with his first 3 of the night to push up the lead to 14 points before the final minutes stretched Stanford’s lead to a 75-59 final.

Okpala and Davis each finished the game with 18 points and 34+ minutes, leading the team in both categories and each collecting a pair of 3s. Oscar da Silva led the team with 9 rebounds and collected 14 points of his own in 29 minutes. Freshman Cormac Ryan debuted with 31 minutes, collected 9 points, and gathered 6 boards.

Stanford outshot Sonoma state by a 53% to 38% and similarly beat Sonoma State in terms of 3-point percentage, going 7/15 while the Seawolves went 7/19. Each team shot near a meager 50% from the free throw line. Sonoma State turned the ball over a total of 14 times compared to Stanford’s 13 turnovers. Stanford out-rebounded Sonoma State 37-28.

Stanford will be in action next when they take on Seattle University next Tuesday, November 6 at 7:00 pm PT inside Maples Pavilion.

Cardinal have to get ready for the Huskies in yet another Pac-12 matchup

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Photo credit: @StanfordFball

By: Ana Kieu

In case you missed it, the Stanford Cardinal dropped a heartbreaker to the Washington State Cougars 41-38 last Saturday. But the now-unranked Cardinal can’t sulk over that tough loss as they’re set to travel to the Pacific Northwest to take on the No. 10 Washington Huskies, who most recently lost 12-10 to the California Golden Bears last Saturday.

Before we get to the must-have facts on the Saturday matchup, we’d like to wish Atlanta Falcons tight end Austin Hooper a happy belated birthday. Hooper turned 23 on Oct. 29. Hooper attended Stanford University and De La Salle High School (Concord, Calif.) before becoming a third-round pick at the 2016 NFL Draft. Hooper is a native of San Ramon, Calif.

Here are facts on the Saturday matchup:

The basics
Stanford Cardinal (5-3, 3-2 Pac-12)
#RV/19 Washington Huskies (6-3, 4-2 Pac-12)
Nov. 3, 2018 at 6 p.m. PT
Husky Stadium (70,183) in Seattle, Wash.

Television
Live national broadcast on Pac-12 Network with Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play), Anthony Herron (analyst) and Lewis Johnson (sideline).

Radio
Live coverage on Stanford’s flagship station–KNBR 1050 AM–with Scott Reiss ’93 (play-by-play), Todd Husak ’00 (analyst) and John Platz ’84 (sideline). The broadcast begins one hour before kickoff with the Cardinal Tailgate Show and concludes with the postgame Cardinal Locker Room Report.

The game can also be heard on Stanford student radio– KZSU 90.1 FM–and online at kzsulive.stanford.edu.

Oh, the internet
GoStanford.com

GoHuskies.com

#GoStanford

What should I know?
1 • Stanford is 5-0 this season when forcing at least one turnover, and 0-3 when not forcing a turnover.

3 • Stanford’s three losses this season have come against the AP’s No. 3, No. 10 and No. 16th-ranked teams in the nation (Notre Dame, Utah and Washington State). Those three teams have a combined record of 21-3 (.875) this season–and one of those losses was head-to-head (Washington State over Utah).

6 • One of the most disciplined teams in the nation, Stanford has the sixth-fewest penalty yards in the nation this year with just 38.13 per game–also the fewest in the Pac-12.

7 • Don’t expect many points immediately after halftime. Stanford has not allowed more than seven points in any third quarter this season. The Cardinal has only allowed 20 third-quarter points in its first eight games—currently ranked eighth in the nation in third quarter points allowed, while Washington ranks sixth.

10 • Stanford has won 10 of the last 13 matchups against Washington.

11 • Senior wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside ranks second nationally–and first among Pac-12 players–with 11 receiving touchdowns. That’s the second-most in a season in Stanford history and the most receiving touchdowns for a Cardinal in 38 years–Ken Margerum had 11 in 1980, while James Lofton set the school record with 14 in 1978.

13 • In addition to his 48 receptions and 743 receiving yards this season, Arcega-Whiteside has drawn 13 penalties this year–11 pass interference and two holding calls for 175 penalty yards (nearly two penalties and 22 yards per game).

15 • Sophomore cornerback Paulson Adebo ranks second nationally with 15 pass breakups and third in the NCAA with 2.0 passes defended/game. Adebo ranks atop the Pac-12 in both categories.

20 • Junior quarterback K.J. Costello ranks among the Top 20 nationally in completion percentage (19th), passing efficiency (20th), passing touchdowns (18th), passing yards (16th), passing yards per game (17th) and yards per attempt (20th). He leads the Pac-12 in efficiency (155.9) and is second in the conference in passing yards (2,165) and yards per attempt (8.52).

34 • Costello’s 34 completions against Washington State were the sixth-most in a game in school history, and most since Steve Stenstrom had 37 at Notre Dame in 1994.

36 • Sure-handed senior wide receiver Trenton Irwin has at least one reception in 36 consecutive games, a streak that ranks eighth nationally.

52 • With an Oct. 18 victory at Arizona State, head coach David Shaw earned his 52nd Pac-12 win, surpassing Washington’s James Phelan (1930-41) for 15th-most conference victories. Shaw needed only 65 games to achieve 50 conference wins, tied for second-fastest in Pac-12 history (USC’s Pete Carroll reached the 50-win mark through 60 league games)

90 • Stanford’s 90 wins this decade rank fifth nationally and the most of any private school, ahead of TCU (78), USC (77) and Notre Dame (76).

253 • Senior inside linebacker Ryan Beecher was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma on Dec. 21, 2017. His final chemotherapy session came on June 4, 2018, and he returned to action in Stanford’s season opener against San Diego State on Aug. 31, 2018, a span of 253 days after his diagnosis.

2011 • Since Shaw’s first season in 2011, Stanford has…

• 78 wins represent the winningest stretch in program history

• 78 wins ranks sixth nationally

• .765 winning pct. ranks sixth nationally

• .860 road winning pct. ranks seventh nationally

• .625 winning pct. vs. AP-ranked opponents ranks fifth nationally

• .776 conference winning pct. is the best of any Pac-12 program

• 52 conference wins are the most of any Pac-12 program

3,546 • Senior running back Bryce Love ranks fourth nationally among active players with 3,546 yards rushing. This also ranks fourth on Stanford’s all-time career list.

.900 • Junior kicker Jet Toner’s .900 field goal percentage (9-of-10) ranks 10th in the nation and first among Pac-12 players.

Cal’s come a long way: Defense shines in surprising 12-10 upset win over No. 15 Washington

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, Calif. — Jake Browning passed for nearly 400 yards and six touchdowns on his previous trip to Memorial Stadium. With his pair of fleet receivers repeatedly making big plays, an overmatched Cal defense was completely taken apart, allowing 66 points for only the second time in school history.

Flash forward two years, and Browning’s field of dreams morphed into a house of horrors, as the senior quarterback was intercepted, and benched briefly in Cal’s jaw-dropping, 12-10 upset win.

One touchdown allowed as opposed to nine? Browning on top of the world, then benched in the return engagement? Clearly, Cal’s defense has come a long way in a short period, just ask Coach Petersen and the Huskies.

“Obviously, they had good players and I just think we just did not execute in a lot of stuff,” said UW’s Drew Sample. “We missed some blocks from a tight end perspective. We just, as a whole, were not in good positions so you know it showed. We couldn’t sustain drives. We couldn’t get in rhythm and we had shots at the end. We couldn’t execute.”

Still, Washington led at the half, 7-6, in part due to Cal’s Greg Thomas missing a 41-yard field goal attempt on the final play before halftime. But when Petersen saw his offense sputter on two possessions in the second half, the one-point lead mattered little. Browning, the senior leader with 90 career touchdown passes, was briefly benched.

“That had more to do with me trying to do something to help this offense way more than it did with Jake,” said Petersen. “Jake is a competitor. Jake does everything we ask. But, you know, we got to try help this offense out somehow, someway.”

Instead redshirt freshman Jake Haener helped Cal’s defense. On his second pass attempt, Haener overthrew his man and was picked by Cal’s Evan Weaver. Weaver deftly worked his way to the end zone, reaching for the corner pylon.

Cal assumed the lead, 12-7, add stubbornly held on even as their offense managed just 245 yards the entire game. And that’s after Browning missed just two series before Petersen relented, and put his senior quarterback back in the game.

Cal’s defense never snapped, erased the issues stopping the run they experienced against UCLA, and did it from the start. The Huskies–again without top runner Myles Gaskin–scored just seven points in the opening, their fewest this season. The Bears allowed three points in the second half, the fewest they’ve surrendered after halftime this year.

“It’s a great environment in the locker room as you would expect but I also don’t think anybody’s surprised,” coach Justin Wilcox said. “We weren’t perfect but found a way to win.”

Cal embarks on a brief, two-game road trip starting with a Saturday, November 3 matchup against No. 10 Washington State at 7:45 pm PT on ESPN.