Cal Football Countdown: 95 Days, A Look at Washington

Welcome back to another installment of the Cal Bears countdown, where we’re taking you all the way to kickoff against UC Davis with our takes on everything happening in Strawberry Canyon

Today, we’ve got a post-spring look at Washington, which will be the second game of the year, and a team suffering from some of the same things Cal’s going through.

Spring Indicator #1: No More Browning

The upset win over Washington last fall was made possible in part by the mediocre play of Browning – and his back-up Jake Haener – although it’s likely neither of those guys will be in the picture this September. Granted, Haener’s still here, but the Huskies are projected to trot out a relative unknown – a supremely talented unknown, mind you – in five-star transfer Jacob Eason, who has reportedly been tearing up practices in his year off. He’ll be flanked by an offensive line returning basically everybody to…ease into that transition. (Rimshot.)

The good news is that they still have some glitches to iron out, whether it’s Haener or Eason. Neither guy blew the doors off at the spring scrimmage, with Eason going 7 of 12 for 47 yards and a TD, and Haener going 9 of 16 for 61 yards and an interception.

(They’re also playing against a supremely talented defensive group, much like our QBs are, so it’ll always be an uphill climb in that regard. Still, don’t be surprised if the game ends up looking a lot like last year’s slugfest.)

Spring Indicator #2: Replacing Talent on Defense.

Byron Murphy? Gone.

Taylor Rapp? Gone.

Ben Burr-Kirven? Gone.

Tevis Bartlett? Gone.

Doesn’t look like it’ll be a problem, though. The depth at Washington has been well recruited and well developed, so they’re about to break out the next set of guys in the secondary. Slot corner Elijah Molden is a known commodity already, and the Washington secondary will be adding breakout player Kyler Gordon (who dominated their athletic testing this spring) alongside him. There’s still mixing in matching going on between the slot, corner, and safety spots, which Jimmy Lake says is by design.

In another eerie “like Cal”-ism, UW is also looking for a more pronounced pass rush this year, after only getting three total from their linebackers (Benning Potoa’e, Joe Tryon, Ryan Bowman) and four from returning linemen (Levi Onwuzurike, Josiah Bronson).

Spring Indicator #3: Searching for Playmakers

Part of why the Huskies took a step back last year was the slow, but gradual loss of their mainstays on offense, beginning with the departures of John Ross, but also Dante Pettis, and now Myles Gaskin. The first two guys left long ago; Gaskin graduated this past offseason. It’s replacing them that’s been the issue.

All three of UW’s top receivers returned this spring, but the likes of Aaron Fuller, Andre Baccellia and Ty Jones didn’t strike fear into anyone last season. In terms of improvement, reports coming out of Washington seem to be pinning a lot of hopes on tight end Hunter Bryant, who is entering the year healthy, having already terrorized the 2017 Cal Bears for 9 catches and 121 yards in their matchup a few years back. (Sidenote: this game singlehandedly accounts for 21% of Bryant’s career production.)

As far as the ground game, it’ll be Salvon Ahmed or Kamari Pleasant getting the first crack at replacing Gaskin, at least through the spring. Summer will bring four-star recruit Cameron Davis, who could push for playing time too.