It didn't take long for Cal to see why there has been so much discussion about Washington as one of the top teams in the country entering Pac-12 play. The eighth-ranked Huskies came up with a defensive touchdown on the first drive of the game after Bears starting quarterback Ben Finley threw a pass into the arms of UW linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio, which he then returned 45 yards.

That put the Huskies up early, and they never looked back in a 59-32 rout of the Bears at Husky Stadium in the first conference matchup for both teams.

UW did not let off the gas and eventually had 14 points on the scoreboard before its highly-touted offense stepped on the field for the first time thanks to an 83-yard punt returned for a touchdown by receiver Rome Odunze.

Eventually, Cal went down 24-6 by the end of the first quarter and the deficit was simply too much to overcome as the Bears played from behind against their Pac-12 foe throughout the evening.

"They're pretty good at scoring points, and it doesn't help when your first play on defense you're down 14-0," Cal linebacker Jackson Sirmon said. "It's about as bad of a start in a game that I've ever been a part of, so that's a tough place to start when you're playing a really good offense."

When the Huskies offense did get on the field, Heisman Trophy hopeful Michale Penix Jr. guided UW to 529 yards of offense with 304 yards passing and four touchdowns.

The Bears went into the game knowing that the top passing offense in the country would pose plenty of problems, but three turnovers by the offense certainly put Cal in a more difficult spot to pull off an upset in Seattle.

"Those were difficult to overcome," head coach Justin Wilcox said. "We basically spotted a team like that 17 [points] in the first quarter, I believe it was, and then, defensively, we didn't do much to slow them down either. So, I can't say that any one unit played well enough, and that's coaches and players and, ultimately, me.

"It's my responsibility to make sure that the team can play up to their ability and have a chance to win the game. ... That was a team loss, coaching and playing, and everybody owns that."

The Bears went down by as many as 40 points in the third quarter before putting together multiple scoring drives behind quarterback Sam Jackson V, who again was tasked with coming in off the bench after the Cal coaches decided to go with Finley as the starter.

The NC State transfer, who started the game against Auburn, played into the third quarter but threw three interceptions during his time in the game eventually prompting the staff to turn back to Jackson, who was the starter in last week's win over Idaho.

Jackson guided multiple scoring drives and finished the night with 156 yards passing and a touchdown on 10 completions.

Wilcox said after the game that the coaches felt more comfortable with Finley's abilities in the passing game since the feeling was the game could be a shootout. Now, the quarterback spot is again uncertain, and no starter has been decided on yet for the upcoming game against Arizona State.

"We've gotta find more consistent play at that position," the Cal head coach said. "That's the one that gets the most attention, for obvious reasons. I think Sam's got a big upside, he's still a very young player and learning to play the quarterback position. Ben has played more.

"Obviously, the decision making, knowing where to go with the ball, wasn't as good as it should have been or we expected it to be tonight. He made some good throws, but obviously the turnovers were so costly."

In all, the Bears reached 502 total yards in the game, but the timing of the turnovers and the early hole were just too much to overcome.

The Bears will now turn their attention to Arizona State (1-3, 0-1 Pac-12) as the two teams prepare to meet next Saturday in Berkeley.

Passing

Ben Finley - 17/32, 207 yards, 2 touchdowns, 3 interceptions

Sam Jackson V - 10/14, 156 yards, 1 touchdown

Rushing

Jaydn Ott - 14 carries, 40 yards, 1 touchdown

Ashton Stredick - 6 carries, 30 yards, 1 touchdown

Isaiah Ifanse - 5 carries, 30 yards

Jaivian Thomas - 4 carries, 22 yards

Ben Finley - 4 carries, 14 yards

Sam Jackson V - 1 carry, 3 yards

Receiving

Jeremiah Hunter - 5 catches, 85 yards, 1 touchdown

Taj Davis - 5 catches, 60 yards, 1 touchdown

Trond Grizzell - 4 catches, 86 yards, 1 touchdown

Jack Endries - 4 catches, 54 yards

Brian Hightower - 3 catches, 32 yards

Marquis Montgomery - 3 catches, 31 yards

Jayden Ott - 2 catches, 12 yards

Monroe Young - 1 catch, 3 yards

Defense

Patrick McMorris - 7 tackles (6 solo)

Kaleb Elarms-Orr - 7 tackles (6 solo), 1 pass breakup

Jackson Sirmon - 6 takles (4 solo)

Nohl Williams - 4 tackles (2 solo), 1 tackle for loss

Darius Long Jr. - 2 tackles (2 solo), 2 tackles for loss