Instant Recap: Cal offense stifled by Washington State in 19-point loss

The sky was clear Saturday in Pullman, but back in Berkeley fog hung over the city without relent on the day of Cal’s 28-9 loss to Washington State. Perhaps that’s a fitting metaphor, as the Cougars seem to have found a clear winning formula for the rest of their season while the Bears are still trying to guide themselves out of the early season clouds that put a damper on their 3-1 start.

The Bears (3-2 and 1-1 Pac-12) struggled to do much of anything on offense Saturday. The numbers and totals will paint a rosier picture than is perhaps deserved, but Cal was lost against Wazzu’s defense and the Bears were worn down by the Cougars (4-1, 1-1) on the other side of the ball.

It’s hard to paint this loss as anything other than a major letdown for the Bears following a dominant 18-point win against Arizona just a week ago. Cal didn’t possess a lead for any portion of game Saturday, forcing the Bears to throw the ball more often than they’d probably like, and quarterback Jack Plummer felt the brunt of that as he was sacked four times and hit a few more.

The Bears struggled to claw back into the game, and despite making a few nice plays along the way, it was clear that Washington State was just too fast and too well prepared for Cal’s offense. A perfect storm of a well-designed defense, an explosive offense and a lot of frustration at last week’s result led the Cougars to a decisive victory over Cal. A game that likely puts a damper on any leftover optimism from Jaydn Ott’s 274-yard performance just a week ago.

A day to remember last Saturday is accompanied by a day to forget the very next week.

How very apropos.

First Quarter

13:18, Washington State - Jaylen Jenkins 2 yard rush. 7-0, Cougars

Second Quarter

9:13, Cal - Dario Longhetto 42 yard field goal. 7-3, Cougars.

Third Quarter

13:51, Washington State - Robert Ferrel 17 yard reception from Cameron Ward. 14-3, Cougars

Fourth Quarter

13:28, Cal - Jaydn Ott 2 yard rush, 2PT NO GOOD. 14-9, Cougars

12:00, Washington State - Renard Bell 37 yard reception from Cameron Ward. 21-9, Cougars

6:19, Washington State - Billy Riviere 1 yard reception from Cameron Ward. 28-9, Cougars

There are a lot of places to point in this game, but the surest sign of failure was the offense’s inability to capitalize on the turnovers the defense created. Both of WSU quarterback Cameron Ward’s interceptions went relatively unpunished as the Bears failed to score any points as a result of them. Not being able to follow a good defensive series with a scoring drive hurts this team on the scoreboard and likely hurts morale as well. The Bears will need to be better at that going forward if they want to fight for bowl eligibility.

Again.

Ott put up 69 yards on the ground on 16 carries and tacked on 41 yards receiving on 7 catches for his third game with at least 100 all-purpose yards and a touchdown this season. He was stifled in comparison to the lofty expectations that surround him, but there was really nowhere for him to go. Super honorable mention to Jeremiah Hunter. The junior receiver put up a career-high 109 yards on 6 catches Saturday, even if the scoreboard didn’t end up reflecting his new heights.

The junior must have heard Justin Wilcox praising Wazzu’s nickel corner because he decided to take Saturday's game into his own hands early this week. Gamble finished the game with 8 total tackles (6 solo) and 2 tackles for loss. Honorable mentions to Daniel Scott and Craig Woodson, who both recorded interceptions in the loss.

The play of the game would probably have to be this massive completion between Jeremiah Hunter and Jack Plummer.

This is a great ball under pressure from Jack Plummer, but even on the best play of the day Plummer is getting crushed from the left side. Sort of tells the story of the day for the Bears: two steps forward, one shot to the ribs.

There are a few reasons, but the most glaring is that the Bears cannot do anything to protect Plummer. Washington State was comfortable rushing just four and getting all the pressure it needed. What was particularly curious was the fact that Cal didn’t continuously keep at least one extra man in protection when it was clear that the offensive line just needed some help. The strategies surrounding pass protection have not seemed to change much from Week 1 (personnel changes aside), and if that trend continues, games might continue to look like this one. Lots of pressure, lots of hits on the quarterback, and not a lot of points.

Cal needs to figure out a way to score points, consistently. Not every week needs to be a 49-point outburst, but there needs to be a way for Cal to attack defenses that challenge them with speed and inconsistent looks. Defensively, this week was much better than last week tackling wise, but there’s still not a lot of juice in the pass-rushing department (there were moments when Cameron Ward was, quite literally, walking in the pocket).

The long and short of it is this: This week means that Cal needs to use the upcoming bye to figure out a consistent method to win passing downs on both sides of the ball. The running offense was fine Saturday (not exceptional, but fine) and the rush defense held Wazzu to 72 yards on 25 carries. Fixing pass rush issues on both sides of the ball midseason is not the ideal situation, but that’s where Cal finds itself. Managing to scrape something together would set the Bears up for success in the rest of conference play. Whereas carrying the same game plan into games like Washington, Oregon and USC are likely going to yield similar results.

Passing

Jack Plummer: 23-33, 273 yards

Kai Millner: 1-4, 7 yards

Rushing

Jaydn Ott: 16 rushes, 69 yards, 1 TD

J. Michael Sturdivant: 1 rushes, -10 yards

Jack Plummer: 7 rushes, -28 yards

Receiving

Jeremiah Hunter: 6 catches, 109 yards

J. Michael Sturdivant: 6 catches, 71 yards

Jaydn Ott: 7 catches, 41 yards

Keleki Latu: 2 catches, 36 yards

Monroe Young: 1 catches, 22 yards

Mavin Anderson: 1 catch, 1 yard

Jermaine Terry II: 1 catch, 0 yards

Defense

Jackson Sirmon: 8 tackles (7 solo)

Collin Gamble: 8 tackles (6 solo), 2 tackles for loss 1 pass breakup

Craig Woodson: 6 tackles (5 solo) 1 interception

Daniel Scott: 6 tackles (4 solo), 1 interception

Muelu Iosefa: 5 tackles (1 solo), 1 QB hurry