Tuesday marked Cal's media availability, as Justin Wilcox and wide receiver Jeremiah Hunter spoke with media earlier. Here's our notebook breaking down everything Cal's head coach said, along with thoughts on the decommitment of QB Justyn Martin

On the injury front, Cal will likely get back WR Kekoa Crawford for the Washington game. Crawford missed the Sacramento State game with what was termed as an 'upper body injury.'

Outside linebacker Kuony Deng may take a little longer.

"Kekoa likely will be back with us this weekend," Wilcox said, "and Kuony would right now be doubtful, and it sounds like we'll have some more definitive news on Thursday."

Braxten Croteau started for the Bears last Saturday, and he'd likely do the same again if Deng can't go, as the super senior is set to get more opinions on an injury that has kept him out since the first series of the TCU game

"We'll have more to report on Thursday," Wilcox said, "he has meetings with some specialists."

Hunter got the start for Cal Saturday and has been listed as the starter at the X wide receiver position for this week. The sophomore from Fresno has played the third most reps at receiver so far this year, and has had a reception of 28 yards or longer in each of Cal's three games. He led Cal in receptions and yards against Sacramento State, and caught his first touchdown pass against the Hornets.

"I got real confident in myself and my big play ability," Hunter said"That's my role right now, just going down and making plays. We did that a lot in practice, so it has switched over to getting comfortable doing it in a game."

"He's got a really bright future," Wilcox added. "Jeremiah, since he stepped on campus, he has been noticeable in the drills. He has a really good skillset, he's learning a lot as a receiver and as a football player, and he's very coachable. He wants to be good and he loves football, he likes being a part of the team and he's a joy to be around. Each and every rep he's out there, he's learning something, really excited to watch him grow up as a person and as a football player."

Hunter's first touchdown came from 45 yards out, as he's starting to show some of the potential that could have had him playing last year had he not been injured. The touchdown was the opportunity to get behind the cornerback in single-coverage.

"I just saw it was man coverage, he snapped it and I've got to go in," Hunter said. "When the ball was in the air, I was thinking 'I can't drop it, it was the first one,' it was a great experience and I was blessed to catch it and celebrate with my team. I was happy my family was there too."

Hunter wasn't the only Bear to get his first start. Lu-Magia Hearns got his first start as a freshmen. Hearns allowed four receptions on 13 targets, and while he had some freshman struggles, Wilcox notes that he's going to be a player going forward.

"Lu did some good things, I think he just needs reps," Wilcox noted, "I really thought he played competitively out there at corner, he got himself in good positions most of the time. The margins are now between making a play and not, he's gonna make more and more the more he gets comfortable out there, because this is brand new, he hasn't been here that long. I'm really encouraged by his competitiveness out there. He's got the right mentality, playing corner everything's out there for everyone to see, the athletes you're covering are talented, you're put in situations where you're one on one with them, and it takes a certain frame of mind to be able to play that position, and I think Lu has that."

Wilcox talked about Cal's struggles defending the pass on defense, both in the aftermath of the Sac State game and Tuesday. The fault is shared along the defense from his purview.

"It was shared," Wilcox said. "The poor play in the pass defense was shared at every position, we had some issues at corner where we can be better, at safety, even some veteran safeties, at nickel and in some of our zone coverages, our inside linebacker and play action reactions and responsibilities weren't good. So you take that and the number of passes thrown where we didn't affect the quarterback with either a four or five man rush, we ran a couple three man rushes but a lot of four and five man, we've got to do a better job of winning one on one to make it harder for the quarterback."

The four pass interference penalties also weighed on the Cal coach, who notes, as he did throughout the Tuesday session, that the Bears just need to execute.

"Playing in the back end, it's easier said than done," Wilcox said, "but you've got to play with some calm. Good defensive backs will get into a position on the receiver with the down, there's a clock in their head, they understand the timing of things. It's just about having a little more calm, I think we have the guys to do that, we've got to take the technique from practice and apply it to the game."

One other issue the Bears have faced is after halftime. Cal has been outscored after the break in every game.

"I don't know if there's any one reason we're executing better early in the game," Wilcox said. "Some of that is what's new for the gameplan, but we've got to sustain it for four quarters and potentially overtime if needed. It's not a conditioning, our guys are in pretty good shape, we've just got to execute better, and right now we're playing much better in the first quarter than we are the rest of the game."

Last time Cal and Washington played, Cal won on a 17 yard Greg Thomas field goal by a final score of 20-19. That came after a two and a half hour lightning delay, as Cal sent someone out to get the resources to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the team, as they came back down and built back up after only 11 plays had been played.

"Not much football had been played," Wilcox recalled, "so we had some meetings with them, but then it was take your pads off and relax, because you can't sit there for three hours and bang your head against a locker (to keep yourself pumped up). You've got to come down, get something to eat, we knew it'd be a little while. Once we knew there was about 30 minutes left, we started to get back into that rhythm and that's all we did. We relaxed for a bit, ate some peanut butter and jellies, and then when they told us we could play, we got back out there."

Washington comes into this game off a 52-3 win over Arkansas State. The Huskies had struggled mightily through the first two weeks, with a loss to FCS Montana and a loss at Michigan, but have gotten a bit of their mojo back on offense.

"Better and better each week," Wilcox said, "they got some players back that were on the sideline for them. They're a talented group, you look at their offensive line, they have four all-conference players that are returning, tight end is a very good player, their QB(returned), there's skill at receiver, they're deep at running back, they have weapons on offense. Last week they really moved up and down the field with ease."

On defense, UW is allowing just over 15 points per game, as they returned a number of starters both in the secondary and in the front seven. They'll run similar sets to Cal, with former Cal DC Bob Gregory coordinating the UW defense.

"Defensively, I think nine out of the eleven starters are back," Wilcox said, "some very talented players on the roster, they';re going to be well coached, we know the coaches very well. They're going to be well coached and well prepared."

One thing you will see Washington run a lot of is in the RPO game, where QB Dylan Morris has gotten comfortable.

"Saw a lot of it this past week," Wilcox said, "created a lot of big plays with it last week, both run and pass. They've done a good job with the RPO game, they'll also get into big personnel schemes and will get into some play actions, they'll do a good job of that, they do a good job with their schematics."

A big bolt came through the Cal recruiting class, as QB Justyn Martin decommited from Cal earlier today. The four-star quarterback had been committed to Cal since January, but went on an official visit to Ole Miss this past weekend.

If Martin does not return to the class, Cal has a handful of options. The transfer portal is a big one, with the Bears set to go into 2022 with only two scholarship quarterbacks if Chase Garbers and Ryan Glover don't return (Garbers has a Covid year, Glover still has a redshirt year). Cal could look at a late bloomer at QB, as with a number of schools in California playing limited schedules in the spring, this is a time where someone could bust out, a la Jaxson Dart or Brock Purdy in the past.

The other option is flipping a commit, and the Bears haven't offered any other QBs since offering Martin last December. Bill Musgrave has been highly selective about his QB recruits, and Cal certainly has the need in their QB room moving forward. They will need to evaluate and move fast.