Huskies Blast Past Cal Golden Bears, 66-27
BERKELEY (AP) -- Jake Browning threw for 378 yards and six touchdowns to set Washington's single-season record for TD passes, and the fourth-ranked Huskies beat California 66-27 on Saturday night.
John Ross had 208 yards receiving and three scores. Dante Pettis caught three touchdown passes and threw another to lead the Huskies (9-0, 6-0 Pac-12, No. 5 CFP) to their 12th straight win in convincing fashion.
"It's nice to get into a grove like that," Pettis said. "You move the ball down the field pretty easily and things feel good. Everyone is in the mojo right there. That's how it was today."
The Bears (4-5, 2-4) had won five straight home games, including victories over ranked Texas and Utah earlier this season. But they were no match for the Huskies, who were far more potent on offense and much stingier on defense.
Davis Webb threw for 262 yards and one touchdown, and ran for a second score. But he also had three second-half interceptions as the Huskies pulled away with 38 straight points after Cal cut the deficit to 21-20 midway through the second quarter.
Browning did most of the work, finding Ross and Pettis open repeatedly downfield for big plays. Ross scored on TD catches of 60 and 67 yards, while Pettis caught a 32-yard TD pass and threw a 39-yarder to Darrell Daniels after taking a lateral from Browning in the first quarter.
"They were kind of stacking the box," Browning said. "It's high risk, high reward. That's going to happen with those deep balls."
Browning now has 34 touchdown passes this season, one more then Keith Price had for the Huskies in 2011.
THE TAKEAWAY
Washington: After coming in one spot behind one-loss Texas A&M in the first playoff rankings , the Huskies felt they had something to prove. Mission accomplished. The offense averaged more than 10 yards a play through three quarters, while the defense kept Webb in check most of the night.
"We never flinched when we saw that," Ross said. "We don't really care because we still have five games left. ... We weren't worried about being No 5. We were worried about beating Cal."
California: Struggling on defense is nothing new for the Bears, who came into the game allowing more than 505.9 yards and 41.8 points per contest. The offense was a problem this game. Cal settled for field goals after starting in Washington territory on two first-half possessions and converted just 1 of 14 third downs.
"We just let the game get away from us," Dykes said. "We turned the ball over on three straight possessions, we couldn't get any stops and we did not do a good job on third downs."
POLL IMPLICATIONS
The Huskies should remain fourth in the AP poll .
UP NEXT
The Bears play the other top team in the division when they visit Washington State on Saturday.
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