NCAA

WSU football shuts down Cal in first win at Berkley in eight years

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The Cougar football team survived the Cal (1-4, 0-2) bullshit as WSU (2-3, 1-2) walked out of Berkeley, Calif. with a 21-6 win for the program’s first win in conference play. It was also the first time that Jake Dickert’s defense played a consistent four quarters which led to teh program’s first win at Cal since 2013.

While the second half started with defensive stops on both sides, the Cougar offense eventually got into gear and marched down the field. Thanks to a pair of 14- and 13-yard runs by McIntosh, Washington State chewed up yardage as it marched down the field. It was capped off by an eight-yard touchdown on a crossing route to Stribling to give WSU a 21-6 lead with around nine minutes left in the third quarter. The defense played lights out in the third quarter as the consistently found ways to pressure Chase Garbers which prevented him from getting into his reads. As a result, Cal’s offense stuttered through out the quarter before it found some success on the ground towards the end…but a third and medium was stuffed by Washington State which led to a punt.

Garbers put an end to a Cal drive on 4th and 11 that put the game out of reach when he threw a pass passed the line of scrimmage down two possessions late in the third. Despite Cal getting another chance on offense, the Cougar defense held and they escaped with the win.

One of the two things that’s been absolutely consistent throughout the Rolovich era has been the nearly perfect opening scripts on the offensive drives. And that was still true on Saturday. WSU scored on its first two drives of the game, including this absolutely insane touchdown grab by Jackson Jr.

It’s hard to blame the officials for missing on that play, but that’s why replay review was created. The touchdown came after a Cougar punt was blocked, recovered by Stone Jr. which he then picked up and scrambled for the first down.

The first touchdown came on a five-yard touchdown pass to Jackson Jr. It was a smooth pass that really showed off de Laura’s dynamic skill set that makes him a weapon in the run and shoot. These two scoring drives, which were also the Cougs only scoring drive to in the first half.

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Published by Jessica Roberts

Proud alum of Washington State University, bisexual transwoman, disappointed baseball fan, and a member of #TeamBrownLiquor