Huskies rout Bear on road

BERKELEY, Calif. — From his perch in room 763 inside the Memorial Stadium press box, Pete Kwiatkowski was fuming.

Washington’s defensive coordinator watched California’s offense march 79 yards in nine plays, settling all too easily inside the UW 1-yard line, maybe an inch from the goal line. The Bears’ high-powered offense was about to take an early lead in an early Pac-12 North showcase for both teams.

Oh, how quickly things change.

Cal’s Jared Goff tried to extend the ball over the goal line on a second-down quarterback sneak, only to have the ball pop free and fall to the hands of UW linebacker Shaq Thompson, who returned it 100 yards for a touchdown to spark the Huskies’ 31-7 victory Saturday.

Kwiatkowski had much to be pleased with afterward. The Huskies (5-1, 1-1 Pac-12) held the Bears to 43 points below their season average, forced three turnovers and generally made Goff uncomfortable in the pocket. The Bears (4-2, 2-2), who have lost six in a row to UW, never regained momentum after Thompson’s first-quarter touchdown return.

The victory, featuring significantly improved play from quarterback Cyler Miles, marks a two-week about-face following the Huskies’ Pac-12 opening loss to Stanford. Certainly, the level of competition played a part — Stanford’s defense is the best in the Pac-12, and Cal’s is the worst — but the Huskies can head into their showdown at Oregon on Saturday with some optimism after their defense stonewalled the Bears.

UW senior defensive end Hau’oli Kikaha had three of UW’s four sacks against a Cal offense that had given up just eight sacks in its first five games.

For much of the game, the Huskies were able to put pressure on Goff while rushing just four linemen, allowing them to drop an extra defender into coverage against the Bears’ four- and five-receiver sets. Kwiatkowski said he called just two blitzes in the first half and two more when UW’s regular defense was still on the field.

A month ago, after the Huskies allowed 52 points in a too-close victory over Eastern Washington at home, the natural question was whether UW’s thin and inexperienced secondary could hold up against California.

Thompson was hard to miss in a homecoming game for him.

The Sacramento native, who had made a verbal commitment to Cal out of high school before backing out, had 25 family and friends in the stands. They watched him return the longest fumble recovery in UW history, and just the fourth 100-yard play in program history.

It’s the sort of uncanny play that has become all too common for Thompson, who has four defensive touchdowns in six games this season, plus a fifth on offense.

Thompson flipped the ball out of the end zone and saluted UW fans sitting beyond the south end zone. He was then tackled by a mob of teammates.

Miles, UW’s sophomore quarterback making his second road start in the Pac-12, completed 22 of 29 passes for a career-high 279 yards and touchdowns to Joshua Perkins, DiAndre Campbell and John Ross III.

Ross had a spectacular day, finishing with four catches for 118 yards, including an 86-yard touchdown on a receiver screen late in the second quarter to give UW a 28-0 lead at halftime.

Jaydon Mickens added a career-high 10 catches for 69 yards.