Five turnovers doom Huskies in loss to California

SEATTLE – After his final act of inadvertent charity, Washington Huskies quarterback Jake Browning fell to his knees, slumped over and held his head near the Husky Stadium turf.

He had just committed his third turnover in this 30-24 loss to the California Golden Bears, scrambling desperately away from the ceaseless Cal pass rush that sacked him five times before forcing a bad throw.

Cal defensive back Damariay Drew picked it off with 1:57 remaining, the final giveaway from which the Huskies could not recover.

“It was like our 12th turnover of the game,” a terse Browning said afterward. “So we’re not going to play with anybody if we do that.”

Forgive the freshman for his exaggeration. UW only turned over the ball five times on Saturday. It just felt like a dozen.

Browning threw two interceptions and lost a fumble. True freshman receiver Isaiah Renfro lost a fumble. And tailback Dwayne Washington lost a fumble with the Huskies trailing 27-21 in the fourth quarter, driving at Cal’s 38-yard-line with 10:53 remaining.

That was one play after Browning just barely overthrew Washington on a wheel route up the left sideline that might have netted a touchdown had the throw been on target.

“If the ball hits my hands, I’ve got to catch it, regardless,” Washington said. “It was slightly a bad ball, but it hit my hands. I should have caught the ball.”

In spite of themselves – they were outgained 481-259, Cal ran 37 more plays and possessed the ball nearly twice as long as UW (2-2, 0-1 Pac-12) – the Huskies actually did play with Cal.

Even Cal’s 20-7 halftime lead wasn’t as bad as it might have been had the Huskies not stuffed the Bears on four consecutive plays from UW’s 1-yard line early in the second quarter – a situation in which the Huskies found themselves due to a fumble Browning lost at UW’s 30-yard line.

And after tailback Vic Enwere failed to score on 4th-and-goal, Browning turned the ball over again when his deep pass from UW’s 1-yard line, intended for Marvin Hall, was intercepted by Darius White and returned to the Huskies’ 23.

Even then, the Bears settled for a 41-yard field goal to take a 13-7 lead, the Huskies still very much in the game despite turnovers on consecutive plays.

And they actually were able to move the ball on their ensuing possession … until they gave it away. Again. Browning completed a 17-yard pass to Renfro that moved UW into Cal territory, but Renfro fumbled it, Cal recovered, and Bears quarterback Jared Goff completed a 28-yard touchdown pass to Bryce Treggs seven plays later.

“Turning the ball over, missing that many tackles, getting beat that bad in time of possession – that’s a recipe for disaster,” Huskies coach Chris Petersen said.

After Cal (4-0, 1-0) took a 27-7 lead early in the third quarter with a four-play, 62-yard scoring drive sparked by Goff’s 52-yard completion to Kenny Lawler and capped by Lawler’s 8-yard touchdown catch, the Huskies looked done.

But they rallied, to within six points late in the third quarter before Cal regained control.

Browning, who completed 17 of 28 passes for 152 yards, spent much time running for his life behind an offensive line that again started three freshmen.

“I’m sure there were some times he could have probably stepped up in there, and probably some times he couldn’t have,” Petersen said. “He was getting flushed a lot more than we had anticipated and I think we can be better at that.”