SEATTLE – Washington and California get an early start on Pac-12 play when they square off Saturday night in the Huskies' lakefront stadium in Seattle. Washington is looking for its 16th consecutive home win, while Cal is trying to post another upset after shocking the Huskies 12-10 last season in Berkeley.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FS1. LINE: Washington -14.
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Junior quarterback Jacob Eason got his Washington career off to a good start against Eastern Washington by passing for four touchdowns and 349 yards, the latter representing the most yardage by a Huskies' signal caller in his first start. "I was eager to see what he would do because I haven't seen him play," senior receiver Aaron Fuller told reporters. "... There was maybe a small bit of doubt just to see how he would control the offense and things like that, but I never doubted his arm or his upside. It was cool to see." Eason, a transfer from Georgia, will try to move the offense against a Golden Bears' team that limited Washington to 250 yards and 13 first downs last season but struggled at times in a season-opening 27-13 win over UC Davis. "As a defense we played horrible. We're not ready," Cal senior linebacker Evan Weaver, who had 11 tackles, told reporters of the opening effort. "But we will be ready next Saturday. You can believe that. Right now it's not looking good. But we'll get it right. Then we'll fly up there and we'll beat them. That's what we do. We win games. We figure it out."
ABOUT CALIFORNIA (1-0)
Weaver returned an interception 36 yards for a score for the Golden Bears' lone touchdown in last year's win over the Huskies. Sophomore quarterback Chase Garbers had a mixed performance against UC Davis -- 16-of-28 passing for 238 yards and two touchdowns - but Michigan transfer Kekoa Crawford, a junior, stood out with three receptions for 84 yards. Sophomore running back Christopher Brown Jr. rushed for a career-best 197 yards in his first college start, and he remained fresh despite a 36-carry workload as he repeatedly broke tackles.
ABOUT WASHINGTON (1-0)
Eason doesn't figure to be a drop-off from departed four-year starter Jake Browning and he was an efficient 27-of-36 passing in the 47-14 rout of Eastern Washington. "The O-Line did a nice job letting Eason set his feet, and I thought he was really, really good for a first game coming out of the gate," Huskies coach Chris Petersen said at a news conference earlier this week. "He was really sharp on his reads and got hit a little bit, got knocked down, so that was probably good for him to know he can take a shot." Washington allowed 274 yards in the opener and had nine tackles for loss, including four sacks with senior defensive tackle Benning Potoa'e notching a pair.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Washington has won nine of the past 12 meetings after Cal won the previous five.
2. Junior ILB Kuony Deng had a team-best 12 tackles in his Golden Bears' debut.
3. Huskies senior C Nick Harris (leg) was injured during the opener and is slated to miss multiple weeks.
PREDICTION: Washington 28, Cal 20