For the third straight week, the Golden Bears withered against a superior opponent. But whereas last week’s matchup against Washington offered a few moments of optimism before devolving into a blowout, this one was a four-hour bloodletting in which the Cougars dominated wire-to-wire. They now lead the Pac-12 North with an undefeated conference record, while Cal will have to win two tough rivalry games in order to make a bowl game.
As blowouts go, this one wasn’t particularly flashy. Washington State’s offense looked good-not-great, but that was more than enough against a Cal defense that was missing three of its top defensive backs.