Cal Football: Grading the Bears' Performance Against the Washington Huskies

The Washington Huskies and Cal Bears squared off on Sept. 24 in hopes of still keeping dreams alive of representing the Pac-12 North in the conference’s inaugural season.

After a hard-fought game that featured outstanding play from both teams, the Huskies eventually pulled out a victory, 31-23.

Here’s a look at how the Cal Golden Bears did on offense, defense and special teams.

Offense: C+

Pass Offense: B-

Cal's Zach Maynard had a decent game for the Bears, completing 23-of-43 passes for 349 yards and a touchdown. Maynard did not throw an interception, but he did overthrow or under-throw several passes.

Wide receiver Keenan Allen had a huge game, bringing in 10 passes for 197 yards receiving.

Run Offense: C

It stills boggles my mind that the Cal Bears don't have an All-Conference quality running back on the roster considering how many great tailbacks have come through Jeff Tedford’s offense.

Isi Sofele led the team in yards and attempts again, this time with 98 yards on 17 carries. The team as a whole rushed for 108 yards and only scored one touchdown.

Sacks were an issue once again.

Defense: C-

Run Defense: C+

I look at it this way: The Cal defense held Chris Polk (one of the best running backs in the Pac-12) to only 60 yards on 20 carries for an average 3.0 yards per carry. It was Polk’s receiving contributions that made the biggest impact.

Pass Defense: D+

Cal’s defensive backs allowed Washington quarterback Keith Price to complete 19-of-25 passes for 292 yards and three touchdowns. Seven different Huskies caught passes against the Bears’ secondary.

Special Teams: B+

Kicking: B+

The kicking game did all it needed to do, making all three field goal attempts and both extra points.

The thing that didn't get this unit an "A" was the fact that the longest field goal was only 36 yards, and Washington’s kick returners were able to bring back a couple big returns.

Punting: B+

Cal's Bryan Anger had three big kicks that went for an average of 49.7 yards. Anger had punts of 39, 52 and 58 yards.