No. 8 Washington State turns it over seven times in 37-3 loss to Cal
Week 7 of the 2017 college football season didn’t feature any matchups between ranked teams. So it was going to be a boring week, right?
Wrong. Hours after No. 2 Clemson’s 27-24 road loss to Syracuse, No. 8 Washington State turned the ball over seven(!) times in a 37-3 road loss to Cal on Friday, the 13th night of October.
The Cougars couldn’t get out of their own way on offense as Luke Falk threw five interceptions. One of the picks even came on a shovel pass, a play that’s supposed to be incredibly simple and easily completable.
The Cougars turned the ball over five times in the first three quarters, a statistic that’s pretty damn rough. It got worse in the second half. Turnover six was a Falk fumble that was returned for a touchdown and the seventh was Falk’s fifth pick of the night. And it happened like this:
The special teams play was pretty disastrous too. Facing a 4th and 2 with less than a minute left in the second quarter, Washington State elected to punt from its own 44. Mitchell Cox’s punt traveled one yard, setting up a Cal touchdown as time expired in the first half. The score meant Washington State entered the half down 17-3 instead of a much more manageable 10-3.
Given Washington State’s typical offensive ability — and the way the defense had played despite the offense’s turnovers — it felt like there would be a chance for Wazzu to get back into the game in the second half. But Cal QB Ross Bowers’ flip into the end zone at the beginning of the fourth quarter gave the Bears a 27-3 lead and extinguished any hopes of a comeback.
The game is also likely to spur more discussion about the Pac-12’s scheduling practices. Washington State played at Oregon in Week 6 and traveled to Cal on short rest. Before the Oregon game, Washington State upset USC at home on a Friday night. The week prior traveling to Washington State, USC played at Cal.
Should teams in the conference be playing road games on short rest the week after playing a road game? Coincidentally, former Cal coach Sonny Dykes got a scheduling discussion started last season when he said the schedule had been a “disaster.”
Current Cal coach Justin Wilcox is probably not going to be calling the 2017 schedule a disaster given that his team just beat a top-10 team and is now two wins away from bowl eligibility.
Washington State’s loss also puts the Pac-12 North firmly in the grasp of in-state rival Washington, presuming the No. 5 Huskies don’t lose to Arizona State on Saturday, of course. If Washington wins it will be the only undefeated team in the entire Pac-12.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
