California Golden Bears vs Washington Huskies Box Score on Sep 23, 2023

Michael Penix Jr. passed for 304 yards and four touchdowns and Rome Odunze accounted for three scores as No. 8 Washington rolled to an easy 59-32 victory over California in the Pac-12 opener for both teams at Seattle.

Odunze caught five passes for 125 yards for his fourth straight 100-plus-yard outing this season and also returned a punt 83 yards for a touchdown for the Huskies (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12). Ja'Lynn Polk had eight receptions for 127 yards and two scores as Washington registered a season high for points.

Edefuan Ulofoshio returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown for the Huskies, who beat the Golden Bears for the 12th time in the past 16 meetings.

Ben Finley completed 17 of 32 passes for 207 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions for Cal (2-2, 0-1) before leaving late in the third quarter with an apparent lower-back injury. Samuel Jackson V replaced Finley and was 10-of-14 passing for 156 yards and one touchdown.

Jadyn Ott and Ashton Stredick rushed for touchdowns and Jeremiah Hunter, Taj Davis and Trond Grizzell each had receiving scores for the Golden Bears.

Penix completed 19 of 25 passes and was intercepted once in less than three quarters for Washington.

The Huskies led 14-0 before the offense took the field for the first time.

Finley threw a pass directly to Ulofoshio, who returned it for a score just 2:23 into the contest. The Golden Bears were forced to punt on their next possession and Odunze took it 83 yards to make it 14-0.

Cal got on the board on Finley's 7-yard touchdown pass to Hunter with 5:52 left in the quarter. The Huskies responded with Penix's 8-yard scoring pass to Polk, and Grady Gross tacked on a 41-yard field goal for a 24-6 lead before the period concluded.

Dillon Johnson's 3-yard touchdown run boosted Washington's lead to 25 with 11:27 left in the first half. Cal answered with Finley's 24-yard touchdown pass to Davis with nine minutes left.

Penix threw touchdown passes of 24 yards to Polk and 35 yards to Odunze later in the quarter en route to a 45-12 halftime lead.

Early in the third quarter, Penix connected with Odunze on a 13-yard scoring pass to boost the margin to 40. Later in the stanza, the Huskies cleared the bench and the Golden Bears scored three touchdowns over the final 16:49.

--Field Level Media