Justin Wilcox on Washington: 'This is why you sign up to play'

Cal head coach Justin Wilcox knows Washington provides quite the challenge to his Bears team Saturday, but they embraced that aforementioned challenge.

Sitting as big underdogs can be detrimental, but Wilcox has his team ready. The No. 8 Huskies have looked like one of the best teams so far though.

However, Wilcox and Cal signed up for games like this and won’t back down despite the difficulty of the opponent.

“A tough lesson to learn, a valuable one, but a tough one to learn,” Wilcox told Sirius XM College Sports Radio about the up and down factors of Week 2 and 3. “You know, the disappointing loss a week prior, we felt like we kind of gave the game away, which is as frustrating as you guys know, and then come back out.

“We knew, the had a good team, have a real good quarterback and good on offense, and we had a good week of practice, but for whatever reason, you know, just there’s some poor play early in the game, and they were playing well and we got down and I think the good thing was it’s guys kind of accepted the challenge and they were challenged by each other and the coaches and so that was good to see us respond to that.”

Cal dropped a winnable game to Auburn at home, 14-10 in Week 2. The Bears came back and beat Idaho 31-17 the following week. Despite being 2-1, 3-0 was right there for the taking for Wilcox’s team.

“But I think the lesson you know, that goes with that, it’s like we don’t need to create our own adversity,” Wilcox said. “You know, we do a better job, you know, mentally and competitively early in that game and probably feels a lot different.

“So I don’t know that the process changes a whole lot, but you know, we know (Washington’s) watching our stuff from this year and our stuff from previous meetings, and we know they’re doing the same. So there’s the chess match within that.”

The biggest challenge for Cal when facing the Huskies has to be quarterback Michael Penix Jr. Now in his second year with the program following a transfer from Indiana, Penix Jr. looks to be on another level.

“Obviously, the QB operates at a very high level and then the group nobody really talks about is the O-line,” Wilcox said. “The O-line plays exceptional. I mean, I think he’s only been sacked, as much as they throw it, maybe six times in the last year. 

“So it’s not like people are getting to him and it’s going to take a team effort on defense and this is why it’s exciting to coach and and play in a game like this because you’re you’re going up against, you know, one of the best offenses out there and not only talent wise, but production wise. So this is why you sign up to plays opportunities like this.”

Cal and No. 8 Washington kickoff at 10:30 p.m. ET Saturday for Week 4 action in the Pac-12.