September 23, 2023 Week 4 · Regular Season Belt defended

Washington defends the belt, 59–32, at home over California.

Home · Defending Holder

WashingtonAP No. 8 59

Away · Challenger

California 32

AP poll, week 4: California unranked at Washington No. 8 · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Washington came in 315 days into reign #321, which began with a win over Oregon, with 6 defenses already behind it; this was its 7th defense. Washington went on to defend it 10 more times before Michigan took it on January 8, 2024, 422 days after the reign began.

For California this was its 19th shot at the belt; it had held the belt twice before.

It was the 6th of 6 belt games between the two; going in, Washington led the belt series 5–0; all-time Washington leads 6–0. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

Washington's defense set the tone early with an interception return touchdown by Edefuan Ulofoshio just 12:37 into the game, but California answered back immediately with Rome Odunze's 83-yard punt return for a touchdown. The game became a shootout between Michael Penix Jr. and Ben Finley, with Washington's offense eventually proving too much to handle. Penix Jr. found Rome Odunze repeatedly throughout the game, including four touchdown passes to him, while also connecting with Ja'Lynn Polk for multiple scores. Washington pulled away in the second half after building a commanding lead, with Odunze's third touchdown pass putting the Huskies firmly in control by the third quarter.

Edefuan Ulofoshio's interception return touchdown to open the scoring and establish early momentum for Washington
Rome Odunze's 83-yard punt return touchdown that kept California in the game early
Michael Penix Jr.'s four touchdown passes to Rome Odunze, demonstrating Washington's offensive dominance and the inability of California's defense to stop the connection
Multiple Ben Finley interceptions throughout the game that resulted in turnovers at critical moments

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

WashingtonCalifornia

Total yards529502

Rushing yards140139

Passing yards389363

First downs2328

3rd down conv.5/1110/17

Turnovers13

Penalties–yards9–832–10

Time of possession30:1029:50

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 12:37	California	+45 yd	Ben Finley pass intercepted for a TD Edefuan Ulofoshio return for 45 yds for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q1 9:13	California	+83 yd	Lachlan Wilson punt for 48 yds , Rome Odunze returns for 83 yds for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q1 6:12	California	+27 yd	Ben Finley pass complete to Taj Davis for 27 yds to the WASH 7 for a 1ST down
Q1 5:52	California	+7 yd	Ben Finley pass complete to Jeremiah Hunter for 7 yds for a TD (Michael Luckhurst PAT MISSED)
Q1 3:11	Washington	+23 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Rome Odunze for 23 yds to the CAL 17 for a 1ST down
Q1 2:19	Washington	+8 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Ja'Lynn Polk for 8 yds for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q1 1:33	California	+0 yd	Ben Finley pass intercepted Dominique Hampton return for no gain to the CAL 27
Q1 0:38	Washington	+41 yd	Grady Gross 41 Yd Field Goal
Q2 13:54	Washington	+44 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Rome Odunze for 44 yds to the CAL 31 for a 1ST down
Q2 11:27	Washington	+3 yd	Dillon Johnson run for 3 yds for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q2 9:41	California	+20 yd	Ben Finley pass complete to Trond Grizzell for 20 yds to the WASH 49 for a 1ST down
Q2 9:21	California	+25 yd	Ben Finley pass complete to Jeremiah Hunter for 25 yds to the WASH 24 for a 1ST down
Q2 9:00	California	+24 yd	Ben Finley pass complete to Taj Davis for 24 yds for a TD (Two-Point Conversion failed )
Q2 7:27	Washington	+0 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass intercepted Lu-Magia Hearns III return for no gain to the WASH 37
Q2 7:10	California	+42 yd	Ben Finley pass intercepted Jabbar Muhammad return for 42 yds to the CAL 48
Q2 4:21	Washington	+20 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Germie Bernard for 20 yds to the CAL 24 for a 1ST down
Q2 4:08	Washington	+24 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Ja'Lynn Polk for 24 yds for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q2 0:44	Washington	+35 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Rome Odunze for 35 yds for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q3 11:28	Washington	+13 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Rome Odunze for 13 yds for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q3 15:00	California	+32 yd	Michael Luckhurst kickoff for 65 yds , Germie Bernard return for 32 yds to the WASH 32
Q3 14:51	Washington	+21 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Ja'Lynn Polk for 21 yds to the CAL 47 for a 1ST down
Q3 7:05	Washington	+35 yd	Michael Penix Jr. pass complete to Ja'Lynn Polk for 35 yds to the CAL 31 for a 1ST down
Q3 3:30	California	+50 yd	Ben Finley pass complete to Jeremiah Hunter for 50 yds to the WASH 12 for a 1ST down
Q3 1:49	California	+2 yd	Jaydn Ott run for 2 yds for a TD (Michael Luckhurst KICK)
Q4 10:48	California	+20 yd	Sam Jackson V pass complete to Trond Grizzell for 20 yds for a TD (Michael Luckhurst PAT MISSED)
Q4 12:11	California	+26 yd	Sam Jackson V pass complete to Jack Endries for 26 yds to the WASH 47 for a 1ST down
Q4 7:08	Washington	+9 yd	Sam Adams II run for 9 yds for a TD (Grady Gross KICK)
Q4 10:00	Washington	+37 yd	Dylan Morris pass complete to Tybo Rogers for 47 yds to the CAL 23 for a 1ST down Washington Penalty, Illegal Block (-10 Yards) to the CAL 33 for a 1ST down
Q4 3:40	California	+3 yd	Ashton Stredick run for 3 yds for a TD (Mateen Bhaghani KICK)
Q4 4:01	California	+33 yd	Sam Jackson V pass complete to Trond Grizzell for 33 yds to the WASH 3 for a 1ST down
Q4 1:14	California	+28 yd	Sam Jackson V pass complete to Trond Grizzell for 13 yds to the WASH 39 for a 1ST down Washington Penalty, Personal Foul (Jacob Lane) to the WASH 46 for a 1ST down

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Washington

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Michael Penix Jr.	19/25	304	12.2	4	1	92.9
Dylan Morris	4/7	85	12.1	0	0	98.4

California

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Ben Finley	17/32	207	6.5	2	3	35.5
Sam Jackson	10/14	156	11.1	1	0	97.9

Rushing

Washington

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Dillon Johnson	10	66	6.6	1	19
Will Nixon	5	39	7.8	0	18
Sam Adams II	4	22	5.5	1	11
Tybo Rogers	8	13	1.6	0	5
Michael Penix Jr.	2	5	2.5	0	5
Dylan Morris	1	-5	-5.0	0	0

California

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Jadyn Ott	14	40	2.9	1	8
Ashton Stredick	6	30	5.0	1	10
Isaiah Ifanse	6	30	5.0	0	8
Jaivian Thomas	4	22	5.5	0	13
Ben Finley	4	14	3.5	0	5
Sam Jackson	1	3	3.0	0	3

Receiving

Washington

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Ja'Lynn Polk	8	127	15.9	2	35
Rome Odunze	5	125	25.0	2	44
Tybo Rogers	1	47	47.0	0	47
Rashid Williams	2	30	15.0	0	18
Germie Bernard	1	20	20.0	0	20
Dillon Johnson	1	9	9.0	0	9
Devin Culp	1	8	8.0	0	8
Camden Sirmon	1	8	8.0	0	8
Will Nixon	2	8	4.0	0	4
Jack Westover	1	7	7.0	0	7

California

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Trond Grizzell	4	86	21.5	1	33
Jeremiah Hunter	5	85	17.0	1	50
Taj Davis	5	60	12.0	1	27
Jack Endries	4	54	13.5	0	26
Brian Hightower	3	32	10.7	0	13
Marquis Montgomery	3	31	10.3	0	13
Jadyn Ott	2	12	6.0	0	9
Monroe Young	1	3	3.0	0	3

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Washington

Player	TOT	SOLO	TFL	PD	TD
Elijah Jackson	5	3	0	1	0
Voi Tunuufi	4	3	1	0	0
Vincent Nunley	4	3	0	0	0
Dominique Hampton	4	2	0	0	0
Thaddeus Dixon	4	2	0	0	0
Edefuan Ulofoshio	3	2	0	0	1
Kamren Fabiculanan	3	2	1	0	0
Ralen Goforth	3	2	0	0	0
Carson Bruener	3	2	0	0	0
Makell Esteen	3	2	0	0	0
Drew Fowler	3	1	0	0	0
Tuli Letuligasenoa	2	2	0	0	0
Jayvon Parker	2	2	0	0	0
Leroy Bryant	2	2	0	0	0
Tristan Warner	2	2	0	0	0
Jacob Bandes	2	1	0	0	0
Alphonzo Tuputala	2	1	0	0	0
Mishael Powell	2	1	0	1	0
Sekai Asoau-Afoa	2	1	0	0	0
Deven Bryant	2	1	0	0	0
Zion Tupuola-Fetui	2	0	0	0	0
Richard Newton	1	1	0	0	0
Bralen Trice	1	1	0	0	0
Ja'Lynn Polk	1	1	0	0	0
Dyson Mccutcheon	1	1	0	0	0
Tristan Dunn	1	1	0	0	0
Denzel Boston	1	1	0	0	0
Milton Hopkins Jr.	1	1	0	0	0
Jaivion Green	1	1	0	1	0
Jacob Lane	1	1	0	0	0
Griffin Miller	1	1	0	0	0
Rome Odunze	0	0	0	0	1

California

Player	TOT	SOLO	TFL	PD
Patrick McMorris	7	6	0	0
Kaleb Elarms-Orr	7	6	0	1
Jackson Sirmon	6	4	0	0
Nohl Williams	4	2	1	0
Myles Williams	3	2	0	0
Raymond Woodie III	2	2	0	0
Darius Long	2	2	2	0
Matthew Littlejohn	2	2	0	0
David Reese	1	1	0	0
Myles Jernigan	1	1	0	0
Craig Woodson	1	1	0	0
Xavier Carlton	1	1	0	0
Dejuan Butler	1	1	0	0
Nathan Burrell	1	1	0	0
Cameron Sidney	1	1	0	0
Kaylin Moore	1	1	0	0
Lu-Magia Hearns III	1	1	0	0
Jeremiah Earby	1	1	0	0
Stanley McKenzie	1	0	0	0
Curlee Thomas	0	0	0	1

Fumbles

Washington

No recorded stats in this category.

California

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Team	1	0	0

Interceptions

Washington

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Edefuan Ulofoshio	1	45	1
Jabbar Muhammad	1	42	0
Dominique Hampton	1	0	0

California

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Lu-Magia Hearns III	1	0	0

Kick Returns

Washington

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Germie Bernard	3	66	22.0	32	0

California

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Mavin Anderson	4	74	18.5	19	0

Kicking

Washington

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Grady Gross	1/1	100.0	41	8/8	11

California

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Michael Luckhurst	0/0	0.0	0	1/3	1
Mateen Bhaghani	0/0	0.0	0	1/1	1

Punt Returns

Washington

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Rome Odunze	1	83	83.0	83	1

California

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Jeremiah Hunter	1	2	2.0	2	0

Punting

Washington

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Jack McCallister	2	111	55.5	0	2	56

California

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Lachlan Wilson	4	195	48.8	1	1	50

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 401524018) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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