TV Take: Calvin Jackson Jr. makes the best WSU catch in recent history as the Cougars hold onto its early lead against Cal

As summaries of Washington State’s football season have gone, Pac-12 Network analyst Shane Vereen might have supplied the best one.

Vereen was talking about his former school, California, as the Bears headed to the Memorial Stadium locker room trailing WSU by eight points.

“They are lucky it’s only 14-6,” Vereen said of Cal’s deficit. Yes, they were.

But would the Cougars finish it off? After all, it was the third halftime lead this season for the Cougars, who only held on to one.

Make it two.

Vereen and play-by-play voice Guy Haberman watched as WSU’s defense made sure California couldn’t duplicate Utah State and USC, dominating until the final minutes in the Cougars’ 21-6 victory.

What they saw

• Let’s start with the best catch by a Washington State receiver in recent history.

It came at the end of a Cougars first-quarter scoring drive that featured a little of everything.

Washington State led 7-6 – California muffed the extra-point attempt – but failed to move the ball in three plays and had to punt. Nick Haberer tried one of the rugby variety. He waited too long. Nick Alftin blocked it. The ball bounced backward with Alftin the only Bear in pursuit. But upback Ron Stone Jr., usually an edge rusher, got there first, picked it up behind the line of scrimmage and took off. He made the line to gain first down for WSU.

“That’s kind of a kick in the chest there for Cal,” Vereen said.

“Just a fourth-down conversion,” Haberman answered, tongue-in-cheek.

A momentum changer? Yes, thanks to Calvin Jackson Jr.

Though the Cougars (2-3 overall, 1-2 Pac-12) flew down the field after the punt, they still faced a third-and-goal at the 5. Jayden de Laura lofted a prayer toward Jackson, who had outside leverage. Except de Laura threw it too far. For an ordinary player, maybe.

Jackson pirouetted, threw up his big right hand and hauled in the high, wide throw. But did he get his foot down? The official on site said no, but the replay official overturned it (correctly) and Jackson had a hard-to-believe catch.

“I’ll tell you what, there are some phenomenal catches in college football these days from these receivers,” Vereen said as the replays rolled. “This one right here is right up there.”

And above, according to his partner.

“Second touchdown of the day by Calvin Jackson Jr. and it is one of the best catches you’ll ever see,” Haberman said. “Wow.”

The “wow” was followed by Haberman’s quick summary of the drive, including the punt play.

Vereen, seemingly shaking his head, added, “Everything is going the Cougs’ way right now.”

“You’re right,” Haberman agreed.

• It continued, at least on the defensive end. Though that unit earned it.

They kept the Bears out of the end zone after their first drive. They came up with four fourth-down stops in the second half. All told, the Cougars held Cal (1-4, 0-2), which had 457 yards last week in Seattle, to 273 yards of total offense.

Vereen spent the game raving about Washington State’s speed on that end. Haberman kept pointing out big plays from Armani Marsh, who finished with 12 tackles. And the two, correctly, consistently pointed out the defense was the difference in the game.

“The story is this Washington State defense,” Haberman said as the broadcast ended. “Seven tackles for loss, four sacks and holding Cal to six points on the day.”

What we saw

• There has been a small adjustment by the Pac-12 Network this season that is appreciated. Instead of three-hour windows for games that always take more than that time period, another 30 minutes have been added. It helps ensure the game you want to watch will start on time and on the right network.

But that doesn’t do anything to help conflicts with other games.

When Cal’s Dario Longhetto kicked off, Notre Dame was getting beat, Oklahoma was barely ahead, Alabama was kicking Lane Kiffin’s ballclub and Stanford was in the locker room at halftime leading Oregon by 10.

Maybe that competition was why Memorial Stadium was so empty for the Bears’ homecoming. Or maybe it was the matchup. Whatever, Cal’s multimillion-dollar remodeled facility was a sea of empty seats. Somehow, the attendance was announced at 40,286.

By the way, Notre Dame lost, Oklahoma held off Kansas State, Alabama rolled and Stanford was handed an overtime win over Oregon.