Alex Cook says he was “brainwashed” to be a Cal Golden Bear.

The Sacramento native — now a junior safety for UW — starred on both sides of the ball at Sheldon High School, and Berkeley, California, was located conveniently 77 miles away. He has multiple family members who are Cal alums, and his father grew up in nearby Oakland.

But proximity, and apparel, weren’t ultimately enough.

“I thought about Cal a lot,” the Huskies’ starting safety said on Wednesday. “Before I came here I had all Cal sweatshirts. I was Cal’d out. That was the school to go to. But once I matured and grew up a little bit, I shied away from Cal and started looking at other schools. Obviously I found my love at UW.”

But not before convincing some family members first. Cook says his grandfather, Melvin Cook, “lives up the street from Berkeley. He was like, ‘If you come to Berkeley, you can get my truck, you can stay at my house rent free, whatever.’”

Then Alex took Melvin on his official visit to Washington.

“He was the main one I brought up here,” Cook recalled, “and he was like, ‘OK, I understand. I understand.’”

But once he arrived, Cook took a circuitous path to playing time. The 6-foot-1, 195-pounder caught one pass in two seasons as a wide receiver, before switching to safety in 2019. He started in three of four games last season, contributing eight tackles along the way.

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And in a safety competition comprising Julius Irvin, Cameron Williams, Asa Turner, Dominique Hampton and more, Cook started this season against both Montana and Arkansas State — bolting up the middle to block a punt last weekend.

“The cool thing was, (the blocked punt) was actually designed for a couple of other guys to get the block,” UW head coach Jimmy Lake said. “That was the only time we called the block, and (special-teams coordinator Keith Bhonapha) called it at the perfect time. Those other guys did their jobs so well and they were so worried about those guys going for the block. The hustle play by Alex Cook, he ended up coming free based on the block scheme that coach Bhonapha put together.

“(It was a) great job by KB (Bhonapha), great job by our punt-block unit executing what we were trying to do, and then Alex Cook shows up. He shows up on kickoff, he shows up on special teams, and he shows up on defense. That’s another player that we rewarded because he showed us a lot of tough, physical plays on special teams, and he’s playing on defense now. That’s a brave play, running through a line of scrimmage, foot-faking a guy, and having the bravery to go down and slam a punt. Great job by Alex Cook.”

Through three games, Cook has recorded 13 tackles.

And he’ll be motivated to do more against a familiar opponent.

“I can’t wait. I can’t wait,” he said. “I have family that are Cal alums. They’re obviously still supporting me, but they’re talking mess. That just fires me up. I just can’t wait to get out there.”

Four seasons and one position switch later, Cook is still here.

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That’s not by accident.

“If I’m not playing, I’m still going to find a way to impact this team — whether it’s scout team, special teams like I’ve done in the past. Shoot, I’ll even switch over to offense if they need a look,” Cook said. “I’m staying here because this is my family. This is my brotherhood. This is my home.”

The lightning delay, revisited

The sun was shining at Husky Stadium on Saturday.

Which was a far cry from the Cal game in 2019, when both teams sat through a two-hour, 39-minute lightning delay before the Bears pulled off a 20-19 upset in a game that officially ended at 1:23 a.m.

“I remember how awkward that was,” Lake said this week. “I’ve been around it before. It happened a ton down in Tampa Bay (when Lake was an assistant coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers). That’s the lightning capitol of the world, if you didn’t know.

“So, I’ve had a ton of delays before. But this one was unique because it lasted so long. I remember there was a lot of discussion if it continued on that they would just cancel the game. Yeah, it was something we weren’t expecting. But hey, no excuses. You’ve got to go out there and finish the game and we didn’t do it. They played better than us when the lights came back on.”

When asked if he had previously experienced that kind of delay, Lake added: “I have not. That was a first.”

On the bright side, that feat would not be repeated in Seattle on Saturday night.

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“It’s supposed to be sunny and 75 on Saturday,” UW running back Sean McGrew said Tuesday. “I think the energy will be right and I think it will be a good Saturday for us.”    

Honoring Lambright

On Saturday, UW honored former Husky head coach and defensive coordinator Jim Lambright, who died in March 2020 at age 77. Lambright’s family was on-hand for the primetime Pac-12 opener inside Husky Stadium.

Lambright participated in more games at Washington as a player, assistant coach, defensive coordinator or head coach (386) than any other person in program history. In six seasons as UW’s head coach, from 1993 to 1998, he compiled a 44-25-1 record and earned a share of the 1995 Pac-10 title. He joined UW’s staff in 1969 and was elevated to defensive coordinator under head coach Don James in 1978. Together, Lambright and James won six Pac-8 and Pac-10 titles as well as the program’s most recent national championship in 1991.

After Lambright died following a sustained battle with dementia, his family donated his brain to the UW Medicine Brain Repository and Integrated Research (BRaIN) laboratory, in hopes of assisting medical research and improving treatment of brain injuries in the future. They donated the rest of his organs to UW’s autopsy center as well.

Significant absences

Three UW starters — cornerback Trent McDuffie and tight ends Cade Otton and Jack Westover — did not play against Cal. A UW spokesperson confirmed Otton was in COVID-19 protocol, and Lake said after Saturday’s win that his standout tight end’s status would “most likely” affect his availability for next weekend’s game at Oregon State.

McDuffie — arguably UW’s best player, and a 2020 second-team All-Pac-12 pick — appeared to injure his ankle late in last weekend’s 52-3 win over Arkansas State. He played in each of the first 20 games of his UW career, starting 18 times. In the first three games this season, he contributed nine tackles with three pass breakups and a tackle for loss.

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Under McDuffie’s watch, UW ranked fourth nationally in passing defense (123 yards per game), second in opponent pass efficiency rating (80.45), second in yards per pass attempt (4.2) and third in opponent completion percentage (47.1%) in its first three games.

Likewise, after redshirting in 2017, Otton played in 36 consecutive games until Saturday. The 6-5, 250-pounder registered 13 catches for 138 yards and a touchdown in UW’s first three games. Primarily a halfback, Westover added two catches for 11 yards as well.

In their places, walk-on redshirt freshman Mishael Powell made his first career start at corner, while sophomore Devin Culp got the nod at tight end.