By Morris Phillips

Buying in and getting rewarded. With a painful, lesson-filled year in the rear-view mirror, the Cal Bears are finally getting an opportunity to see how the process of becoming a winning football team works.

For the second week in a row, the Bears got off to a fast start offensively and they went on to bury Sacramento State, 55-14, in their home opener at Memorial Stadium. Cal scored touchdowns on their first six possessions of the game, building a 42-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

“That is what the offense is supposed to look like,” head coach Sonny Dykes said. “We are doing a good job of taking what they are giving us. Last week, we had an 18-play drive to start the game and this week it as a 15-play drive. That is a hard thing to do—to be able to play and execute at that level for that many plays.”

Jared Goff finished 17 for 22 passing and an extended group of Cal backs combined for 253 yards rushing as the Bears were too balanced and too good for their outmatched FCS opponent from the state capital. The only negative for Cal was 10 penalties for 100 yards, as they not only played well but saw numerous guys contribute outside the two starting units.

It was fun to get to play that many players,” Dykes said. “Those guys work incredibly hard in practice. I told our scout team guys that I think they are the best scout group I have ever been around. They work incredibly hard.”

Five running backs and three quarterbacks carried at least once, contributing to Cal’s impressive 5.4 yards per rush attempt.   Nine different Bears made at least one catch, led by Chris Harper’s five for 39 yards. Of both groups, Kenny Lawler Jr. stood out with his great hands and catching ability, hauling in three balls and two touchdowns, including a 19-yarder on a spectacular one-handed grab that put Cal up 28-0 near the conclusion of the first quarter.

“He’s ridiculous,” quarterback Jared Goff said of Lawler. “There is no other way to describe it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone catch balls the way he does and it’s not the best catch I’ve ever seen him make.”

Dykes’ “Bear Raid” offense which took so much criticism in 2013 has—at least through two weeks of 2014—shown the ability to put opposing defenses on their heels from the start. Cal led 14-0 early against Northwestern last week and went above and beyond that against Sacramento St. Unlike last season, the Bears have displayed the ability to move the football and wear down opponents.

“I talked to Coach Dykes briefly about it and asked him if this is how it’s supposed to look and he said ‘Yeah this is how it’s supposed to be. The offense executed very well in the first half and I was very happy with it,” Goff said.

The Bears now get two weeks to prepare for Arizona and the possibility of a 3-0 start that almost no one would have thought possible. Given that, Dykes cautioned his team during a celebratory moment in the post-game locker room that they need to get better. That and not have any Saturday night incidents of immaturity or over exuberance following their big win.

One less obvious sign of growth would have to be the play of Cal’s linebackers and secondary, where a bushel of the defensive breakdowns occurred last season. This year, both units appear to be quicker and at least through two games, linebacker Jalen Jefferson looks like an all-conference level performer.

Hornets’ quarterback Garrett Safron led his team in passing and running with 149 yards through the air and 60 yards rushing on nine carries. Receiver DeAndre Carter contributed a team-best seven catches for 72 yards.