Tag: Cal

By Morris Phillips

In 1923, when Sam Houston Normal Institute was renamed to Sam Houston State Teachers College, the school’s nickname, “Normals” had to go as well. To capitalize on a regional phrase of the day, “Tough as a Bearkat,” the nickname Bearkats was born at the college in Southeast Texas even though no such animal actually exists.

But animal experts know that the kinkajou, a 10-pound mammal found in the South American rainforests is often referred to as a bearcat, even though the animal is neither related to the bear or cat families. Small, cuddly and docile, the kinkajou are often kept as exotic pets, but if startled or alarmed by loud noises, the little critters can pull an about face and scream, or in rare occasions, even bite.

With that background, fast forward to Monday night on Pete Newell Court where the Bears and the Bearkats met for the first time ever in a non-conference basketball game that didn’t figure to be particularly competitive given that Cal is ranked 14^th nationally and Sam Houston State is retooling after losing five seniors from a 26-win club that participated in the College Invitational Tournament last spring.

But before you could say “blowout,” the Sam Houston State Bearkats, maybe startled by a noisy Haas Pavilion or just plain agitated for no obvious reason jumped out to a 7-0 lead prompting Coach Cuonzo Martin to call a timeout to see where his team’s collective heads were. And it was at this moment that a fascinating tidbit of information was revealed to Martin and the announced crowd of better than 8,000:

(Dramatic pause) Super frosh Jaylen Brown is as talented as advertised.

Brown struck back at the Bearkats by coming up with a stocking-stuffer of performance with 18 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two steals in Cal’s 89-63 win that moved them to 4-0 on the season ahead of their first true tests this weekend in Las Vegas with San Diego State up first at Orleans Arena on Thanksgiving night.

“I’m excited to go to Vegas and see what we’re made of,” Brown said. “We’ve been preparing all week and all season. All the suicides, yelling, screaming and encouragement, this is what it’s for.”

Brown surprised the world of college basketball by choosing Cal over the traditional bluebloods like Kentucky and Duke. And now that Brown and fellow freshman Ivan Rabb have meshed their talents with Cal’s holdovers, the potential for a special season is apparent. But when speed bumps like SHSU’s fast start on Monday arise, Martin has to make sure he has conductors, and not passengers, along for the ride.

“A lot of good coaches are happy with the team playing the right way,” Brown said of the early timeout. “He didn’t say anything about the score, he just said keep playing basketball and things will fall the right way.”

“We just maintained,” Martin said. “I know we had two breakdowns where they made threes in the first half, but outside of that we just maintained.”

Cal’s response was immediate. The Bears countered with 10 straight points to take the lead starting with Brown’s layup and including a pair of Jordan Mathews three-pointers.   Cal went on to shoot 55 percent in the first half, opening up a 15-point halftime lead. After making three of their first five shots from the field, the Bearkats went cold, missing 22 of 30 to close the half. During Cal’s 15-0 run midway through the half, Sam Houston State missed 12 consecutive shots.

The second half began with Cal focused from the start. The Bears pushed the lead to 24 before the first TV timeout and cruised from there. The Bears led by 30 on a couple of occasions before settling for a 26-point victory.

Leading scorer Tyrone Wallace also contributed 18 points, Mathews had 17 and Jabari Bird chipped in with 10 points. Wallace moved into the list of Cal’s top-20 all-time scorers passing David Kravish with 1,277 points with his effort.

Sam Houston State was led Dakari Henderson with 13 points. Jamal Williams added 12 points, four rebounds and three assists. The Bearkats were out-rebounded 46-31 and couldn’t sustain much offense near the basket, attempting just eight free throws in the game, making four.

“We just got into a stretch where it was about 23-20 with seven minutes left in the half and had a couple of really crucial turnovers that turned into baskets for them and got them going,” SHSU Coach Jason Hooten said. “Once they got going, we couldn’t really stop them.”

Nick Kerr, son of Warriors Coach Steve Kerr made his Cal debut in the second half playing the final minute. The grad student transfer received a healthy dose of applause from the Haas crowd upon his appearance.

By Morris Phillips

Referees are calling fouls at a maddening rate, coaches are feeling powerless in how to reduce all the additional fouling and foul calls, and the California Bears appear poised to take advantage of the situation with their unselfish play.

The Bears’ persistence with their shot selection paid off big time against UC Santa Barbara on Monday as Cal paraded to the line for 38 attempts—making 29—in a fairly comfortable 85-67 win. Afterwards, Gauchos coach Bob Williams expressed his frustration with the numerous foul calls, but not without crediting Cal and their aggressive, offensive play around the hoop.

“It’s tough to play that way,” Williams said when asked about the heavy number of fouls and free throw attempts. “It takes some rhythm out of the game but they’re also good athletes and a half step quicker than us or a full step in some of the match-ups, so they got by us and created fouls. I’m not arguing with the fouls that were called. It’s more we got to learn to play better defense so we’re not fouling.”

Not surprisingly, what drove Williams batty had Cal coach Cuonzo Martin feeling quite satisfied.

“It’s reading and making plays,” Martin said. “At the start of every practice, it’s about penetrate, pitch and understand who is who. You make plays from that. You have to be aggressive, be willing to share the ball, and I think they’re doing great with that.”

In starting 2-0, the No. 15 Cal Bears have looked like a team comprised primarily of big, powerful guards and a trio of significant post players should look. They can pass, penetrate with quickness and force, and when opportunities arise, find their bigger teammates around the basket. Jordan Matthews’ smart look ahead pass on the break to high-flying teammate Jaylen Brown for the dunk was an example of that. Brown’s dunk put Cal up 33-19 with 6:14 remaining before halftime.

But in simpler terms—making the smart pass—Cal succeeds as well. Stephen Domingo flashed across the lane on the dribble with 9:01 remaining and made the no-frills dump off, bounce pass to Ivan Rabb for the dunk and a 73-51 Cal lead. In fact, for long stretches against overmatched UCSB, the Bears appeared to be running offensive drills designed to get point blank shot attempts every time.

The Bears jumped all over the Gauchos early with their defense. UCSB was held scoreless for nearly 5 ½ minutes to start the game, finally breaking through on a layup by Ami Lakoju to make the score 8-2. But once the offensive jitters wore off, the referee’s whistles kicked in. With Cal attacking the basket, and referees instructed to reduce the physicality of the game with a renewed emphasis on hand checking fouls, the Bears took 21 foul attempts in the first half alone.

Eventually, the Gauchos found some success in a switch to a matchup zone that had Cal “settling” for perimeter shots before halftime, according to Martin. But that was short lived. The Bears ended the first half on a 9-0 run to go up 19 at half.

Not surprisingly, Tyrone Wallace was the biggest beneficiary of his team’s aggressive approach. Wallace, who has NBA scouts salivating over his powerful moves in high screen-and-roll situations, finished with a team-best 24 points, four rebounds and six assists.

For the second game in a row, all five Cal starters finished in double figures in scoring with Brown scoring 17, and Matthews 16. Rabb, the super freshman from Oakland, played just 18 minutes due to early foul trouble, but was 10 for 10 from the foul line.

Brown, Cal’s other big addition, supplied the crowd pleasing steal and breakaway dunk in the second half that put Cal up 69-47, marking their largest lead of the evening. Brown admitted he wasn’t happy with his four turnovers, but acquitted himself well with 6 of 10 shooting and seven rebounds.

Michael Bryson led UCSB with 23 points despite missing 10 of his 18 shot attempts. Oakland product John Green contributed 12.

The Bears continue their season-opening homestand on Friday when American Athletic Conference opponent East Carolina invades Haas Pavilion for an 8pm tipoff.

By Morris Phillips

With great size, long arms and superior depth, there were the Cal Bears on the floor at Haas Pavilion Friday night satisfying Bear Nation’s anticipation for what could be a very special season in Berkeley.

The beefed-up Bears, with super recruits Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb in the starting lineup, didn’t disappoint, routing the Rice Owls 97-65 as all five starters scored in double figures. Afterwards, Rabb said what most fans were already thinking: this talented team, already recognized by ranked 14^th nationally, could get a whole lot better quickly.

“I feel the chemistry,” Rabb said. “I think if we continue to stop like that, it’s going to make our offense more potent and get better transitions. With the size and length that we have, all the different tools, there’s no reason why we can’t be one of the best defensive teams in the country.”

Possessing the ability to drop 97 points with great scoring balance, along with suffocating defense, the Bears appear to immediately be on the path to something big. Coach Cuonzo Martin senses it, but as the orchestrator, he had his eye on the warts Friday and what needs to improve if the Bears want to compete for a Pac-12 championship this season.

“I don’t care what the talent says,” Martin said. “There have been so many teams over the past 50 years ranked this and ranked that but don’t pan out and don’t execute. There’s always a long way to go, and after our second game (Monday’s exhibition against Carroll being the first) we are still going through different things, dealing with the environment, the excitement.”

The process of creating something special seems to have already taken hold when the game’s box score is perused. The interchangeable Bears were led by senior Tyrone Wallace’s 20 points, eight assists and six rebounds, but Wallace’s big night was trumped by the team’s great balance.

Ten of the 11 Bears to see action had at least one made basket, seven had at least one made three-pointer and eight had at least one assist. Cal’s 48-30 advantage on the glass saw those same 10 players that scored also grab at least one rebound. Leading 14-11 early, the Bears took off, scoring 13 consecutive points over the next five minutes to turn the game into a rout.

Rabb and Brown played just 15 and 16 minutes respectively—the fewest of Cal’s top nine players on Friday—but may have been the most impressive anyway. Rabb finished with 14 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks making him unofficially the most efficient player in the country on opening night. But Brown made an immediate impression with his unselfish play, spinning off a defender in the lane and dumping a seamless pass off to Rabb for a dunk less than five minutes into the game. The 6’7” Brown struggled with his shot—finishing 5 of 15—but his talent and versatility was undeniable in his limited time on the floor.

“I think we’re just scratching the surface,” Brown said. “We have a lot of room to improve. I think as the season goes forward, you guys are going to see a lot of improvements.”

Rice shot just 37 percent for the game and trailed 47-31 at halftime. Arizona State transfer Egor Koulechov led the Owls with 19 points and eight rebounds. Marcus Evans added 18.

Cal brought 7’0” Kameron Rooks and Georgetown transfer Stephen Domingo off the bench first. Rooks missed all of last season with a broken foot and looked to be in great shape and far more active defensively than he did at any point during his freshman year two seasons ago. Domingo, a San Francisco native, looked to be the team’s jack of all trades with his ability to defend and take advantage of smaller defenders off the dribble on the other end.

The Bears take the floor again Monday when UC-Santa Barbara visits Haas Pavilion.

By Morris Phillips

Talk about making your opponent pay.  On Saturday at Autzen Stadium, the Cal Bears found themselves reaching for scampering Ducks—and their symbolic wallets–repeatedly.

The Bears came in licking their chops, hungry for the opportunity to face the Pac-12’s worst defense and hopefully end their three-game losing streak.  Instead, Oregon feasted on Cal’s leaky defense for 777 yards total offense in a 44-28 win.

Oregon amassed 441 yards in offense in the first half alone when they buried the Bears with four touchdowns in the second quarter.  As a result, Cal’s early 10-0 lead evaporated into a 31-10 Oregon lead at the half.

The Bears seemed capable of engaging the Ducks in a high-scoring shootout, but that didn’t materialize either.  Jared Goff’s uneven performance in which he misfired on 23 of his 41 pass attempts had a lot to do with Oregon’s 31 unanswered points in the first half.  Goff finished with 329 yards passing with one pass intercepted, but his overall performance littered with errant throws and drop passes paled in comparison to what the junior signal caller accomplished in the season’s first five games.

Given all the misfortune, Cal started fast and had the Ducks on their heels in the first quarter. The Bears scored on their first two possessions to lead 10-0.  In between the two drives, Griffin Piatt picked off Vernon Adams Jr. in the end zone to keep Oregon from tying the score at 7.  Piatt’s pick short circuited Oregon’s 10-play, 79-yard drive and seemed to signal Cal’s fortunes were looking up.

But that was hardly the case.  The Ducks and Adams rebounded with an 11-play drive that stalled when Hardy Nickerson Jr. sacked the Oregon quarterback on 3^rd-and-3 at Cal’s 22-yard line.  Aidan Schneider’s 41-yard field goal brought Oregon within 10-3 with 1:49 remaining in the first quarter.

And then the roof fell in on Cal in the second quarter as Oregon scored touchdowns on four consecutive possessions.  Three of the four Oregon drives were preceded by three-and-outs by Cal, and none of the Oregon’s drives took more than 3 ½ minutes on the game clock.

Cal’s defense contributed to Oregon’s surge with its own poor play, which Coach Sonny Dykes referenced in his post-game remarks.

“I think we missed 50 tackles tonight,” Dykes said.   “We couldn’t generate any pass rush at all.”

“Obviously it starts up front,” Oregon coach Mark Helfrich said of his team’s offensive explosion.  “Those guy did a really good job of neutralizing their front and getting to the second level.”

Royce Freeman, Oregon’s powerful tailback, rushed for 180 yards on 29 carries.  But Freeman was just part of a committee that totaled 477 rushing.  Tony Brooks-James topped 100 yards rushing, and Kani Benoit had 94 yards on just eight carries.

The Bears rallied when they opened the second half with 11 consecutive points to cut Oregon’s lead to 31-21.  Matt Anderson’s 48-yard field goal, Vic Enwere’s 9-yard touchdown run and Goff’s two-point conversion on a designed run brought Cal with 10 points, but the Ducks rebounded with a second field goal from Aidan Schneider and Charles Nelson’s 20-yard touchdown catch to open the fourth quarter.

Bryce Treggs’ 80-yard touchdown on a deep ball that was tipped by the defender and then grabbed by the Cal receiver brought the Bears within 44-28 with 7:27 remaining.

Cal has dropped four straight following a 5-0 start to the season and a brief landing spot in the national Top 25.  Now the Bears must defeat downtrodden Oregon State on Saturday to secure a sixth win and bowl eligibility.  If not, the Bears face a daunting task trying to defeat either Stanford or Arizona State in their regular-season finale.

By Morris Phillips

It didn’t appear in the fine print on the game tickets, but most everyone in Strawberry Canyon on Saturday knew: for attendance to a Washington State-Cal football game, a calculator isn’t required, but a strong math background is recommended.

And while the Victory Cannon didn’t run out of ammunition during Cal’s 34-28 win over WSU, a couple of numerical talking points stood out as the Bears fashioned a narrow escape and moved to 5-0 for the first time since 2007.

In last year’s scoring cornucopia in Pullman, a 60-59 win for the Bears in which the teams combined for 1,400 yards in offense and no turnovers, obscured by the headlines were the facts that Cal trailed by at least 10 points in each of the first three quarters, and then trailed on two occasions (by smaller margins) in the fourth.

On Saturday, WSU had the jump on Cal again, leading briefly by two touchdowns in the second quarter, and almost grabbing a 31-20 lead late in the third quarter that would have been problematic for Cal had WSU’s Erik Powell not missed a 40-yard field goal attempt.  How could youthful WSU, losers to Portland State in their season opener get the jump on highly-motivated No. 24 Cal, a three-touchdown favorite?

According to Coach Sonny Dykes and Cal quarterback Jared Goff, WSU’s early success was all in the preparation.

“I think them having two weeks to prepare might have had something to do with it,” Goff said.  “They had an extra chance to clean up the wrinkles and put in some new stuff we weren’t ready for.  The stuff they didn’t show on film, and hats off to them for that.”

“The way they played fast, you can tell they had some time to prepare for us,” Dykes explained.

So how did Cal respond? By pulling off a feat they’ve accomplished in all five of their games this season: scoring in the last two minutes of the first half, and then again within the first five minutes (plus) in the second half.  Trailing 21-7, Goff and the Bears showed some urgency, needing just five plays to draw within 21-13 on Kenny Lawler’s 9-yard, touchdown grab with 34 seconds remaining before halftime.

The Cougs had the ball first in the second half, and when they lined up to punt on fourth down at midfield, their fake punt went horribly wrong and almost cost punter Zach Charme his health.  Charme, a more than competent punter, but an awful broken-play runner, faked the punt, then took off running tentatively towards the line of scrimmage.  Cal starting cornerback Darius Allensworth swooped in and separated Charme’s forearm from the ball, leading with his helmet, a move so forceful that it propelled the football away from the descending scrum of players.

That’s when senior Stefan McClure became the luckiest man in the stadium, scooping up the ball on the run and racing 45 yards for a touchdown that brought Cal within 21-20.

Cal’s back-to-back scores didn’t deter WSU, as they responded with a 15-play drive culminating with Gabe Marks’ 4-yard touchdown catch.  Marks may have been the best player on the field Saturday, the WSU junior finished with 10 catches for 141 yards.

Cal answered back, needing just two minutes to craft a six-play drive that ended with Lawler’s second score, a one-handed catch with a WSU defender clutching his other arm, and the tippy-toe job along the sideline to boot that prompted a brief, video review.

But when Cal attempted a two-point conversion in part because of the math, and in part due to Dykes’ likely frustration with his place-kicking game, Goff was picked and Cal still trailed 28-26.

Dykes then reached into his bag of tricks with the unexpected, onside kick featuring his embattled kicker, Matt Anderson.  Anderson’s pooch went diagonally towards the Cal sideline, out of the reach of all except Darius Powe who leaped to snag the ball just before it went out-of-bounds.  Again, a video review was needed to determine if Powe gained control before rolling out of bounds.

Of course, all video reviews aren’t created equal.  This one required a camera with a birds-eye view of the Cal sideline at midfield, which the Pac-12 Network couldn’t provide.  Instead, review officials were treated to a shot from a camera positioned below the north end zone scoreboard that was far from “definitive.”

The call on the field was upheld, Cal regained possession, and WSU–so well-prepared earlier–was trumped.

“That’s kind of a hard kick to executed and you have to credit Matt,” Dykes said.  “He did a fantastic job kicking it, and Darius did a great job making the play.  We were looking for the right time to call it, and we just felt at that point we had a little bit of momentum.”

Four plays later Cal had its first lead of the day as Maurice Harris took a short pass, bounced off a tackler near the 20-yard line and raced in from there, untouched.

What happened next no doubt surprised everyone gathered inside Memorial Stadium.  WSU’s “Air Raid” and Cal’s “Bear Raid” grounded to halt.  Neither team managed to score another point, as both teams went scoreless in the final 17 minutes of the game.   Cal iced the victory by controlling the ball offensively for nearly 12 minutes in the fourth quarter.

To close it out, Cal put the final touches on a seven-sack performance that has them atop the FBS in that category.  Defensive end Kyle Kragen was credited for 2 ½ sacks on the day.  The Bears forced four turnovers in all, and they also lead all major college teams in that category with 17.

In the coming weeks, Cal’s lofty position will be challenged by trips to No. 10 Utah, No. 7 UCLA and a home game with No. 17 USC.  Utah’s up next with an ESPN national telecast scheduled for next Saturday night at 5:15pm from Salt Lake City.

By Morris Phillips

California football was almost too exciting for its own good on Saturday night.

After scoring 31 consecutive points and building a three-touchdown, fourth quarter lead, the Cal Bears survived a furious Texas rally that ended when Longhorns’ kicker Nick Rose missed a PAT that would have sent the game into overtime. Rose’s missed kick surprised nearly everyone in Austin; neither coach saw it, and the game statisticians failed to credit Cal’s Darius White with the block for tipping the ball in-flight.

“At first I thought it was like the Arizona game,” quarterback Jared Goff said of Texas’ rally that fell short in the Bears’ 45-44 victory.  “And then they were saying they missed it.  I still didn’t believe it.”

“We just assumed after they scored we were going to overtime,” Coach Sonny Dykes admitted.

As Goff referenced, Cal’s been here before–almost exactly one year ago.  Looking to go 3-0, the Bears wilted in the heat in Arizona, as the Wildcats came up with 36 points in the fourth quarter to overcome a Cal lead that was once 22 points with a hail-mary caught by Arizona’s Austin Hill on the game’s final play.

With the win, Cal’s trip to Texas was worth its price in gold.  The Bears capitalized on their opportunity to beat a national powerhouse on the road in front of a Saturday-night primetime national television audience, and did so with their Bear Raid offense in full bloom.  The Bears improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2011, and after another wild, wacky day in college football, could be on the cusp of a Top 25 appearance after a couple of years as an afterthought in the landscape of big-time college football.

Along with all the adulation, the Bears must address their defensive shortcomings that allowed the big Texas comeback, engineered by freshman quarterback Jerrod Heard in only his second collegiate start.  Ward and the Longhorns amassed 650 yards in offense, an effort that fell short only due to Rose’s missed kick and a critical interception of Heard right before halftime.

Goff broke Troy Taylor’s school record for career passing yardage set at 8,126 yards with a completion to tight end Stephen Anderson in the first quarter.  Goff also set school records for career completions and total offense with his 27 of 37 passing for 268 yards.  But when the Bears couldn’t increase their lead in the fourth quarter, the Longhorns nearly stepped through the door left open by Goff and the Cal offense.

“We needed to make some first downs is what we needed,” Dykes said.  “We needed one first down to seal the ball game, and we couldn’t get it.  We dropped a pass, which we talked about leading up to the game.  If we wanted to run the clock out on the game, we were going to stay aggressive.”

The Bears trailed 24-14 late in the second quarter as the Longhorns speed and athleticism were starting to take hold.  But Cal countered with Goff and their experienced, quick-strike offense to get things even at the half.  First Cal got Vic Enwere’s one-yard touchdown run to cap a four play drive that took just 40 seconds.  Then after Heard was picked near midfield by linebacker Jalen Jefferson, the Bears got a 34-yard Matt Anderson field goal to tie the game at 24 just four seconds before halftime.

Cal’s late rush before the half deflated the Texas crowd and the Longhorns.  That momentum extended into the third quarter as the Bears, largely behind the running of Khalfani Muhammad, scored three unanswered touchdowns.  Muhammad capped the third quarter scoring with a scintillating 74-yard run that put Cal up 45-24.

In the absence of starting running back Daniel Lasco, Muhammad rushed for a career-best 164 yards and Enwere added 74 yards and a pair of touchdowns, illustrating Cal’s increased depth on both sides of the ball.  Enwere, as well as Lasco, are Texas natives, and might not have been affected by the 90-degree heat at kickoff as their Cal teammates.

One guy that wasn’t adversely affected by the heat was Heard who didn’t let inexperience derail him from a monster performance in only his third collegiate game.  The Longhorns quarterback passed for 364 yards and rushed for 163 yards on 24 carries.  Heard’s 527 yards in total offense stand as the best total in Texas history surpassing all of the running and passing exploits of Heisman trophy winner Vince Young, who was on hand and settled a bet with the Cal coaching staff by donning a Bears’ t-shirt after the game.

“Just watching him, he’s exciting, and he has brought the excitement into the team,” Strong said of Heard.  “You watch our whole sideline now when our offense takes the field, our guys are all just locked in.  When we went back out there to go and tie the game, they just knew we were going to go out and go tie that game.”

The Bears were adversely affected by Muhammad’s fumble and a missed Anderson field goal in the first half that contributed to their brief, 10-point deficit.  But the Bears ability to run explosively and pass effectively put constant pressure on the Longhorns and their defense.  Cal’s third quarter surge—and their effective halftime adjustments—weren’t anything new.  The Bears have outscored their three opponents, 49-0, in the third quarter.

Next Saturday, the Bears travel to Seattle to face Washington, who got past Utah State 31-17 on Saturday.  This will be Cal’s first Pac-12 conference game, and they remain the only undefeated team in the Pac-12 North.

By Morris Phillips

Quite literally, if it weren’t for the familiar dark blue and gold uniforms, you wouldn’t recognize the 2015 California Golden Bears.

No longer are the Bears the quirky, disjointed football team from the two previous seasons. In fact, they’re as old school as old school gets these days: run the ball, don’t turn it over and play defense.

In beating San Diego State on Saturday, the Bears settled down after a rocky first quarter, hit the Aztecs with a heap of explosive offense in the second and third quarters, defended throughout, and coasted to a 35-7 win to go 2-0 on the season.

In the first three quarters of their first two games, the Bears have allowed seven points.  Those seven points are also the only seven San Diego State scored on Saturday.  Talk about a transformation: in losing six of their last seven, and seven of their final 10 games a year ago, the overly-generous Bears surrendered an average of 43 points a game.

The Aztecs played the role of the quirky team with unorthodox methods in this one, and SDSU’s smallish, unpredictable defensive front kept Cal on its collective heels early.  With blitzes and pressure coming from all directions, the Bears and quarterback Jared Goff went scoreless for the first 17 minutes of the game.  Then after a game-tying touchdown pass to Darius Powe, Goff was picked off on the following possession.  One week after the Bears laid 73 on Grambling State, the early struggles could have left Cal out of sorts.  Coach Sonny Dykes felt his team’s calmness was the major turning point of the afternoon.

“We knew it was going to be a challenge,” Dykes said.  “Our guys had to fight through it, especially early in the ballgame.  To their credit, they did.  And like I said, there was no sense of panic or any of that setting in, which was encouraging.”

Instead of having Goff air it out—and be subjected to the blitzes—the Bears instead, settled in with their running game and their physical advantage along the offensive line.  All of the distinctive statistical marks that Cal has come to be known for disappeared.  SDSU maintained an edge in plays, time of possession and head scratching penalties, while the Bears took control on the scoreboard.

Nearing halftime, the Bears had settled.  With the game tied 7-7, the Bears struck quickly after SDSU’s Christian Chapman was intercepted by Darius White.  Three plays later, Cal had its first lead courtesy of Goff’s three-yard touchdown pass to Maurice Harris just 11 seconds prior to halftime.

Cal followed that up with a 75-yard, Trevor Davis catch and run on the first play of the second half and Cal suddenly led 21-7.  On that play, Goff initially was shocked how open Davis was, but it didn’t take long for the quarterback to adjust, hitting his senior wide out in stride heading down the field.

“It seemed as if the safeties were rolling and not really looking at me running the post, and we saw that,” Davis recalled.  “It happened both times (we ran that play).”

Goff finished with 321 yards passing on 17 for 24 passing.  Not the usual mega numbers for the junior signal caller, but it leaves him just 15 yards shy of Troy Taylor’s school record for career passing yardage at 8,126 yards.  For a quarterback, that hasn’t won as much as he’s compiled stats, Goff said he’ll operate with little anticipation of the record with Texas up next on Cal’s schedule.

“I’m going to prepare and try to beat Texas, and let all that stuff happen like it does,” Goff said.

SDSU’s compact and powerful back, Donnel Pumphrey gave Cal issues early with his quickness, but finished with only 86 yards on 21 carries.  The Aztecs average per rush hoovered around three yards per carry during the first three quarters, right where Cal’s defense would prefer.  Meanwhile, Daniel Lasco ran effectively throughout for the Bears, finishing with 123 yards on 19 carries.  Lasco suffered a minor hip injury on his final carry, but is expected to be 100 percent for the Longhorns next Saturday in Austin.

Along with Chapman’s intercepted pass, the Aztecs hurt themselves with 12 penalties for negative 137 yards.  With the game decided, SDSU picked up personal foul penalties on consecutive plays in the fourth quarter.

“The personal fouls on both sides of the ball are the sign of an immature football team,” SDSU coach Rocky Long admitted.  “That’s my fault to get that many penalties on offense.”

The Bears have opened 2-0 for the first time under Coach Dykes, and will look to start 3-0 next week for the first time since 2010.