Again stealing from ESPNs great preseason series.
The Bears head to Australia excited about their young talent. Davis Webb emerged as the starter after getting a strong fight from Chase Forest for the job. A young WR corps looked great all camp as did the Bears OL. The Cal defense surprisingly hung tough with a more athletic LB and DB corps blitzing often and James Looney practically living in the Cal offense's backfield. More than anything, they are healthy and ready to roll.
After a 56-10 blowout of Hawaii, Cal hits the road to face the Aztecs of SDSU. A game that looked fated to come down to the 4th quarter took a sudden turn after halftime when Cal's offense line took the game over. Davis Webb had all day to find Jordan Veasy and Brandon Singleton wide open for 3rd quarter TD passes and after struggling early, the Cal running game got going with Tre Watson finishing the game with 100 yards on route to a 33-24 victory.
Texas visits Cal for its first home game with a 2-0 record and a big upset of Notre Dame. A defense that was forcing turnovers and lots of sacks found the going tougher in California. Meanwhile, Cal was able to rush for nearly 200 yards and a big punt return from Demetris Robertson sealed the deal as the Bears win 27-24.
An undefeated Arizona State team awaited the high flying Bears in a game that suddenly featured two top 25 teams. A sloppy game with lots of penalties and turnovers (Davis Webb threw two Ints) ended up being decided in the trenches where Cal outgained the Devils on the ground 197 to 134. Vic Enwere had two TDs and Trey Turner a big interception to help the Bears get the win.
Once again, Cal faced Utah in a game that seemed destined to project the Bears future. Unfortunately, the Utes defense proved stout with the Bears WR corps dropping several balls and holding Cal's running game in check. A 23-17 loss was the final tally.
A yeoman like (albeit not pretty) win comes next vs an overmatched Oregon State team before the Bears face the Ducks. An old fashioned shootout resulted with the Bears more balanced attack being the difference in a 51-45 victory. Davis Webb threw for 6 TD passes including two to Melquise Stovall.
A very confident Cal team then visited SoCal to face a USC team that had not yet lived up to expectations. The Bears get caught napping as the Trojans led by JuJu Schuster outscore Cal 34-31.
UW then visited Berkeley with 2nd place in the North on the line. UWs vaunted defense kept the Bears in check for most of the game while Myles Gaskin found room for two 1st half TDs. Yet, a Cal comeback aided by a blocked punt and a Antoine Albert interception for a TD proved to much for the Huskies as the Bears win 28-24
With Cal looking at a real chance to get into the Pac 12 Championship game, they visited the Palouse. What looked to have been another offensive shootout was derailed as the Bears once again struggled on the road. Davis Webb threw two more INTs including a pick six as WSU won handily, 38-23.
The Big Game. Stanford enters the game 8-2 vs. the 7-3 Bears in what looks to be the best Big Game in many years. Stanford's offensive attack sputters as true frosh Evan Weaver gets two sacks and a forced fumble and Christian Macaffrey is forced to the sidelines with an ankle sprain. However, the Cardinal defense proves stingy and the game goes into the 4th quarter knotted up at 20 all. After exchanging punts on back to back posessions, Christian MacAffrey reenters the game with 4 minutes left and takes the inexplicable punt that was high and down the middle for a long TD as Cardinal fans erupt. A long drive featuring two 4th down conversions gets Cal to the 20 yard line with 17 seconds left. Vic Enwere then breaks four tackles on a spectacular TD run as Stanford assumed the Bears would pass. Defying convention, Sonny Dykes then goes for two points and uses a play not seen to that point this year that results in 300lb fullback Malik McMorris catching the game winning conversion!
The regular season ends with a clear cut victory over a reeling Bruins team whose star QB Josh Rosen was missing after suffering a season ending injury two weeks prior. Cal's running game and two fumble recoveries help the Bears defeat UCLA 34-20.
Cal sadly missed out on the Pac 12 title game as Stanford with only two P12 losses defeats Utah to return to the Rose Bowl.
The Bears head to Australia excited about their young talent. Davis Webb emerged as the starter after getting a strong fight from Chase Forest for the job. A young WR corps looked great all camp as did the Bears OL. The Cal defense surprisingly hung tough with a more athletic LB and DB corps blitzing often and James Looney practically living in the Cal offense's backfield. More than anything, they are healthy and ready to roll.
After a 56-10 blowout of Hawaii, Cal hits the road to face the Aztecs of SDSU. A game that looked fated to come down to the 4th quarter took a sudden turn after halftime when Cal's offense line took the game over. Davis Webb had all day to find Jordan Veasy and Brandon Singleton wide open for 3rd quarter TD passes and after struggling early, the Cal running game got going with Tre Watson finishing the game with 100 yards on route to a 33-24 victory.
Texas visits Cal for its first home game with a 2-0 record and a big upset of Notre Dame. A defense that was forcing turnovers and lots of sacks found the going tougher in California. Meanwhile, Cal was able to rush for nearly 200 yards and a big punt return from Demetris Robertson sealed the deal as the Bears win 27-24.
An undefeated Arizona State team awaited the high flying Bears in a game that suddenly featured two top 25 teams. A sloppy game with lots of penalties and turnovers (Davis Webb threw two Ints) ended up being decided in the trenches where Cal outgained the Devils on the ground 197 to 134. Vic Enwere had two TDs and Trey Turner a big interception to help the Bears get the win.
Once again, Cal faced Utah in a game that seemed destined to project the Bears future. Unfortunately, the Utes defense proved stout with the Bears WR corps dropping several balls and holding Cal's running game in check. A 23-17 loss was the final tally.
A yeoman like (albeit not pretty) win comes next vs an overmatched Oregon State team before the Bears face the Ducks. An old fashioned shootout resulted with the Bears more balanced attack being the difference in a 51-45 victory. Davis Webb threw for 6 TD passes including two to Melquise Stovall.
A very confident Cal team then visited SoCal to face a USC team that had not yet lived up to expectations. The Bears get caught napping as the Trojans led by JuJu Schuster outscore Cal 34-31.
UW then visited Berkeley with 2nd place in the North on the line. UWs vaunted defense kept the Bears in check for most of the game while Myles Gaskin found room for two 1st half TDs. Yet, a Cal comeback aided by a blocked punt and a Antoine Albert interception for a TD proved to much for the Huskies as the Bears win 28-24
With Cal looking at a real chance to get into the Pac 12 Championship game, they visited the Palouse. What looked to have been another offensive shootout was derailed as the Bears once again struggled on the road. Davis Webb threw two more INTs including a pick six as WSU won handily, 38-23.
The Big Game. Stanford enters the game 8-2 vs. the 7-3 Bears in what looks to be the best Big Game in many years. Stanford's offensive attack sputters as true frosh Evan Weaver gets two sacks and a forced fumble and Christian Macaffrey is forced to the sidelines with an ankle sprain. However, the Cardinal defense proves stingy and the game goes into the 4th quarter knotted up at 20 all. After exchanging punts on back to back posessions, Christian MacAffrey reenters the game with 4 minutes left and takes the inexplicable punt that was high and down the middle for a long TD as Cardinal fans erupt. A long drive featuring two 4th down conversions gets Cal to the 20 yard line with 17 seconds left. Vic Enwere then breaks four tackles on a spectacular TD run as Stanford assumed the Bears would pass. Defying convention, Sonny Dykes then goes for two points and uses a play not seen to that point this year that results in 300lb fullback Malik McMorris catching the game winning conversion!
The regular season ends with a clear cut victory over a reeling Bruins team whose star QB Josh Rosen was missing after suffering a season ending injury two weeks prior. Cal's running game and two fumble recoveries help the Bears defeat UCLA 34-20.
Cal sadly missed out on the Pac 12 title game as Stanford with only two P12 losses defeats Utah to return to the Rose Bowl.
