Anatomy of a Play: Christopher Brown Jr.'s 38 Yard Run

Cal won for the first time in Pasadena in a solid decade, and they did it in part with some solid running from Christopher Brown Jr.

Brown finished Cal's win over UCLA with 18 carries for 111 yards and two scores, but he also had the longest run of the year for the Bears on the evening, a 38 yarder that set up his final touchdown run.

3rd Quarter, 2nd and 10, ball on the Cal 48

After a defensive series where the Bears picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (where Evan Weaver kicked the ball) and a 39 yard reception by Kyle Phillips where the Bears didn't finish the play, Cal needed a score to back up by double digits. After giving up eight points, The Bears went back to work against a UCLA defense that had been pliable all evening.

Prior to Brown's run, Makai Polk had moved the Bears toward midfield with a 20 yard reception. After an incompletion toward Trevon Clark on the play before, Brown went to work and got a massive gap to run through, thanks to one of the most basic run plays in the book.

Cal lines up in their 12 personnel, with Collin Moore and Gavin Reinwald on the right side of the formation. Jake Tonges had gone out with an injury earlier in the game, which gave Moore some of his most extended playing time on the year. Moore's block on this play is pivotal for opening up space.

Cal's running power here, which means a couple things. The right guard, McKade Mettauer, pulls out. The right tackle and the inline TE, Jake Curhan, and Moore, downblock. Mike Saffell gets to the backside linebacker. Reinwald washes the playside linebacker out, opening up a massive gap for Brown to run through. Brown does just that, hitting the hole, stiff arming Stephan Blaylock, and getting down to the redzone.

UCLA shifts their outside linebacker in prior to the snap, which allows Moore to bury him inside. The inside linebacker, Bo Calvert, likely has edge-setting responsibilities, which takes him outside of Reinwald, but the Cal TE stays on his block. Usually, you'd expect the backside linebacker to come in and fill that gap, but Saffell gets a shot on him to take him out of the play. Add up those circumstances, and you get a gap that looks like this.

That's borderline pornographic for both offensive linemen and running backs.

Reinwald's block gets in the way of number 37, Quentin Lake, for enough time to give Brown a few more yards before the DB can wrap up his ankles. That set the Bears up at the 14, and two plays later, Brown had his second score of the game and Cal had their winning margin at 28-18.