Game Recap: Cal scores 31 unanswered points to avoid letdown against Idaho

The Bears could not have gotten off to a slower start against the Vandals. Sluggish on both sides of the ball, Cal was shut out in the first quarter 10-0. Where the defense should have been full of energy, the defensive line was seemingly devoid of any life. Where the offense should have been explosive, it was barren.

By the end of the second quarter, however, everything changed. It was a whole new ballgame. The Bears came to life on both sides of the ball and jumped to a late lead at the start of the third quarter — a lead they would hold onto for the rest of the game. Cal (2-1) took the win over Idaho with a final score of 31-17.

“Momentum is a huge part of this game — you can feel it in the stadium. Momentum and adversity are going to show up in every game, so grabbing the momentum and utilizing it, capitalizing on momentum is key,” said Wilcox. “We work real hard in emphasizing those last four minutes of the first half and the first four of the second half … You can change the momentum of the games in those eight minutes.”

The first score of the day came after the Vandals’ first possession, a 25-yard field goal for Idaho’s Ricardo Chavez. It was really a tough showing for Cal: Even when the Bears got back in possession of the ball, they failed to keep it.

In the first quarter, the Bears trailed the Vandals in possession time by 10 minutes — 10:40 to 4:20. The same continued in the second quarter, as the offense only held onto the ball for just over five minutes, compared to 9:14 for the Vandals.

Opting to once again reinforce its rushing attack, Cal relied heavily on Isaiah Ifanse, but the spark was simply not there. Cal’s star running back Jaydn Ott did not dress for Saturday’s game; last week, the sophomore left the game early and did not return after attempting to hurdle a defender. Missing the momentum that Ott provides to the run game, the Bears struggled to get into a rhythm when it came to running the ball.

Towards the latter half of the second quarter, the Bears finally woke up. Everything — from offense to defense to play calling — seemed to fall into place. Cal ended the first half trailing the Vandals 17-14, but outscored Idaho in the second quarter 14-7.

The game changer in momentum came after Sam Jackson V’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Hunter to put points up on the board for the Bears. Cal only found the end zone with just over five minutes left in the second quarter — nothing but indicative of the extremely slow start for the Bears.

Where Cal may have struggled in getting momentum in its run game, Jackson made up for it. A stellar performance by the QB on his feet led to a rushing touchdown that put the Bears in the lead for the first time all day — a 10-yard rush to get the first down followed by a 27-yard rushing score by Jackson, in all his glory.

This was a completely different team on the field at California Memorial Stadium — even the sun came out.

“I think the number one thing was just the energy. As you’ve noticed, once we get that spark, that’s when we get going,” said Jackson.

The blue and gold offense had to overcome even more adversity in the third quarter as Jackson was shaken up attempting to take on a defender on a running play, causing Ben Finley to once again step in. At North Texas, Finley took over after Jackson injured his non-throwing shoulder, and started against Auburn. Jackson — and Finley, for that matter — are both yet to play a full game for Cal, as Jackson came in to relieve Finley against Auburn last week.

The Bears continued to push forward on the rushing attack after Finley entered the game, leading to another touchdown by Ifanse. That marked Ifanse’s fourth rushing touchdown at Cal and 29th in his career. What’s more, the Montana State transfer put up a 100-yard rushing game for the 18th time in his college career, his first at Cal.

“I believed that we’d be able to run the ball effectively playing Idaho,” said Ifanse. "Every time I played them in the past it’s been a dogfight — they never give up throughout the fourth quarter. So going in, I knew that it’d be a dogfight and it’s kind of what I expected today.”

Jackson did end up coming back into the game for the start of the fourth quarter to finish the game, saying in postgame media availability that he was fine but being tended to as part of concussion protocol.

Cal’s No. 3 running back Ashton Stredick also had himself a game Saturday, rushing for 77 yards on 11 carries. While there is not much depth behind Stredick — something that forced the staff to suit up inside linebacker Cade Uluave as a backup running back — the redshirt sophomore proved himself to be an integral part of this offense by providing a spark to the run game.

Even more momentum came after Lu-Magia Hearns III forced a fumble to start the fourth quarter — one that would be recovered by Raymond Woodie III for Cal’s ninth forced turnover of the season.

And in a redemption arc for Cal kicker Michael Luckhurst, the sophomore made all of the Bears’ extra point kicks as well as a 39-yard field goal that put Cal up 31-17. A Woodie interception with five minutes to spare in the game sealed the deal.

“I’m proud of Michael for getting in there and staying with it, that’s not easy. That position — everybody sees it,” said Wilcox. “I’m just proud of the way he fought through and ran back out there and kicked again. Some guys might not do that, they might tap out — he did not do that, he stayed in it.”

While the Bears managed to locate a newfound source of energy, Vandals’ quarterback Gevani McCoy was a real threat for the Cal defense. McCoy threw for 279 yards but was also not afraid to use his legs, rushing for 33 yards on nine carries.

Idaho also led the Bears in passing yards, with 279 for the Vandals compared to Cal’s 114. The Vandals saw many incomplete passes in the second half as the pressure was mounting. In the third quarter, McCoy went 2 for 8, but went 8 for 11 in the fourth.

In what was really a must-win game for a Cal team that lost to Auburn in Week 2, the Bears managed to redeem themselves after an extremely rough first half. Cal is now 2-1 heading into conference play next week, with Washington on the horizon come next Saturday.

Passing

Sam Jackson V – 10-23, 108 yards, 2 touchdowns

Ben Finley – 1-2, 6 yards

Rushing

Isaiah Ifanse – 22 rushes, 137 yards, 1 touchdown

Ashton Stredick – 11 rushes, 77 yards

Sam Jackson V – 9 rushes, 41 yards, 1 TD

Receiving

Jeremiah Hunter – 5 catches, 48 yards, 1 TD

Trond Grizzell – 2 catches, 40 yards, 1 TD

Isaiah Ifanse – 3 catches, 15 yards

Taj Davis – 1 catch, 9 yards

Defense

Kaleb Elarms-Orr – 8 tackles (4 solo), 1 pass breakup, 2 quarterback hurries

Patrick McMorris – 7 tackles (4 solo), 2 pass breakups

Kaylin Moore – 6 tackles (5 solo)

Xavier Carlton – 5 tackles (2 solo), 1 sack, 2 quarterback hurries

Craig Woodson – 4 tackles (1 solo)