Late in the second quarter of Cal's season-opener last week, with the offense still trying to find its footing in a low-scoring tied game with UC Davis, quarterback Jack Plummer flipped a swing pass out to the right to freshman running back Jaydn Ott.

With UC Davis linebacker Cam Trimble almost immediately closing to within a couple yards of Ott, it didn't look in the moment like it was about to be both the turning point of the game and an arrival moment for the highly-touted freshman.

But then there is what Golden Bears offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave calls Ott's "unadulterated speed."

"He has that higher gear where you think he's running as fast [as he can], then all of a sudden he kicks it into overdrive," Musgrave said. "He did that on a couple plays where defenders thought they had the angle on him and they had gauged his current speed -- which is plenty fast -- but he has that extra gear. ...

"And he does that in practice too against our guys ... These guys are elite athletes and he at times leaves them grasping for straws."

UC Davis' Trimble was indeed grasping at air as Ott went into overdrive around the edge and darted down the sideline and into the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown as the Bears started to assert control on the way to their ultimate 34-13 win.