Postgame Takeaways: Cal Upsets Washington State 37-3
Much like the Spanish Inquisition, no one expected this one.
RECAP: Cal Demolishes Wazzu 37-3
Seven turnovers, nine sacks, positive rushing yards, one flip, and poor air quality led to one of the most unexpected shellackings in Cal history. It got weird in Berkeley on Friday night, and that's leaving out the protester who took a seat at the five yard line at the end of the first half.
At the end of the night, the Bears held strong, with the lowest output allowed to an FBS team since smacking Washington State in Pullman, improbably getting a tip drill pick and a shovel pass interception by a guy who was being blocked. A lot went Cal's way on the defensive end, and the Bears finished with Gerran Brown, who came in after Cal's star LB, Devante Downs went down in the second half.
Takeaways:
- While the defense starred, the offense had a solid day, with over 100 yards rushing, 5.2 yards per play, and only two sacks allowed. One thing that we noted throughout the week was that we'd see more rollouts from Bowers to help with the sack issue, and that happened. While Hercules Mata'afa got his with two sacks, Kanawai Noa and Gavin Reinwald had solid games, Bowers continued to 104 passes thrown without throwing an interception.
- Bowers also made the play of the game, a flip that mirrored a flip he made in his high school days, running for the endzone and getting propelled all the way around. That's why he's the quarterback, tough as nails, and willing to make a play like that. Justin Wilcox noted "That's Ross. You look at him and you say what are you thinking, and then you want to go hug him."
- The prevailing thought on Luke Falk during the week, was that he was a great passer, but he had a tendency to hold the ball too long. Cam Bynum noted that they'd schemed to play cover 2 to the wide side of the field to stop some of the quick routes, and that helped the Bears slow up his reads long enough for Looney, Kunaszyk, Goode, Downs, Bequette, G. Brown, and Allensworth to get their nine sacks
- Kunaszyk noted that his sack/forced fumble came on a loop blitz where he was delayed, Tevin Paul and Gerran Brown had cleared a space, the back had released and he had a clear shot at Falk. He took it, forced the fumble, and Brown had six to finish the night. Simple four man pressure, but it worked
- Some notes on starters, Darius Allensworth and Ashtyn Davis started this week (in place of Elijah Hicks and Quentin Tartabull respectively) Ryan Gibson and Mike Saffell came in at LG and RG at points. Derrick Clark got the start at RB.
- Couple interesting looks, standing up one of the DL (saw Tevin Paul and Looney in this at points) with the nickel defense. Just a way to get size on the outside, when the outside guys have been smaller speed rushers, a way to confuse the outside guys
- Perfect day from Matt Anderson, as he moved into 3rd all time on the points scored list, passing John Breech
- With 7 turnovers, Cal now has forced 20 on the year. They had all of 18 last year. They've eclipsed their number of fumble recoveries with 8, and eclipsed last years 11 interceptions with 12
- Vic Enwere hasn't had a great year so far, but he pounded out a great performance against a tough defense, with 22 carries for 102 yards and a score. Enwere regained his Spearmint Rhino nickname, pushing his way to the endzone in the first half. He'd been a bit maligned over the past few weeks, but he ran his heart out, with his second career 100 yard performance, in place of injured captain Pat Laird.
- Kanawai Noa showed why he was missed last week. He made catch after catch, with 10 receptions coming on 3rd down this year. He gets open, and aside from an egregious drop early, he was exactly what Ross Bowers needed as a safety blanket, as was true freshman TE Gavin Reinwald.
- Lots to like from the call to end the first half for the Bears, Wilcox said the famous Herm Edwards line in postgame, "You play to win the game," and it was the right call with a play action fake out of a strong I. First catch and TD for Kyle Wells, who earned a scholarship over the summer
- Downs went out, G. Brown and Kunaszyk came in, as Jordan had a monster game, 11 tackles, 2.5 sacks and a pick. The linebacker core in the middle looks strong for the next year, and Kunaszyk's position looks better from game to game.
- First two INTs for Cam Bynum, only three from corners so far this season. He has many more INTs ahead at this rate.
- Wazzu came in averaging 474.7 yards and 39.7 points per game. Cal held them to 337 and 3.
While it was sparsely attended for air pollution reasons, defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter said this Wednesday:
"Hopefully we can give some inspiration to the people that are going through some tough times right now with the fires."
His defense got those remaining to celebrate with them. It was a good day.