Cal Defense Showing Potential In Latest Win Vs. San Diego State
Entering Week 3 of the college football season, Cal is the last remaining undefeated team in the Pac-12 North. The Bears got off to a sluggish start against San Diego State Saturday, but the offense found its groove to send the Aztecs home with a 35-7 loss. This was a good early test for the program after a tune-up game against Grambling State the previous week. Quarterback Jared Goff had his second straight game of 300 passing yards to start the season, and the defense prevented San Diego State's running game from establishing the tempo of the game. All in all, Cal is 2-0 and should be feeling good early on.
Give some credit to that Cal defense. San Diego State looked to come in and find an advantage on the ground with a very talented Donnel Pumphrey leading the ground attack. Pumphrey may very well go on to pile up some big yards this season, but he managed to rush for just 85 yards on 21 rushing attempts. He was also held out of the end zone by the Cal defense, which has started off well in the first two games of the year. The Bears also forced a pair of turnovers to help the team win the turnover battle in this matchup. Cal scored seven points off the two San Diego State turnovers. Darius White and Evan Rambo each recorded an interception.
The special teams left some room for improvement though. Trevor Davis returned two punts for a total of just 15 yards. Kicker Matt Anderson missed the lone field goal attempt he had, although he did knock down all five extra point attempts. Punter Cole Leininger had a long punt of 46 yards, but he averaged just 39.8 yards per punt.
Aside from the quarterback, one of the stars of the afternoon for Cal was receiver Trevor Davis. He touched the ball just three times, but he made the most of them with 138 receiving yards and a touchdown. Goff and Davis connected on a 75-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second half to give Cal a 21-7 lead.
Player of the Game: Jared Goff, Cal QB
Cal's offense may have gotten off to a slow start against the Aztecs, but Goff helped Cal gain control of the game with his scoring touch. After starting the second quarter with a 7-0 deficit, Goff tossed two touchdowns in the second quarter and a third in third quarter to give Cal a 21-7 lead. From there it was smooth sailing.
Around the Pac-12
Cal is the only Pac-12 North team yet to lose a game just a couple of weeks into the season. Over the weekend Oregon gave Michigan State a tough fight in East Lansing before ultimately coming up shy in the big game of the week. Earlier in the day in the same state, Oregon State was defeated by Michigan. It was not all bad for the division on the road in Big Ten territory though, as Washington State came out on top of Rutgers after a wild fourth quarter. Washington and Stanford also evened their respective records with wins over Sacramento State and UCF, respectively.
Down in the South, things went much better for the entire division. Colorado, Utah, Arizona, USC, UCLA and Arizona State all won their games on the Pac-12 schedule. The Pac-12 South continues to receive national respect from around the college football world, but Oregon remains a solid bet to represent the Pac-12 in the playoffs if the Ducks can rebound.
What's Next?
Cal will look to go 3-0 this week when they head on the road to play the embattled Texas Longhorns. Texas has already shuffled its coaching assignments and is a complete work in progress. Offensively, Texas does not appear to have what it needs to go score for score with Cal, so it will be up to the Texas defense to show some fight against the Bears to give Charlie Strong's Longhorns a chance to drop another game. Texas is about as vulnerable as it will be, so Cal may be getting them at a good time.
Kevin McGuire is a Philadelphia area sports writer covering the Philadelphia Eagles and college football. McGuire is a member of the FWAA and National Football Foundation. Follow McGuire on Twitter @KevinOnCFB. His work can be found on Examiner.com.