Between two interceptions, two fumbles, and three missed field goals Cal never gave themselves a chance to win this one as they lose to Auburn 14-10 in a game at home that they should have won—especially since the Tigers tossed up an interception themselves in addition to losing three fumbles, two of which led to Cal’s only points of the game. Nobody deserved to win the game but I mean how else does a team that has seven more first downs, more total yards of offense, and almost ten more minutes of possession end up losing other than lots of mistakes.
After Auburn fumbled on their own 28 yard line on just the third play of the game’s first possession Cal went up 3-0 on a Michael Luckhurst field goal. After holding Auburn to a three-and-out on their next possession Luckhurst had a chance to put Cal up by six but missed on a 42 yard attempt. With Cal fumbling at their own 17 yard line on the very first play of their next possession Auburn was in the end zone three plays later on Junior QB Payton Thorne’s pass to Sophomore WR Jay Fair. After being forced to punt on their next possession Auburn got the ball back but fumbled themselves four plays later—their second of the game. Anyway, 65 yards and six plays later Cal got into the end zone on a 14 yard run by RB Jaydn Ott who had the bulk of the Golden Bears 113 yards rushing on the day with 78 yards on 20 attempts and their only TD, period, to go up 10-7. The Tigers were held to a three-and-out on their next possession and Cal punted the ball back to them six plays later. They each had one more opportunity to get more points on the board before the half, but instead they both threw interceptions in what had to be one of the worst played halves of college football this year.
The second half was almost as ugly as the first as there was no scoring in the 3rd Qtr. Cal had a chance with under two minutes left in the period to go up 13-7 but Luckhurst missed on a 42 yard field goal attempt. They had the same chance with eleven minutes left in the 4th but he missed again—his third strikeout of the day. On Auburn’s next possession after the miss they drove the ball 69 yards down the field in 10 plays ending in a Payton Thorne TD pass to Rivaldo Fairweather to go up 14-10. There would be no more scoring after that, even with well over six minutes to play. Instead each team provided a curtain call encore to this mess of a game with a fumble by Auburn and an interception by Cal inside the Auburn red zone on a drive that actually could have won them this nightmare. Instead, thankfully for those watching, it ended. Cal stays home this week to host Idaho.