Minnesota at Cal
After two failed drives each and four punts to start the game, Cal drew first blood at the end of a 7 play 62 yard drive and 3 yard TD pass from Freshman QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele to Senior WR Jacob de Jesus to go up 7-0 with a little bit over two minutes left in the 1st Qtr. After another four unproductive downs, two by each team, Minnesota would tie the game up on a 1 yard TD run by Senior RB Cam Davis with less than a minute left in the quarter. But that was enough for the Golden Bears who moved the ball 48 yards in five plays down to the Minnesota 27 yard line where, on their sixth play, Freshman Place Kicker Abram Murray would connect on a 45 yard field goal with time expiring to go up 10-7 at the break.
Cal would intercept Minnesota on their first drive of the 2nd half but couldn’t capitalize with the Golden Gophers defense holding them to a three-and-out. But both teams would score TD’s on their next drives, Minnesota on a 3 yard TD pass to Jameson Geers from Drake Lindsey, and Cal on a 9 yard TD pass from Sagapolutele to Sophomore TE Mason Mini to make it 17-14 at the end of three. Minnesota would miss a field goal on their first possession of the last period and would turn the ball over on downs on their other two while Cal would score twice more before it was over—the first time on a two yard pass from Sagapolutele to Junior WR Jordan King and the second on another field goal. This one by Junior Place Kicker Chase Meyer from 38 yards out to make it 27-14 where it would stay.
For Cal, Freshman QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele would connect multiple times to five different receivers on 24-of-38 for 279 yards, 3 TD’s and no interceptions while on the ground they rushed 21 times for just 65 yards without ever making it into the end zone. The team stats were very close for this one. Both teams had 19 first downs with Cal leading in total yards of offense by just 5 yards. They were both successful on third down just over 40% of the time with neither able to convert their 4th down opportunities. Minnesota had the ball longer but committed more penalties and turned the ball over twice. Cal plays their last non-conference game down in Southern California this next Saturday against San Diego State of the Mountain West before starting conference play the next week, also on the road, against Boston College.
Boston College at Stanford
I would like to report that Stanford actually won this game, and as far as the scoreboard goes that’s what it looks like—Stanford 30, Boston College 20. But the reality is Stanford didn’t so much win it as Boston College lost it with three turnovers all of which turned into points on the board for the Cardinal—two TD’s and a field goal. Stanford head coach Frank Reich took the opportunity after the game to really live this one up, no doubt knowing deep inside that this may be their only win of the season. Reich said, “What I loved about it most was it was just a complete team win. I’ve been around some good team wins but this is right up there with the best team wins I’ve been around.” Not even a tip of the hat to the Eagles.
Stanford got the ball to start the game and put together two drives and two Emmett Kenney field goals in the first quarter—one for 23 yards and one for 35—while holding Boston College at bay on their possession to lead it 6-0. But the Eagles would score on their next three consecutive possessions—the first for a field goal and the next two for TD’s to take a 17-6 lead—while holding the Cardinal on back-to-back three-and-outs with just over two minutes left in the half. But after that it seemed as though Boston College was playing for the other side with a fumble on their next possession leading to a Stanford TD on a Ben Gulbranson 69 yard pass to Sam Roush, and then a pick six interception from their own red zone to put Stanford up 20-17. Boston College would steady the ship long enough to drive 62 yards down the field in less than 1:30 to set up a 31 yard field goal by their Junior PK Luca Lombardo to tie it up 20-20 with time expiring in the half.
Both teams punted on their first two possessions of the 2nd half, Stanford after back-to-back three-and-outs. But then the foolishness of the Eagles from the second quarter appeared again with Boston College fumbling at the end of a 65 yard drive at the Stanford 1 yard line. Two plays later on two Micah Ford runs, one for 75 yards, the Cardinal was back in the end zone to go up 27-20 and then held the Eagles to a three-and-out on their subsequent possession to end the third. Emmet Kenney would extend the lead to 30-20 on his third field goal of the game—this one for 26 yards. Boston College would have to punt on their next possession that bogged down on their own side of mid-field. After that Stanford would spend their next possession running the clock out—end of game—Stanford wins! For the Cardinal, Senior QB Ben Gulbranson was 13-of-22 for 186 yards, 1 TD, and no interceptions. On the ground, Sophomore RB Micah Ford led the way rushing 17 times for 157 of the team’s 213 yards on the ground as well as their only rushing TD. Stanford trailed in first downs and passing yards but won the turn-over lottery, three for them and none for the Cardinal. This coming Saturday Stanford, now 1-0 in ACC conference play, will be on the road to take on Virginia.