Cal at San Diego State
Cal could have just stayed at home and scored as much, as the Aztecs shut out what were the undefeated Golden Bears coming into the game 34-0. After holding San Diego State to just 4 plays and a punt to start the game Cal went on maybe their longest drive in school history, a 19 play 75 yard venture that lasted more than 10 minutes and ended up with nothing after having two cracks at it from the San Diego State 1 and 2 yard line. It took until four minutes into the 2nd Qtr for the Aztecs to put their first points up on the board at the end of a three play drive that included an 80 yard pass play from Junior QB Jayden Denegal to Sophomore WR Jordan Napier and a 6 yard TD pass to Napier two plays later to go up 7-0. Before the half was over San Diego State would put six more points on the board on two field goal from 34 and 41 yards out by the Aztec Senior Place Kicker Gabriel Plascencia to make it 13-0 at the break.
Cal’s third quarter was just horrendous with back-to-back three-and-outs, a fumble returned for TD and an interception returned for TD handing the Aztecs 14 more points on a silver plater and putting them up 27-0 after three. It was a quarter that Cal could have made some headway and maybe even taken the lead as the Cardinal defense held the Aztecs on back-to-back three-and-outs and a punt on their third possession. San Diego State started off the 4th Qtr with a 12 play 75 yard drive that ended with a 3 yard TD run by Junior RB Lucky Sutton and putting the Aztecs up 34-0 where it stayed with nothing of substance happening the remaining nine minutes of the quarter.
Regarding San Diego State’s win, in The Takeaway on the ESPN Recap the AP wrote; “It was SDSU’s largest victory margin against a team from a power conference. The previous largest was 32 against Arizona on Nov. 10, 1979, in a 42-10 win. Coupled with a 42-0 season-opening win against Stony Brook of the FCS, SDSU has consecutive home shutouts to start a season for the first time in its Division I history dating to 1969.” I’m sure California head coach Justin Wilcox will be pleased to know that his Golden Bears helped the Aztecs make program history.
For Cal, Freshman QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele completed just 17-of-38 passes for 224 yards, no TD’s, and 2 interceptions while his Junior backup, Devin Brown, was even worse completion wise just connecting on 1-of-3 for 16 yards. Collectively they both lost 16 yards on the ground while the team rushed 31 times for just 65 yards. The Aztecs scored one passing TD, one rushing TD, 10 points from 2 field goals and 4 extra points to go along with the two TD’s they got courtesy of Cal. The San Diego State Junior QB Jayden Denegal was very accurate, completing 83% of his throws for 189 yards with Sophomore WR Jordan Napier hauling in 154 of those on 9 receptions and the 1 TD. On the ground SDSU’s Junior RB’s Lucky Sutton and Christian Washington were responsible for the most damage, collectively rushing 21 times for 109 of the team’s 132 yard total with Sutton picking up the 1 rushing TD. Cal had more first downs, more passing yards, converted at a higher percentage on 3rd and 4th downs, and had less penalties. But the three Cal turnovers combined with San Diego’s four sacks, five tackles for loss and 10 pass disruptions were killer. Let’s hope the Golden Bears can get it back together on the road this next Saturday as they open ACC conference play against Boston College.
Stanford at Virginia
Stanford got the ball to start the game but was done with it less than 1:30 later on three plays and a punt. Virginia spent about a minute longer than the Cardinal to get it into the end zone and take an early 7-0 lead on a 3 yard TD pass from their Senior QB Chandler Morris to Senior WR Trell Harris. Stanford would tie the game up on their next possession on a 5 play 75 yard drive that included a 60 yard pass play from Ben Gulbranson to Senior WR Bryce Farrell and a 5 yard TD pass to Sophomore TE Benji Blackburn to make it 7-7. Just one play later Virginia’s Morris would hit Harris for his 2nd TD pass—this one for 75 yards to go back up on top 14-7. After holding the Cardinal to a three-and-out Morris and Harris would connect again at the end of a 7 play 72 yard drive and 27 yard pass to give the Cavaliers a 21-7 lead at the end of the 1st Qtr.
Morris would run one in himself from 13 yards out on Virginia’s first possession of the 2nd Qtr to extend their lead to 28-7 where it stayed for about nine minutes and two unproductive drives—one by each team including a missed field goal by Virginia. The Cardinal would get back on the board on their second drive of the quarter going 80 yards in 8 plays and a 3 yard TD run by Sophomore RB Micah Ford to make it 28-14 where it would stay through the break.
Virginia would extend their lead to 38-14 after the break as they started the 2nd half with a TD and a field goal on either side of a three-and-out by Stanford. The Cardinal would cut into the lead by six on another long pass from Gulbranson to Farrell—this one for 68 yards and a TD. Stanford’s two-point conversion attempt failed making it a 38-20 game where it stayed through the 3rd after three-and-outs by both teams on their next possessions. That would actually be all the scoring for the Cardinal as they would fumble the ball away on their first possession of the 4th Qtr and miss a field goal on their second while Virginia would hit a 26 yard field goal to start the period and connect for another TD after the Stanford fumble making it a 48-20 final.
For Stanford, Senior QB Ben Gulbranson was 20-of-29 for 286 yards, 2 TD’s and no interceptions while also hanging onto the ball six times for a negative 45 yards. Sophomore RB Micah Ford accounted for a TD on the ground and together with Freshman Cole Tabb picked up 71 yards on 20 rushing attempts. But when added altogether the team collectively logged just 35 yards on 31 attempts. For Virginia, Senior QB Chandler Morris threw for 380 yards and 4 TD’s with his Sophomore backup Daniel Kaelin coming in at the end of the game for just one passing play and a TD as well. On the ground the Cavaliers rushed 42 times for 206 yards and the 1 TD by the QB Morris. The prior week Virginia had set a school record while picking up 700 total yards of offense against William and Mary, an FCS opponent. Against Stanford they picked up 590 compared to the Cardinal’s 321 and their defense recorded five sacks, eight tackles for loss, and three pass disruptions on the other side of the ball. Even though Stanford gets to head back home to host a Mountain West opponent in San Jose State, don’t look for the outcome to be much different.