Cal at Ole Miss
I mean, I get it, the SEC has some great football teams but the talking heads would have you believe that all fourteen of them are as formidable as the few dominate teams at the top like Alabama, Georgia, and LSU-that the entire conference is better than the PAC-12, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. So when/if their top teams ever lose to another team during conference play it’s a “good” loss because the SEC is such a tough conference. Well, it’s bullshit, fake news, not true. Case in point-Cal’s visit to Ole Miss to play in a game last Saturday that started at 9:00am, a starting time that didn’t seem to phase the Golden Bears’ Sophomore QB Chase Garbers who connected on 23 of 35 for 357 yards, 4 TD’s, 1 interception and a 28-20 win.
Credit the Defense for getting Cal off to a good start as Safety Luc Bequette knocked down an Ole Miss pass by QB Matt Corral on 3rd and 7 at the Cal 30 yard line to force a 47 yard field goal that was missed-or should I say Ole Missed-sorry, couldn’t resist. Also credit the Defense for preserving the win as Cal LB Evan Weaver, who finished with 22 tackles, stopped Ole Miss QB John Rhys Plumlee for no gain at the 1 yard line to preserve the win as time ran out. Prior to the stop Plumlee completed a 3rd down pass to the Cal 1 yard line, a play close enough to the goal line that it should have been reviewed. Instead, the officials marked the ball at the 1 yard line and with time running out, and no way to stop the clock, Ole Miss lined up and tried a quick QB sneak to get into the end zone that was stuffed by Weaver.
The officials, PAC-12 officials I should note, screwed up and there should have been a review on the third down play. Both the coach and the Ole Miss Athletic Director were not happy. But let’s get real, the Rebels missed two field goal attempts that would have put them in position to win the game with another field goal as time ran out. In addition, the coach mishandled their timeouts in the second half which is why they had to rush their last play. Even if they had gotten into the end zone on the third down play, they would have had to successfully complete a 2 point conversion to send it into overtime. And, just for the record, the video was looked at after the game and the calls on the field were confirmed, although the PAC-12 office agreed that the 3rd down play should have been looked at. But the truth is, as confirmed, Cal won the game fair and square.
The game isn’t the only thing Ole Miss lost as their starting QB, Freshman Matt Corral, went down with a rib injury in the last half of the fourth quarter after completing 22 of 41 for 266 yards with WR’s Elijah Moore, Braylon Sanders, and Demarcus Gregory accounting collectively for 238 of the 348 total yards. But his replacement, John Rhys Plumlee, proved to be more efficient in the air connecting on 7-of-7 for 82 yards in crunch time as he moved the team 89 yards in 10 plays to put then in position to score. As far as the QB sneak to get within 2 points and a possible tie, Ole Miss would have preferred to have had Corral available for that as he had already rushed 16 times for 56 yards and a TD although unable to score in the air. Ole Miss shut down Cal’s running game, holding the Golden Bears to just 60 yards and no TD’s on 33 attempts but Garbers was able to connect multiple times with eight different receivers, four of whom pulled in TD’s. Both teams took care of the ball with no fumbles on either side and only the one interception.
In the AP recap of the game their take away was this: “The Golden Bears overcame a cross-country road trip, an early kickoff time — especially for a Pac-12 team — and a serious late charge to earn the victory. This win should raise expectations about Wilcox’s team after flying under the radar nationally early this season.” Cal flies back home with a 4-0 record to start the year and will host No. 24 Arizona State on a short week this coming Friday, September 27th, at 7:30pm on ESPN.
Washington at BYU
We’re only four games into the season and Washington’s QB Jacob Eason has already thrown for 1,000+ yards while connecting on over 70% of his passes for 10 TD’s and just 2 picks while during the same period of time the Husky Defense is holding their opponents to slightly over 18 points per game and an average of 332 yards of Total Offense. This past Saturday, on the road at BYU, Eason connected on 85% of his passes, 24 of 28, for 290 yards, 3 TD’s and one interception. Spreading multiple receptions out to six different receivers, Eason connected with three of those for a score including Sr. WR’s Aaron Fuller and Andre Baccellia as well as Freshman RB Richard Newton who also rushed 16 times for 80 yards and another score on the ground while Fuller added seven more points on an 88 yard punt return back to the house. Between Newton and Junior RB Sean McGrew they carried the ball 34 times collectively for a total of 190 yards compared to 79 yards on 27 carries for BYU-less than 3 yards per carry.
BYU QB Zach Wilson connected on just over 60% of his passes, 26 of 42, for 277 yards and a touchdown, but also threw a pick that led to a Husky score. According to the AP Recap; “Three BYU drives ended with turnovers. Two others ended in failed fourth down conversions.” After loosing a number of outstanding defensive players to the NFL over the last three years as well as 9 starters from last year’s squad, many thought this year would be pretty much a rebuilding of that unit. But so far they are proving to be better than advertised.
Both teams had issues with ball security with the Huskies and the Cougars collectively fumbling the ball five times with two of those leading to TD’s, one for each team. Washington was fairly efficient on 3rd down conversions, 6 out of 10 compared to just 3 out of 13 for the Cougars. The Huskies also had six more first downs, 121 more yards of Total Offense, and possession of the ball for 9 more minutes in a game they dominated from start to finish and ending up winning 45-19.
The Huskies come back home to host the USC Trojans in Alaska Airlines Husky Stadium this Saturday, September 28th, at 12:30pm on FOX before they pack up for a long road trip against Stanford and then Arizona.