FINAL SCORE: Ohio State 35, Cal 28. Bears drop to 1-2 after Braxton Miller’s fourth TD pass of the game, a 72-yarder to Devin Smith with 3:26 left. Click here for my game story.
And here is more on Brendan Bigelow along with a photo slideshow on Saturday’s game.
8:10 4th Q: Brendan Bigelow — where has this guy been? He races 59 yards for a TD and Cal ties it 28-all.
8:31 4th Q: Buckeyes march 75 yards in 12 plays, taking the lead when Miller jab steps from the 3-yard line, stops and throws TD pass to WR Jake Stoneburner. Defense had held seven straight possessions, but Miller and the Buckeyes made it look easy this time. Miller runs it in for the 2-point conversion. OSU 28, Cal 21.
12:26 4th Q: Maynard scores on 1-yard sneak and D’Amato makes the PAT, giving Cal a 21-20 lead. Bears go 46 yards in eight plays.Maynard hits Treggs for 15 and a first down, then Allen for 4 yards and a first down. Maynard then laterals to Allen, who throws back to him for an 8-yard gain to the 6. C.J. Anderson runs to the 1 and Maynard caps it. Cal 21, OSU 20.
END OF THIRD QUARTER: OSU 20, Cal 14. Cal has second-and-4 from Buckeyes’ 40-y
ard line as the final 15 minutes begin. The Bears’ defense has prevented OSU from scoring on its past seven possessions.
9:34 3rd Q: Sophomore Brendan Bigelow goes around left end, spinning from of one tackler, eluding a second and racing 81 yards otherwise untouched to the end zone. Was the longest TD run EVER by an OSU opponent at Columbus, third-longest overall. Ca’l’s longest run since Jahvid Best went 93 yards in 2009. Cal trails 20-14.
HALFTIME STATS: OSU outgained Cal 234-181 in the first half. Cal had nine first downs to seven for the Buckeyes. Miller had 6 carries for 64 yards, including the 55-yard TD, and was 10 for 14 for 129 yards and two TDs. Maynard was 16 for 19 for 147 yards and one TD. Cal had 34 net rushing yards, but none on seven carries in the second quarter. Maynard was sacked four times.
HALFTIME: OSU 20, Cal 7. Bears will get the ball first to start the second half. They need to figure out how to rev up their running game, which has been sporadic since early. Buckeyes are not respecting the run, and have sacked Maynard four times. He’s finding Keenan Allen, but rarely anyone else.
5:21 2nd Q: Bears’ errorless ways a thing of the past. Cal had no penalties until this past offensive series. Then a holding call vs. TE Jacob Wark wipes out 43-yard TD pass from Maynard to Anderson, holding vs. LG Jordan Rigsbee negatges 9-yard scramble by Maynard, and unnecessary roughness vs. RG Chris Adcock eliminates 9-yard pass from Maynard to Wark. D’Amato misses wide left on 40yd FG try. Still 20-7.
13:30 2nd Q: Miller passes 35 yards to Devin Smith to the 10, runs 9 yards to the 1, then passes final 1 yard to Jake Stoneburner for the TD. OSU leads 20-7. Miller very much as advertised. Cal CB Steve Williams struggling badly to stop Smith.
1:27 1st Q: That didn’t take long. OSU goes 75 yards in four plays, spanning just 1:11. Miller passes 25 yards to Devin Smith for the 25-yard TD. Big play on drive: a 40-yard completion to wide-open Jake Stoneburner to the 25. OSU leads 13-7.
2:38 1st Q: Bears answer. Cal goes 75 yards in six plays, scoring on 19-yard inside screen pass from Zach Maynard to Chris Harper. D’Amato’s PAT gives Cal 7-6 lead.
5:11 1st Q: QB Braxton Miller fakes handoff and races 55 yards around left end for a TD. The PAT kick misses, but Buckeyes lead 6-0. A sudden about face after Cal forced OSU back to its 4-yard line on the previous possession, then started at Buckeyes’ 45 after punt. Bears’ failed attempt on fourth-and-4 from the 39 costs them.
DEFENSE HOLDS: Two defensive series for the Bears, two punts for OSU. Buckeyes have just one first down. Cal to start second series at the OSU 45. On first series, freshman Darius Powe made 1st career catch. Possession ended by career-best 57-yd punt by Cole Leininger that pinned Buckeyes back at own 4-yard line and led to this great field position,
CAL CAPTAINS/ COIN FLIP: Cal wins toss — will defer to second half. Cal game captains: Keenan Allen, Josh Hill, Robert Mullins and Brian Schwenke.
RUGBY NEWS FLASH: Cal’s rugby team got the day off to a good start for Bears’ fans with a 45-0 drubbing of Navy in the championship match of the Buckeye 7s Invitational, just a couple hundred yards from Ohio Stadium. The tournament, also featuring Ohio State and Notre Dame, was played with the Olympic-style seven-and-side teams.
LINEUP CHANGE: Just got word that Cal will start redshirt freshman Jalen Jefferson and sophomore Nick Forbes at inside linebacker in place of seniors Robert Mullins and J.P. Hurrell.
WELCOME: Here at (very) sunny Ohio Stadium for the first matchup between the Bears and Buckeyes in 40 years. The stadium is closed now (expanding its seating capacity to the current 105,000) and is no longer referred to as the Horseshoe. But it’s slowly filling up and will add to Cal’s challenge today.