Football: Ohio State game thread

Posted on September 15, 2012 by Jeff Faraudo

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.

Jeff Faraudo

The Wisdom Cow

One positive I’ll take, the Collesium won’t be imposing to any players after a packed Shoe.

But I still can’t handle a weak mental game from a guy getting paid millions. The players, the fans, and the school deserve better for that much money.
covinared

Eric: I was puzzled by the decision to run down the clock with so much time. I also agree that Tedford has made some bad game decsions at critical times over the years. Remember last year at oregon. he the choice on a penalty of making oregon 3rd and 11 or 4th and 1. he took 4th and 1. he tried some fancy tight end pass against ucla 3rd and 1 for an interception when our line was blowing them out. asu in 2009 with the verren wildcat pass from inside the 10 when all we needed was a fg to take a late lead. holiday bowl against a+m. running all over them. 3rd and 1 at midfield, throws for the endzone and then punts. assuming he is fired, how much of the $7.5-10 mil cost to get rid of him before hiring a new coach are you willing to contribute?
The Wisdom Cow

Premature, but the contribution from Nike would probably be much more substantial towards the next coach given the bigger market the conference intends to market itself in, going international. With the groundwork set with top facilities, there is little doub a top coach can be lured. The school represents a great opportunity. I just hate feeling like Tedford seems to be relaxed with the status quo instead of trying or wanting to reach new heights.
MoreNCsarecoming

USC -7
Stan -7
Easy Ed

A couple of observations,

1. Obviously JT did not open up the playbook against Nevada because he did not want to show all to OSU and USC. His mistake believing we could beat Nevada with a vanilla offense.

2. Big 10 Refs suck. There was the phantom hold, the numerous late hits on ZM that were uncalled, the Anderson catch where both feet were clearly in.

3. OSU has a dirty defense, late hits and cheap shots.

4. JT and ZM called a good game and played well enough to win.

5. Our team is challenging the Raiders for the dumbest team in the world.

6. Another year and more injuries. What’s up? Is it our conditioning? Our training staff? Maybe bad luck?

7. With that effort and assuming the team does not quit, JT will be back next year as HC, deal with it.
Eric

I routinely donate $25k a year to Cal (but only to the Cal Annual Fund, since that is where the greatest needs are). I’ll take a year off from that and give to a Fire Tedford and Buy His A** Out Fund. If a every Cal football donates whatever he/she can to buy him. Don’t care if it is $10 or $1 million, but if you have a massive number of Cal fans coming out, maybe Sandy will figure it out.
MoreNCsarecoming

USC – 14

Stan – 7

On 4 and 19 Kiffin goes for it. Matt passes to Woods who goes for a 1st down. That’s tradition.
wehofx

Easy Ed, mostly agree but you think jt stays if he doesn’t go at least 7-5? (I can’t see us going 7-5 unless we get win over $sc.)

JF, coupla questions that I think a lot us us would like to know. (you’re in the air now and prolly won’t have time to read this before you post game story so i’ll post this again.)

1) How much is jt owed on remainder of his contract? Is it guaranteed to ’13 or “14?

2) Who is responsible for Big 10 ref’s? Why?
wehofx

…and I sent Alex Morgan a tweet to ask if she has eligibility left, if she would PLEASE come back for the next 9 Saturdays and kick fg’s for us.
covinared

wehfox: i read $7.5. mil. if he’s there in jan. another mil.
Easy Ed

Wehofx, I don’t believe that JT has to go 7-5 to stay. If he goes 3-9 he will “resign” as a part of a settlement but get fired? Never, it hasn’t been great or even good lately but the guy stuck it out (albeit for millions of dollars) with the crap facilities at Berkeley, he is going to get at least 2 seasons in the upgrade, may not be the best thing for the program but he’s going to get that much respect from Barbour.
Calduke

The score is now 14 – 14
Calduke

The score is now 21 – 14
The Wisdom Cow

Lmao. I feel much better now. Barkley and McDonald gonna come back for another try next year?
Will

awwwwww how sad mr. heisman couldn’t get the job done on the farm
rob bear

That was a heck of a Heisman performance by the LOSER! 4 straight that the losers, cheats now must contend with against the FURD.
The Wisdom Cow

How CJ’s catch doesn’t get reversed, yet Lee’s with a worse angle did, shows why some non-B1G refs should have been used today.
Will

Are we using Pac refs next year?
The Wisdom Cow

You know, if that U$C starting center is still out next week and that freshman starts again, Cal has a decent chance.
bigdruid

Wow, Taylor had 29 carries for 156 yards? I hope USC realizes you actually have to, you know, hit and tackle people to win football games, you can’t just show up and look pretty.

It occurs to me that not only does Stanford leave an angry USC team for Cal, but by knocking USC out of the national title hunt they may make it even less likely that DirecTV picks up the PAC-12 network this week. It’s an anti-Cal double-whammy from the Furdies.
covinared

noncscomingthisyear.
The Wisdom Cow

It should be noted that the first real hit from the limited scholarships finally caught U$C. Normally, they would have a better backup center. Down so many shollys, they didn’t have a more experienced lineman that could slide over and went with the freshman instead. It cost them, and Barkley.
covinared

wisdom: i think cj’s catch did not count because the ball hit the ground when he landed. its new rule as of last year. remember last year against colo with coleman edmund.
Stay Golden

NoMoreNCsAreComing

bump
Eric

Furd showed what happens when you run a balanced offense that is designed to wear out a defense, using interesting formations.
Dan

Hey Moren- what happened to you now loser? You’re on here popping off until your weak a$$ SC chokes on the farm. What happened to Marvelous Matt? Kiss the Heismann goodbye. Kiss the Conference Championship goodbye. Kiss the NC goodbye. OVERRATED – CLAP CLAP CLAP-CLAP-CLAP.

And you are a coward… no doubt under the covers crying.

LMAO- what a great night.
ScottyBear

Where is Moren? Total shut down of USC on the Farm. No Heisman, no NC, just a whooping by a bunch of no name slow white guys. USC’s season is over before it started. 0-1 in conference. Barkley was stuffed. Hopefully this sends you back to the stacks in the UC Davis library. Saturday we learned that Cal isn’t actually too bad, but even better, we learned that USC isn’t very good. Nice going Matt, way to stick around another year. What does daddy say now Moren? Adios! Loving this too!!
Will

“It’s official now. USC stands for Undeniably Stanford’s Chumps.”
- Pat Forde

LOL
MoreNCsarecoming

HAHAHAHAHA…look at #s 212-228!!!

I have never seen so much excitement on this board since your last big win back in 2004.

We still very much have a chance for the conference championship and the NC. We are SC!

It begins next week. We will see what arm Wayward points to after we put the hurt on him.

You guys think you have a chance just because Stanford beat us. You aren’t Stanford. You don’t have Stanford’s DL, LBs, safeties and coaches.

BTW I love how you posters reply to me. Now I know which one of you don’t use greasemonkey. It’s more than I thought. OK it’s your turn to reply.
Dan

Stanford 21 U$C 14
MoreNCsarecoming

#227

Now that Inspector Clousseau (aka TheWisdomCow) has returned from a long hibernation you should ask him where the UC Davis librarian story originated from. I bet he won’t say anything. It is too humiliating for a washed up attorney to admit such a rookie mistake. Then to post it all over the internet was just as laughable. Poor woman though. I really felt sorry for her.
Pug

I can’t believe anyone would seriously mention the name Bobby Petrino for coach at Cal. If you like the guy, call the Atlanta Falcons or Arkansas Razorbacks for a reference.

Bobby Petrino is one of the lowest scumbags ever to coach at any level. Fire Tedford? Fine. Hire Petrino? You’ve got to be kidding.
bigdruid

Apparently USC has a new tradition – losing to Stanford every year.

USC may beat an inconsistent Cal team at home next week, but it can’t bring back their Heisman and NC dreams. How delicious.
MoreNCsarecoming

#233

Apparently UCB state has an old tradition which is to never get to the Rose Bowl, win a league championship outright or have a Heisman winner.

Apparently UCB state has a new tradition which is to lose 9 out of 10 games to SC and to be clowned by its rival Stanford.

PS Another new tradition is how low UCB state football players have fallen in their edjamucation. Maybe you can teach your senior runningback how to spell “our” and not “are”. Too many Social Welfare classes.
calbearclaw

Now that SC is irrelevant, hopefully we can pull the win next week. We obviously have the talent to do so – that’s the one indisputable takeaway from the OSU game. Let’s hope they finally make use of that talent and that the coaches give them a chance to win. SC is just another team. All hype, but what else is new. Second rate football team to match their second rate academic reputation.
calbearclaw

Now that SC has been thoroughly exposed yet again, there really is no reason to think we can’t beat them. Those days are over.
bigdruid

#234: Yep, Cal has a tradition of not being very good at Football. Hopefully we’ll change that, but maybe not.

I had/have fairly low expectations for this year’s Cal team. We just have too many holes on our team, and a team with this kind of patchwork OL is definitely going to struggle all season.

But I *know* how high your expectations were for this USC team, and I *know* how gut-punched you feel right now watching them fall flat on their face last night, in person no less. Your season is now officially every bit as disappointing as ours is, with the difference that you care far more than I do. Every time I think of that, I smile.

Have a great weekend!