Combined feed (RSS)
Football: UCLA game thread
By Jeff Faraudo
Saturday, October 6th, 2012 at 6:00 pm in Football, Gameday.
Click here for my game story and a photo slide show.
FINAL SCORE: Cal 43, UCLA 17. A 68-yard run by C.J. Anderson caps scoring. Bears improve to 2-4, 1-2 in Pac-12. No. 25 UCLA drops to 4-2, 1-2. Cal beats a top-25 team for the first time since knocking off No. 14 Stanford in 2009. Maynard bounces back with 25-for-30 passing performance for 295 yards and four TDs. Anderson finishes with career-high 151 rushing yards. TE Richard Rodgers has seven catches for 129 yards — both career-bests. Kameron Jackson finishes with three INTs as Bears force Bruins into five six turnovers.
6:32 4th Q: Michael Lowe’s 42-yard interception return sets up Bears at the UCLA 27. C.J. Anderson carries three times to the 1, and Maynard cashes in with a QB sneak for the TD and a 36-17 lead.
10:36 4th Q: Bears and Bruins exchange three turnovers in a span of 120 seconds and UCLA has possession at the 50-yard line with 10:36 left. This was Cal’s game for the taking . . . still is unless they insist on handing it to UCLA. Fumbled exchanges between Maynard/Anderson and Maynard/Bigelow sandwiched around INT by Kameron Jackson.
14:31 4th Q: Fairbairn kicks 30-yard FG and Bruins creep within 29-17. Ain’t over yet.
5:58 3rd Q: Maynard to Allen for 34 yards and Cal leads 29-14. PAT was blocked. Maynard has four TD passes for the second time in his career. Did it last year in overtime win at Colorado, getting No. 4 in OT.
10:16 3rd Q: That didn’t take long. UCLA goes 74 yards in seven plays, with Hundley passing 3 yards to Joseph Fauria for the TD.
11:30 3rd Q: Kameron Jackson, who was subbing for injured Marc Anthony, helped off the field. Now playing CB for Bears is third-stringer Adrian Lee, a sophomore from Dallas. For those scoring at home, he wears No. 15.
12:33 3rd Q: Maynard throws his third TD pass of the night, a 32-yarder to Brendan Bigelow, who was split wide to the left. He caught a quick pass, got a block from WR Bryce Treggs and exploded down the sideline for the TD. A 20-yard punt return by Keenan Allen set up the one-play scoring drive. D’Amato’s PAT makes it 23-7.
HALFTIME: Cal 16, UCLA 7. Kameron Jackson, playing because starting CB Marc Anthony was injured early, intercepts Hundley pass in the end zone with 23 seconds left in the half, preserving Cal’s lead. The Bears get a standing ovation from the crowd as they head into the north tunnel. Maynard is 15 for 20 for 135 yards with 2 TDs and1 INT. TE Richard Rodgers has 5 catches for 74 yards, Allen has 6 catches for 39 yards and a TD. Cal has 205-177 yardage lead.
2:52 2nd Q: Cal leads 16-7 after 8-yard TD pass from Maynard to Keenan Allen. D’Amato’s PAT was blocked. Cal went 34 yards in five plays after muffed punt return by Steven Manfro, recovered by Jordan Rigsbee of Cal.
5:24 2nd Q: Ka’imi Fairbairn misses wide left on 46-yard FG try for Bruins. Cal retains 10-7 lead.
8:33 2nd Q: Maynard throws 5-yard TD pass to RB C.J. Anderson, capping 8-play, 67-yard drive. Cal leads 10-7.
11:54 2nd Q: Nick Forbes recovers fumbled lateral pass by Hundley and Cal takes over at its own 33.
END OF 1st Q: UCLA leads 7-3. Cal outgains the Bruins 90 yards to 62, but the one turnover is the difference-maker.
4:09 1st Q: Vincenzo D’Amato kicks 26-yard field goal, pulling Cal within 7-3. FG climaxes 66-yard, 16-play drive.
10:44 1st Q: Brett Hundley throws 4-yard TD pass to Cassius Marsh, a 6-3, 275-pound defensive end playing tight end. The point after gives UCLA a 7-0 lead. Not the start the Bears needed.
10:57 1st Q: Cal CB Marc Anthony helped off field after making tackle on Jerry Rice Jr. (yeah, his kid) on 4-yard pass for a first down at the 4. Kameron Jackson in at CB.
12:53 1st Q: Zach Maynard throws into double-coverage intended for Keenan Allen and is intercepted by Andrew Abbott at the 28.
BIGELOW STARTS: Sophomore Brendan Bigelow gains 7 yards on first down. It is Bigelow’s first career start.
COIN FLIP: Keenan Allen, Josh Hill, Brian Schwenke and Michael Lowe are the Bears’ game captains. Cal wins the toss and will receive the opening kickoff.
REDEDICATION: Renovated Memorial Stadium will be rededicated during halftime ceremonies, including the unveiling of a new inscription in the north tunnel that reads: “In memory of all Californians who have sacrified their lives in service to our nation.”
Memorial Stadium, originally built in 1923, was first dedicated to Californians killed during World War I.
WELCOME: It’s Homecoming and the Joe Roth Memorial Game at Memorial Stadium, with the Bears (1-4, 0-2 Pac-12) hoping to snap a three-game losing streak with a win over No. 25 UCLA (4-1, 1-1). The new permanent lights are on for the first time and it looks like it will be a beautiful fall evening.
[You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.]
October 6th, 2012 at 6:17 pm
They gonna wear the roth uniforms ? Hope so.
We started this on another post. Who is everyones top 3 wishes for new head coach. AND who is it that you think Cal will hire.
My votes:
1 gruden
2 wilcox lupoi kiesau
3 mike macintyre from san jose state
Who do i think they hire…ron gould. In a classy move tedford on the way out says give gould a shot.
October 6th, 2012 at 6:56 pm
Why the heck arent they wearing the throw back joe roth jerseys ?
October 6th, 2012 at 7:09 pm
I love Gruden, but I think we need a young college coach to bring enthusiasm. Did you see the Texas guys jumping around on the sideline tonight? Tedford would never allow that. So I say Wilcox, then Macintyre sounds promising
October 6th, 2012 at 7:09 pm
Bigelow starting!
October 6th, 2012 at 7:20 pm
Maynard failing!
October 6th, 2012 at 7:20 pm
Well that didn’t take long to get ugly. 1-11 anyone?
October 6th, 2012 at 7:26 pm
Maynard cost tedford his job. He signed him to get keenan and obviously cant remove him bc of keenan.
Maynard is riley all over.
Then again tesford has not recruited and successfully developed any QBs out of hig school at cal.
October 6th, 2012 at 7:34 pm
Wehofx, maynards beensacked twice. Anyone who took the over is looking good.
October 6th, 2012 at 7:35 pm
Love the goal-to-go play calling. Run, run, sack. Nice. By the way, two first quarter false starts on the Rigsbee brothers? What discipline Tedford has installed.
October 6th, 2012 at 7:44 pm
Tried to take my family out to dinner at a sport bar in Northern Escondido to watch game. Called 7 locations, none had Pac12. Gave up, listening on radio. What a joke
October 6th, 2012 at 7:51 pm
The best part of watching a Cal game is watching the opposing offense repeatedly convert 3rd and longs on short sideline routes just beyond the sticks as our defender makes the belated tackle.
October 6th, 2012 at 8:33 pm
Ucla is playing like Cal right now.
October 6th, 2012 at 8:41 pm
A game we should win. Go Bears!
October 6th, 2012 at 8:44 pm
WOW! 12 posts at half. Not good.
Interesting half. zm is still missing high but playing pretty well.
the whole team is playing okay interspersed with some real wtf moments: offsides at home??? roughing the passer was egregious x 2, zm misses, o line whiffs/sacks allowed. (Juancho, def looks like the over.)
Bigelow getting 3/4 carries to start and then, nothing. it’s almost like jt is saying F U to all of us who wanted bigs to get more carries. I saw rg “talking” to him for a missed something. But I also saw isi and cj both miss blitz pick ups.
But. Glad to our Bears are not giving up. Fighting hard. we’ve been finally getting some bounces to go our way. the worm will turn and I hope we play through whatever adversity will come in 2nd half.
…and please, PLEASE, make adjustments to their adjustments!
October 6th, 2012 at 8:45 pm
make that 13.
Go Bears!
October 6th, 2012 at 8:49 pm
Giant playoff game. It’s hard to watch both and make comments. Giants have UCLA turnovers to thank, but man those back to back personal fouls were upsetting. Anyone notice the replay of the second one was played in slow motion, and Ted had a brain fart saying, “that was almost 5 seconds after he released it.”
Had I not been under oath for a scream free evening, the block would have known Ted’s mistake.
October 6th, 2012 at 8:50 pm
LOL, Cal has . . .
October 6th, 2012 at 9:10 pm
If the time comes, just make the Judge watch that commercial 7 or 8 times. Then, he’ll dismiss the information in the interests of justice and your battery of that tool of a Bruin who’s parents watched a basketball game while she was in labor will go away.
Therefore, beat the crap out of him on sight.
October 6th, 2012 at 9:26 pm
Can someone pack up Jeff Genyk’s desk before the game’s over? I can’t believe Tedford actually found a worse special teams coach than we had before. Great effort by the players though.
October 6th, 2012 at 9:45 pm
Where has this team been?
October 6th, 2012 at 9:47 pm
Of course they fumble right after the post.
October 6th, 2012 at 10:00 pm
Young guys, normally stuck on the bench while our coachs play the seniors/incumbants by default, are showing their stuff. Almost like the coaches stepped out of the way and just let the kids play. Such a shame it takes a melt down to get the coaches to extract their heads from their butts.
October 6th, 2012 at 10:08 pm
It took injuries and desparate coaches. Bigelow’s start was clearly a reactionary decision by Tedford, two games too late.
October 6th, 2012 at 10:11 pm
That Wilcox/Lupoi combo is giving up something like 500 points to Oregon. Yeah, Sandy, get me some of that…
October 6th, 2012 at 10:15 pm
Wisdom: Yeah, how does a guy go from 0 carries last week to starting? I’d understand it if maybe Isi/CJ had a bad outing last week, but this just seems inscrutable. I literally cannot understand why the coaches make some of the decisions they do.
But, hey, maybe we earn a win over a ranked team! Go Bears!
October 6th, 2012 at 10:21 pm
A great win!
October 6th, 2012 at 10:24 pm
Back from Memorial (wife on injured reserve and had to leave early).
Milo: You were right (huge crowd), and I was dead wrong.
I was also wrong about traffic on the 80 (none) and the outcome (Bears looked great).
Go Bears!
October 6th, 2012 at 10:31 pm
We finally found a team that played dumber than us. Great effort, though, and fun to watch Cal’s defense get after it.
October 6th, 2012 at 10:32 pm
RE: Big. I put the over/under at 9 carries, if he got over, it’s not by much. CJ had a great game but bigs should have gotten more carries.
Great see the young guys show up on D. Kudos to Kam Jackson, McCain, Scarlett, avery, the end who got last sack, the other lb, so many names I’m just becoming familiar with showed up BIG.
Like the 4-2-5 a lot! with scarlett and McCain playing the ends. It’s a lot like the tcu D. Fast. Loved it when he blitzed the safeties and lb’s.
ZM played pretty well except for the wtf 2 botched hand offs. Best of all, he finally started encouraging his teammates and saying, “My bad” on his F ups. Leadership. Better late than never.
Finally, if M Arroyo has been calling the plays unmolested all year, then maybe he just needed a few games to grow into the job. OR, jt and jm finally got out of his ear.
Finally, great to see the stands packed – or close to it. Saturday night. No doubt getting their smoke on. Getting their heem on.
Happy for our Bears! Enjoy tonight.
October 6th, 2012 at 10:39 pm
Agree about the 4-2-5. Maybe that just is a combination that gets the best mix of our players out there. Also, see what emotion can do for a football team? I don’t understand why Tedford makes it seem like a golf tournament out there. Rev ‘em up!
October 6th, 2012 at 10:50 pm
I don’t even pretend to understand this game, but this is what I was hoping for at the start of the season.
- involving the tight end.
- passing short slants/button hooks and looking over the middle instead of throwing deep outs.
- not abandoning the run.
- letting young guys play.
And look what happens. Great job Bears.
October 6th, 2012 at 11:11 pm
Just got back. Great effort by the bears as a team. The whole game they were fired up. I’m debating in my head whether it was a real strong effort by my bears or weak effort by ucla. I believe it was a combo of both. Ucla never really looked motivated on the field while the bears were constantly looking at the crowd for some noise to get going. Still too many turnovers and needless penalties. And wow Bigelow gets some touches and shows he is a playmaker….again. Feelings are team rallied around the coaches for the win. What happens in Pullman, I haven’t a clue.
October 6th, 2012 at 11:14 pm
Wow. Go Bears! Hopefully the coaches have finally figured stuff out, as it sounds like we can’t afford to fire Tedford. Finally, they started adapting the offense to the players, rather than the other way around.
Where is everyone tonight? How come when we win there are hardly any posts, but when we lose there are 200?! I agree with all of the Tedford critics; nevertheless, we should enjoy this moment. (Who knows how many more like it we will have in the next 3 years of Tedford?)
GO BEARS!
October 6th, 2012 at 11:41 pm
Great night for the Bears. It was good to see them come out and play with passion and conviction. Let’s build some momentum going into the Big Game!
October 6th, 2012 at 11:48 pm
Great, great game lads…full house, gleaming Memorial Stadium at night and hell of good football.
I don’t know what this does for Tedford but this game looked like the old days, controlled the game, scored a bunch of points.
October 7th, 2012 at 1:36 am
Tosh burned the bridge and should be persona non-grata at Cal — I cannot believe any Cal fan would ever want him back as a coach. Or even a player reunion.
As a 20+ year season ticket holder, I would strongly consider non-renewal if he were to be hired. Hopefully everyone who feels the same way will send SB an email to let her know, when the time is right.
October 7th, 2012 at 1:50 am
went to the game. love the early comments here. Cal did not try to pocket pass. it worked. I think Bigelow may not play because he is not too swift. He looked confused lining up at times and the other players had to redirect him. even on his td. maybe it worked to our advantage on that one. anthony does not play and his replacement gets three picks! lasco is a kamakaze on kick offs. well worth the drive from LA. the new stadium is very impressive. saw the weight room from the concourse. wow! Rogers is a weapon. hundley had trouble once we started blitzing.
October 7th, 2012 at 6:50 am
Interesting that none of the regulars have commented on the W. I think there are mixed feelings on this one.
October 7th, 2012 at 7:18 am
No mixed feelings I smile when we win and sulk when we lose. We won, I love life. One thing with a season like this one, you really learn to appreciate the wins.
October 7th, 2012 at 7:19 am
Can you describe for me what that trophy looks like for winning last night’s “Cupcake Bowl”?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA…
You watch as we break the Top 10 again this week. We are right back in the hunt for the NC.
October 7th, 2012 at 7:28 am
I hear you Ed. The best part of last night’s game was the big crowd and the noise generation you could catch even on TV. That’s encouraging.
I could have done without the two consecutive fumbles and some of the penalties but otherwise it was nice to see production from some new sources. Perhaps the pressure became strong enough on Tedford to dislodge some of his silly obstinacy.
October 7th, 2012 at 7:29 am
Let’s go A’s, snatch one of these road games….
October 7th, 2012 at 8:06 am
I fell asleep at half time. I was exhausted from the A’s game. At the beginning when ucla went up i wanted ucla to cream us if we were to lose. Once we went up i wanted the win.
Was big time impressed by rodgers and the play calling. Like how tedford at half called out arroyo and gave him credit. Maynard did well and maybe bigelow starting helped revive the teams energy.
I think we’ll win 3-4 now.
October 7th, 2012 at 9:00 am
Before Saturday’s game here were the vital stats for UCB state:
On a national level, UCB state can be found near the bottom of the 120 FBS schools in several statistical categories:
– Last in the nation – the nation! – in sacks allowed with 25, for minus-174 yards.
– Also last in allowing tackles for losses with 44, for a negative 221 yards.
– Ranked 106th in penalties allowed with 42, resulting in nearly 75 backward yards per game.
– Ranked 104th in time of possession at 27 minutes, 24 seconds, meaning opponents are on the field longer and run more plays, as in the 94 racked up by Arizona State last week, the most Tedford could recall a team ever running against him.
Any improvements from last night’s game that may have made a statistical difference?
October 7th, 2012 at 9:49 am
moron you are a parasite. Go away, you do not belong here.
October 7th, 2012 at 9:53 am
Cal played sloppy (2 fumbles on handoffs – lol!) and UCLA played sloppiest. How may INTS did that QB throw – 5? 6? I’m glad Cal won but in no way at all should this get Jeff Tedfraud off the hot seat. Now 14-19 in last 33 games with 3 of those wins over FCS cupcakes.
October 7th, 2012 at 10:08 am
Just when I thought special teams was looking better 2 blocked punts.
Anyone at the game or saved it on dvr, were the blocked pats because d’amato hasn’t been practicing with the wedge? Or did the line break down?
On the 4-2-5. Great scheme for our players. I’m thinking w scarlett and McCain as the ends, it really is more of a 2-4-5. From 3 point stance, McCain often dropped back into coverage like an lb – not sure if scarlett did the same. Wish I dvr’d the game to check but after the previous infuriating losses I figured it’d be a waste of memory.
Kam Jackson!!! S Williams, A Sebastian and Senior Josh Hill. Kudos!
2-4-5 cp finally figured out a scheme to slow down spread/option O. Like zm’s leadership, better late than never.
Go Bears!
October 7th, 2012 at 10:32 am
Enjoyed the game all the way in Alaska thanks to Pac 12 network. Clearly Cal players were driven and fired up. As always, the key is consistency. Can we sustain? Having MSG back was helpful, too…
If we can play like last night, we will be competitive at the very least. A better defensive scheme, better protection for ZM…there is hope.
October 7th, 2012 at 10:59 am
Greta game last night. That was how the Nevada game was supposed to be. I can’t complain much. This was a good game. I hope we play like this the rest of the way and stay competitive, that’s all I ask for.
October 7th, 2012 at 11:04 am
Maynard finally looked decent/good. I’ll give him credit for this game. Hopefully Galas will be back soon and we can put #73 on the bench. He is not ready for prime time. D’Amato still sucks and needs to sit on the bench.
Rodgers looked fantastic. Bigalow scored. Defense rocked. Jackson stepped up for Anthony big time. Things are looking up. Not ready to declare an 8-4 record at the end of the season, but good to improve rather than get worse.
Go Bears!
Next up: WSU…
October 7th, 2012 at 11:05 am
Right now Aaron Rodgers is beating Andrew Luck Gb v Indiana -its not nationally televised but adthenet has it free.
I have mixed feelings about last night’s game-great to win and we will see over the next few weeks whether we have awakened or if UCLA was asleep.
If we just got lucky and other teams have bad games -its not just us–then this will give ammunition to those who want Tedford to stay.
October 7th, 2012 at 11:50 am
Honestly, it’s pretty apparent UCLA believed the hype, took Cal for granted and paid for it. What the hype didn’t say is that Cal still has the toughest (or close) strength of schedule in all of D1. OSU and $C (and UCLA) are all ranked.
That said, Cal still had to show up and win it. The Defense was a big part but the offense also converted on turn-overs…and holy sh*t Maynard was responsible for 4-5 TDs?
October 7th, 2012 at 1:08 pm
Good game for Maynard, except for his first interception trying to throw off balance to his brother into tight double coverage. I am far from ready to jump on his bandwagon, though. What you see is what you get: a model of inconsistency who completes about 55 percent of his passes and has a very even touchdown to interception ratio.
October 7th, 2012 at 3:05 pm
Last night’s game was not luck or UCLA taking us lightly. Cal finally put four quarters of solid execution together on both sides of the ball and the result was a one-sided victory against a good football team. Coaches do not rush for yardage or make tackles. Last night, our boys did both of the above with consistency and the result was an indication of what can be done when they, the GUYS ON THE FIELD, play smart and do their jobs. Nice Work Bears!
Beat WSU with EXTREME PREJUDICE!
October 7th, 2012 at 9:05 pm
Went to game last night, hang out after game, and didn’t get home until almost 1 AM, up this AM right to disappointing A’s game. So… first chance I have had to comment on the game and activities of last night. Qite a day and night-
Pre-game-
Arrived in town about 3:45. Just a GORGEOUS afternoon in Berkeley. Warm 75+ degrees, blue, blue skies, slight breeze. Just a perfect early October afternoon, the kind of day you know from your fondest memories.
Walked everywhere trying to find a place to hangout and watch the A’s and some college football. It dawned on me – Berkeley really kind of sucks these days for that type of pregame festivities. Raleigh’s, gone (fire). Lavals gone. Blakes gone (now Pappy’s, completely difFerent concept).
The Bear’s Lair was packed before 4, not a seat to be had, great weather outside, but about 100 freakin degrees inside where all the TVs are, A’s game nowhere to be seen. EVERY tv has the same game (Texas-WVU). Clueless.
Ended up at Kips. A virtual sweaty madhouse, got the only few seats left in the dark, ear splitting back room. Old, small lousy TVs blocked by hordes of obnoxious fUCLA fans. Couldn’t wait to eat (food is improved) and get out of there. Good place to go pre-basketball night game in the winter. Not on a gorgeous fall day.
Over to Sproul Plaza to watch the band, up Bancroft past all the frats, the turn past the International House to view the stadium in all its splendor. I will never get tired of that experience. On to Maxwell Family Field to hang, chat, watch the band come by. What a wonderful and beautiful slice of heaven.
The Game-
GREAT crowd, loud, looked perfect under the lights. I expected way more empty seats, so pleasantly surprised.
Overall, I feel like last night proved what I have been saying for years. We have a LOT of good players, a lot of weapons, and that we should be way better than we are, and we are under-achievers under Tedford. Last night for the most part felt like it used to feel much earlier in the Tedford era. Almost every game used to feel like last night felt. Now, I have to say that this is the first time in I can’t remember when that we played pretty well and had a strong win against what seems to be a fairly decent team. Nit sure yet how good UCLA is, but they certainly didn’t play well last night.
Going into last night, I would say that we would win 0-2 more games. After last night’s performance, I could see several additional wins beyond that, however, who knows what team will show up. I take my hat off to the team last night. They played with heart and lots of passion, and were frequently urging the home crowd to get even louder. If they can play like that last night, why not before this? It will be interesting to see where it goes from here.
Maynard- wished I could say it was a great game, but 1 bad pick that handed UCLA their first TD and then both fumbles on poorly executed hand offs- the guy can’t stop shooting himself and the team in the foot. I could have really said this was his best game otherwise, but 3 turnovers? That has, and will, kill us against a good team.
Was listening to game too, and Pawlawski said that the coaches had tweaked the offense, with Maynard rolling more and also getting rid of the ball on quick drops. And that worked. Many on here have been screaming for that- it’s obvious- and the coaches finally do it. Let’s see if they stick with that approach. It was great, but … where’s that been?
Defense finally got pressure on QB- it was great, but … where’s that been?
McClain played like a beast. Very impressive.
Bigelow- mixed bag here. So he can hardly get a look one game, and the next game he starts? Then he plays, and then disappears. All seemed kind of weird. Also, heard that on his touchdown that he was lined up in the wrong place. Also, interesting conversation with very reliable source. The net is that BB is a bit learning challenged. In the end, they guy is a ridiculous talent, beyond his explosive speed. You can see what he does when he gets the slightest bit of daylight.
I thought last night was my last game of the season. Its tough to avoid the pull of a wonderful fall Saturday in Strawberry Canyon. We’ll see.
October 7th, 2012 at 9:29 pm
Moron I’ve had it! One more word from you and I’ll reveal the identity of “Daddy”. He will not only be publicly humiliated with the world know you are his offspring but he will also be an outcast in the Cal family. Willing to take that risk?
October 8th, 2012 at 2:25 pm
Silence? That’s a good Moron. silence!