Words I never thought I’d say: Totally agree with the New York Post. http://t.co/Kxs9vvHZOF pic.twitter.com/ZQN7F9bjJe
— GoldenBlogs (@GoldenBlogs) October 7, 2014
Weird win. Very, very weird and awesome win. Where does this rank on your list of strangest Cal victories you've witnessed? Can you think of any wins that have been stranger?
LeonPowe: The only thing I can think of being close was Oregon 1993, but I was a lot more confident of us winning that game because it was a huge momentum switch and we had it going all the way in the second half. This one felt like we lost it until we didn't. It was less euphoric and more just laughter at how amazing we dodged like every bullet at the end (no touchdown, missed field goal, non centered kicks).
TwistNHook: I honestly cannot. Who amongst us could? They just broke the record for most passing yards and there was a combined 1,400 yards. It was an insane game where Cal scored something like 8 straight touchdowns. Certainly we have other intense games like Cal-USC 2003, which went to Triple OT. There was a game in 2000 against UCLA which went into triple OT, also. There was the the monsoon game in 2008 against Oregon, which was crazy for somewhat different reasons. There was Big Game 2009, which also came down to the wire. Is it necessary for me to recount all the ways that that win was amazing???
boomtho: I've only been a Cal fan since 2007, so the only game I can think of is Cal-Oregon 2007, when Ezeff forced the fumble out of the end zone that became a touchback. I definitely think this game was crazier though - that's just the only one I can put in a distant second place.
HydroTech: This is by far the craziest and flukiest Cal Football victory I've ever witnessed. I'm not saying the victory wasn't deserved, but how often do you see a team give up 700+ yards through the air, and see back to back kickoff returns for touchdowns by the same player running pretty much the exact same path through the defense, and see both teams trade touchdowns in the final minutes of the game, and then somebody misses a go-ahead field goal on third down from the 2 yard line?
It was nuts. Absolute bonkers. It was crazy how much offense there was in this game. It was so incredibly fluky how the WSU kicker missed a 2 yard field goal. But you know what? I'm not complaining about how Cal won. It seems that Cal has been on the wrong end of these crazy games and fluky plays for a long time. It's about time luck went our way.
Avinash Kunnath: This is probably the wildest. Aside from the missed field goal, so much craziness occurred.
- Consider that Cal scored 47 points in the second half. Cal has scored 47 points once in FBS play in the 2011-13 seasons.
- Consider that Cal did not punt in the second half. Five touchdown drives. Two kickoff returns for touchdowns.
- Consider that Washington State had four third quarter offensive drives in a row without Cal's offense touching the ball, and the Bears somehow only found themselves down 11 after all of that AND the Cal defense only allowed one touchdown in the 4th quarter.
- Consider that Trevor Davis literally returned the same kickoff twice in a row for a touchdown. It was literally the exact same play!
- Consider that Cal needed a total of ninety seconds on offense in the second half to retake the lead.
- Consider that Cal had three scoring drives of a minute or so and less in the second half.
- Consider that Cal didn’t break 34 points in FBS play in any game last year. Along with the kickoff returns, Cal needed ABOUT THREE MINUTES OF POSSESSION TO SCORE 35 POINTS. (Cal did not break 35 points against FBS teams once last year).
- Consider that Connor Halliday set the FBS record for passing with 734 yards ... and Jared Goff ended up with almost the exact same efficiency rating as Halliday.
- Consider that each team practically averaged a first down if they passed the football yesterday (Goff 9.9 YPA, Halliday 10.5).
- Consider that if either team ran the football at any point, you threw your hands up and were screaming "WHY?"
- Consider that neither team turned the ball over once in a game that featured 123 pass attempts, and Goff has now thrown 94 passes in a row without a pick.
- Consider that ten wide receivers had five catches or more. Only one receiver in the Stanford-Notre Dame game even managed to grab five footballs.
- Consider that the Cal-WSU "nearly 63 point" third quarter outscored 58 football FBS games last weekend.
- Consider Cal only won the game because Washington State missed a 19 yard field goal that wasn't properly centered and Pac-12 refs missed what should have been a Cougar TD.
- Losing on a Hail Mary, a failed onside kick, and a missed field goal after giving up 36 points to Arizona.
- There were 45 points scored in the final three and a half minutes of regulation and double overtime in Cal-Colorado.
- A 56 point third quarter with back-to-back kickoff returns and where Cal's offense didn't touch the ball for four straight drives, plus a 19 yard missed game-winning field goal at the buzzer.
The Bears could be 3-0. They could be 0-3. They have given up over 54 points a game in that stretch and are 2-1. They have scored nearly as many points in three games of conference play as they did in either the 2012 or 2013 Pac-12 schedule (174 points in 2012, 175 in 2013, 164 in THREE GAMES in 2014).
This is absolute madness.