Coming into Saturday's game at Kabam Field at California Memorial Stadium, it probably didn't work in Sacramento State's favor that it had defeated two Pac-12 opponents in the last three years (at Oregon State 2011, at Colorado 2012). Nor did it work in Sacramento State's favor that the California Golden Bears had struggled at home against FCS opponents in each of the last two seasons. Couple those facts with the Bears' hunger for any and all victories they can get after last year's 1-11 experience, and there was no way that this Cal team was going to overlook Sacramento State.
That theory was confirmed early on in the Bears' 55-14 win over the Hornets. Cal scored 28 first quarter points on four touchdown passes (three by Jared Goff, one by Luke Rubenzer). The first of those, from Goff to red zone target extraordinaire Kenny Lawler, capped a 14-play, 70-yard game opening drive by the Bears and marked the second week in a row that Cal took the opening kickoff and marched down the field for a touchdown.
Cal followed the Lawler touchdown with another beautiful play, a perfect lob pass from Goff to Maurice Harris to make it 14-0. That score came three plays after defensive end Todd Barr gave the ball back to the offense by blindsiding Sacramento State quarterback Garrett Safron to force a fumble that Cal's Ray Davison recovered at the Sac State 22-yard line.
The avalanche of points continued. Cal's next series lasted exactly one play -- a crossing route pass from Luke Rubenzer to Darius Powe Jr., which resulted in a 60-yard touchdown. And before the quarter was complete, Goff found Lawler again for a 19-yard touchdown pass to make it 28-0. And boy, was it a thing of beauty. As in, the one-handed variety.
Look ma, ONE HAND. @CalFootball's @K_law2nice's catch is a #12best nominee! #SSUvsCAL http://t.co/rtvZAgYmjv
— Pac-12 Networks (@Pac12Networks) September 6, 2014
"He's ridiculous. There is no other way to describe it," Goff said of Lawler's incredible catch. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone catch balls the way he does and it's not the best catch I've ever seen him make. He makes those in practice constantly. When he caught it I wasn't even surprised at all."
"Honestly, I don't even remember it," said Lawler. "I do remember celebrating with my teammates. It just happened in a split second and all I could do was react. I remember celebrating with my offensive line, celebrating with my quarterback."
The 28-0 lead eventually grew to 45-0 late in the second quarter, as the Bears scored points on their first seven possessions.
"That is what the offense is supposed to look like. We are doing a good job at taking what they are giving us," Cal Coach Sonny Dykes said after the game. "Last week, we had an 18-play drive to start the game and this week it was a 15-play drive. That is a hard thing to do - to be able to play and execute at that level for that many plays. They were playing soft off of our receivers a little bit, and we weren't quite sure what we were going to see from them. We did a good job at making first downs, moving the chains and getting the ball in the end zone."
Cal did a good job of getting points in the red zone, going 7 of 7 in its red zone opportunities. In two games, the Bears are now 13 for 13 in red zone opportunities, with ten of those being touchdowns. Cal moved the ball well outside of the red zone as well, rolling up 579 yards of offense, 253 of those rushing. Saturday's game was the first time Cal had topped 200 yards rushing in a game since November 10, 2012 against Oregon.
"The offensive line played very well today," said Cal running back Daniel Lasco, who scored on a multiple tackle-breaking 50-yard touchdown jaunt in the second quarter. "On my touchdown run there was just great blocking all around the perimeter and the wide receivers were blocking for five, six, seven seconds and it was great to have a solid blocking unit on that play."
Spectacular plays coming out of @CalFootball today. Daniel Lasco hits the circle button for a 50 yard TD. #SSUvsCAL http://t.co/ASywgrYqxi
— Pac-12 Networks (@Pac12Networks) September 6, 2014
The Cal defense also did what it should do against an overmatched FCS opponent. Though Sacramento State managed to put together a long scoring drive at the end of the first half (when Cal already led 45-0), the Bears still kept the Hornets' offense mostly in check. The Cal defense gave up only 118 net yards rushing, with 73 of those coming on one play (quarterback Garret Safron's long touchdown run in the third quarter). The Bears sacked Safron three times and mounted more consistent pressure on the quarterback than they did last week against Northwestern. And as all of those wearing blue and gold hoped, the Bears were able go deep into their bench to give many players valuable game experience. By my unofficial count, Cal used 34 players on defense. Cal fans were able to get their first extended glimpse of guys like Devante Downs (who had a couple of impressive plays) and Edward Tandy (who seemed to be everywhere). Cal also got a good look at guys like A.J. Greathouse, Caleb Coleman, and Trey Cheek in the secondary, all of whom got valuable playing experience as Cal built a comfortable lead.
It was not just the defense that got to dig deep into the roster. The Bears played five quarterbacks in the game (Goff, Rubenzer, Austin Hinder, Joey Mahalic, and Cole Webb) and five running backs got to carry the ball (Lasco, Khalfani Muhammad, Vic Enwere, Tre Watson, and Patrick Laird). For the second week in a row, nine different Cal receivers caught passes and, unlike last week, the Bears used more than five offensive linemen.
As enjoyable as the beatdown was, it wasn't all unicorns and glitter for the Bears. Penalties were a big problem on Saturday: Cal committed 10 of them for 100 yards, two of them negating touchdowns. Cal committed the type of turnover that should not happen (a muffed punt by Trevor Davis inside the 10-yard line) and missed a scoring chance at the end of the first half when James Langford pulled a 42-yard field goal wide left. And after the quick start offensively, Cal got so stagnant in the third quarter that Coach Dykes put the offensive starters back in the game -- a move that promptly led to the Bears' final touchdown of the day.
I LOVE the decision by Dykes to bring in the 1st string. Shows even the 3rd stringers you have to perform if you want to stay on the field.
— bearswithfangs (@bearswithfangs) September 6, 2014
Nitpicking aside, there is no pooh-poohing a 41-point victory, especially one that results in Cal exceeding its win total of last year just two games into the season. The Bears now enter into a bye week with momentum, rightfully feeling good about themselves with the Pac-12 opener at Arizona looming in two weeks.
Enjoy the start. It only gets harder from here. But these Bears are giving us reason to hope, aren't they? Perhaps it's time to declare our hoodoo gone, victory is here.
Go Bears! Beat Arizona!