Golden Nuggets: Brock Mansion's First Career Start Brings Cal One Game Closer to Bowl Eligibility

Tedford was pleased with Brock's performance in his first career start.

"The first longball he threw, it should be a touchdown to Marv, and the next one that he threw to Anthony Miller, that should be a touchdown," Tedford said. "I thought he came into this game with a clear conscience and a lot of confidence, and I thought he threw the ball really well. I thought he did a nice job of running the huddle, making the play calls, doing all the things. For his first start, today, I thought he did a real nice job."
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"Coming into the game, we thought that their game plan would be to load the box and to make me beat them with a throw," Mansion said. "I was excited about that, because we came out throwing the ball really deep, really early. I was really pumped. I just thought that we had to land a couple of those, and I can put the guys in better positions, like Marv and for Anthony on both of those."

After the jump, more on Mansion. Plus, Cameron Jordan makes his case for Pac-10 defensive player of the week, Tedford rallies his team at the start of the fourth quarter, Keenan Allen injures his knee (probably his meniscus), and Jeremy Ross' carries the team to victory with his 20-yard reception.

One of Mansion's biggest plays of the game was his 28 yard run, a play he suggested to the coaches.

"We talked on the headset, and we had run that jazz play before, and I was like, 'Hey coach, I'm going to keep it because they got a guy crashing up on the line," Mansion said. "It turned into a huge play for us and kind of got our confidence up, and the sideline erupted a little bit and set up sup for another big play."
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"He was supposed to read the D-lineman and he read it perfectly," Vereen said. "I saw the D-lineman crash, and thought, 'I hope he pulls this down and takes off,' and he did and he was off to the races. He's actually pretty fast, once he gets going, it takes him a little to get going, but once he does, he's pretty fast."

Football

• Cam Jordan's 12 tackles (including three for loss), 1.5 sacks, and forced fumble earn a helmet stick from Ted Miller.
• At the start of the fourth quarter, with the game on the line, Tedford rallied his team and delivered a strong message: win the game.
• In his first pregame route, Keenan Allen injured his knee--likely his meniscus.  He'll have the injury looked at in further detail on Monday.
• Wilner looks at teams' bowl chances.  He wouldn't be surprised if Cal defeats Stanford to earn bowl eligibility in two weeks.
• Both sides seemed to recognize that Ross' 20 yard reception was the defining play of the game.