Cal falls 45-40 to San Diego State: Instareaction and report card

The score is deceiving. The Cal defense did not play great (allowing Donnel Pumphrey to have the game he did is not good on any level), but they gave the offense a chance to win, conceding only 24 points in the run of the play. This came down to the four big mistakes.

• The 100 yard kickoff return for the touchdown
• The San Diego State interception on a screen that became an easy pick six
• The San Diego State fumble recovery in their red zone that became an easy touchdown
• The Davis Webb interception in the end zone

That’s 24 to 28 points of mistakes left on the field. If Cal doesn’t make one or two of those mistakes, they are going home 2-0. Simple as that. The Bears outplayed the Aztecs most of the rest of the game, but made execution errors that pretty much turn every football game.

And despite all that, Cal STILL HAD about four dozen chances or so in the fourth quarter to come back to win. That game was within reach multiple times, the Bears just missed the opportunities presented to them. A lot.

It’s a brutal loss, but Cal has a lot to learn from this. Time to come home and mess with Texas.

Report card is up (click here or submit through the form below). Commiserate and live together. Recap shortly.