Cal has endured some frightful losses at the hands of UCLA in Southern California over the years.
Sunday’s game is right down there with the worst of them.
After a shaky beginning, the Bruins thoroughly dominated the game, rolling over the Bears defense while neutralizing quarterback Chase Garbers and the Cal offense. The final score of 34-10 in the Rose Bowl was an accurate reflection of the difference between the two teams.
It might have been inevitable given the surrounding circumstances of a game that was scheduled less than 48 hours earlier. This was the first game for the Bears because their season opener was canceled a week ago. UCLA meanwhile had played last week. Even though the Bruins lost, they at least had game experience. And because the Cal defensive line had been in quarantine for nearly two weeks, the Bears were unable to stage even normal full-team practices. To all those who say football preparation is overrated, I invite you to review the film of this game. One team looked as if it was just learning its system, That team wasn’t UCLA.
Led by quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, the Bruins racked up 440 yards to 176 for the Bears. Cal actually gained more yards in penalties 80 than they did rushing 54 The Bears averaged just 1.9 yards per rush, although the five sacks for 28 yards had something to do with that figure.
The lack of intense practice probably was responsible for Garbers’ sloppy performance. He was repeatedly off-target, and threw more than one pass that reflected poor judgment, He finished the game 18-for-33 for 122 yards and an interception. His passer rating was a paltry 79.5.
To their credit, the Bears who had a 5:45 am wake-up call for the 9 a.m. kickoff, were not hiding behind the circumstances as an excuse for the outcome.
“It’s so easy to draw every excuse in the book right now, short week, they had a game under their belt, we don’t, new offense,” said center Mike Saffell. “But we’re not going to do that. . New offense. …. We didn’t play well. It’s disappointing but I have confidence we will boune back.”
“Obviously there has been a lot of uncertainty at times,” said linebacker Kuony Deng. “We don’t want to use that as an excuse. We don’t want any excuses, We’ve just got to play better.”
Garbers said that after watching the film of UCLA’s loss to Colorado last week, the Bears were ready for the variety of blitzes the Bruins employed.
“After breaking down the Colorado game we knew what type of pressures they were known to bring,” he said, “Coach Azz (UCLA defensive coordinator Jerry Azzinaro) was here about three years ago so we were kind of familiar with his play-calling style and how he is very aggressive. It’s something you see from UCLA, year in and year out, Obviously we had two days to prep for it, So in a limited time we did what could do.”
Jayne Kamin-Oncea - USA TODAY
DTR on the move
The Bears had spent most of last week’s practices focusing on Arizona State, whose defensive style is much different from the Bruins’.
“We didn’t have time to put a game plan together,” Garbers said. “We watched their Colorado game. One and half, two days to prepare for a team is pretty difficult at any level. We just kind of had to roll with what we were game-planning for Arizona State DTRbecause we had multiple reps ot that at p=ractice. We cut some things out that were ASU specific and kind of rolled with that today.”
It certainly was an inauspicious start for new offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave’s offense. Garbers said the Bears felt comfortable enough with the scheme and expected things to go better going forward.
Even as the game was starting out well for the Bears, there were ominous hints of what was to come.
On the fourth play of the day the Bears’ Craig Woodson blocked a UCLA punt and the Bears were set up on the Bruins’ 17. Two plays later they were at the six. But things went in reverse quickly and they had to be satisfied with Dario Longhetto’s 31-yard field goal.
On the next series, the Bruins were on the move until Camryn Bynum grabbed a deflected DTR pass. Cal had the ball on its own 22 and was feeling pretty good about itself.
It didn’t last long. The Bears managed four yards on their three plays and punted., UCLA drove for a touchdown (88 yards, 15 plays). Cal punted. UCLA drove for a touchdown (71 yards, 9 plays). The scoring drives had a lot in common: clutch third down plays by the Bruins, helped no end by terrible Cal tackling.
The Bears gave their followers a brief moment of hope on their next possession. Garbers directed a 75-yard touchdown drive, finishing it himself with a six-yard run, high stepping into the end zone. It was 14-10, but not for long
UCLA shrugged and struck quickly, a 44-yard completion to a wide open Greg Dulcich keyed the 67-yard drive.
Jayne Kamin-Oncea - USA TODAY
Brittain Brown runs away from Bears for a TD
Later in the quarter, UCLA’s Caleb Johnson intercepted a Garbers pass and set the Bruins up at the Cal 13. A 5-yard pass from DTR to Kyle Phillips was the inevitable touchdown.
The second half was more of the same and all that was in question was the final score.
The Bears figure to be better prepared Saturday when they travel to Corvallis to take on Oregon State.
UCLA didn't put a hurt on Cal. UCLA did Cal a big favor. It's a lost season. And so this loss hasn't really damaged anything that wasn't already lost. Now Cal has to take advantage of the reality that the press doesn't decide the outcome and they are going to have to go out and earn it each and every week.
Everyone picked Cal to be a top team this year. Now they have to earn that. And that is always more rewarding in the end.
