Bears Can't Hold Early Lead, Rolled by Duke, 45-21

MEMORIAL STADIUM - A game that looked promising as the Bears scored twice in their first two possessions and took an early 21-7 lead turned into a nightmare as Duke scored the final 38 points of the game en route to a 45-21 thrashing of Cal, who fell to 4-2 (1-1) after the loss in front of an energetic crowd of 42,240 in Berkeley.

"“We’ve got to grow up. I think that’s the overriding theme. We’ve got to grow up. We have glimpses where we can play good football, but it's too much of a roller coaster," head coach Justin Wilcox said after the game. "You can't play that way and win.

“You have to protect and we didn’t do that. We have to block people longer than we blocked them. 

“The first three drives of the game, the offense did a good job. After that, we didn’t get enough going. We knew there’d be some opportunities for big plays in the game and we hit them early but we didn’t hit them beyond that and then we went backwards. Penalties, sacks. I think they had six or seven sacks. Turned the ball over four times. You’re not going to win doing that.”

In nearly a mirror image of last week’s win over Boston College, it was the Bears’ turn to jump out fast, with the home team jumping out to a fast start with two touchdowns in their first two possessions to take a quick 14-0 lead in the opening minutes of the game.

After losing the opening coin toss, frosh QB Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele‍ led the Bears on an efficient touchdown drive, completing a perfect 8-of-8 passes in an 11-play, 75-yard drive. A 4-yard TD grab by receiver Jordan King put the Bears up 7-0 5:49 into the 1^st quarter.

After forcing a quick 3-and-out on Duke, the Bears went right back to work.

Taking over at the Cal 45 after a 17-yard Jacob De Jesus‍ punt return, it took the Bears just six plays to add to their lead with a 5-yard Kendrick Raphael‍ rush up the middle to extend the lead to 14-0 with 5:20 remaining in the quarter. A 29-yard completion to senior receiver Trond Grizzell put the Bears in immediate scoring position before Raphael’s rushing TD.

Just like last week, early impressions can be deceptive as the Bears had difficulty stopping a potent Duke offense from that point on in the half.

Taking over at their 23, Duke rolled to an 8-play, 77-yard TD drive behind QB Darien Mensah 15, 16 and 18-yard completions and a 12-yard TD run by running back Nate Sheppard to narrow the lead to 14-7 after the PAT with 2:38 left in the quarter.

The Bears effectively responded with a methodical 11-play, 80-yard TD drive capped by Raphael’s second touchdown of the game on a 4-yard rush up the middle to give the Bears a 21-7 lead with 12:17 left in the half.

It was all downhill from there as the Blue Devils reeled off 24 unanswered points to take a 31-21 lead into the locker room, ready to receive the kickoff in the second half as well.

The second quarter saw the Bears struggle to protect Sagapolutele, surrendering 3 sacks - all with big losses. They also struggled to defend the pass, giving large cushions and surrendering 154 yards in the quarter and 8.3 yards per play, with the final scoring coming on a 25-yard Todd Pelino field goal as time expired in the half.

Beyond the early TD, about the only good thing to happen in the 2^nd quarter was when former Cal and NFL center Alex Mack was honored for his induction into the College Hall of Fame on the sideline during a break.

The 3^rd quarter was played to a standstill, with neither team scoring a point but that would change in a big way in the 4^th quarter.

Taking over at their 41 with 12: 21 remaining in the game, the Blue Devils took just six plays to extend their lead to 38-21 as receiver Cooper Bargate found himself wide open for the 10-yard Mensah TD pass.

On their next possession, Sagapolutele recovered from a sack - one of six on the night - to hit Raphael with a pair of 13-yard completions but was intercepted on the next play after a laser of a throw bounced of running back LJ Johnson’s hands and was intercepted - one of three interceptions on a rough night for the frosh QB, though he did complete 20-of-31 passes (65%) and 2 TDs in the loss. Two plays later, running back Sheppard burst free for a 45-yard touchdown run to push the Duke lead to 45-21 to close out the scoring.

“We came out firing but I just need to take better care of the ball,” Sagapolutele said. “That’s a big point of emphasis, especially on my part. Putting our defense in good position. Every drive should end in a kick, Coach Harsin says. If I can limit my turnovers, keeping the defense in a good spot, I think we’ll be better.”

MLB Cade Uluave led the Bears with a career high 12 tackles along with a ½ sack and a pass breakup in the loss.

Duke moves to 4-2 (3-0) with the win. The Bears will next square off next Friday night to struggling North Carolina in a 7:30 pm kickoff on ESPN as the Bears will attempt to shake off their second decisive loss and get back on track.