BERKELEY – It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t as definitive as most would want it to be but the Bears moved to 5-2 (2-1) with a too close for comfort 21-18 win over North Carolina.
The Tar Heels have struggled much of the season with poor play and a veritable media circus surrounding head coach Bill Belichick’s first foray into collegiate coaching and getting the 2-3 (0-1) team at home on a Friday night on west coast time and for a time, it looked like the Bears could potentially pull away for a comfortable win. But as Bear fans well know, it’s rarely that easy.
Undisciplined play, including 9 penalties for 80 yards - many coming at particularly unopportune times and defensive breakdowns nearly cost the Bears the win but in the end, their 3-0 victory in the turnover column was the game-decider.
“They’re hard to come by,” said Cal head coach Justin Wilcox. “So we will celebrate a victory. Don’t ever want to miss the opportunity to celebrate a victory.
“We have to play move better football moving forward in every phase of the game. That’s obvious. Our job as coaches is to help our players execute at a higher level so that’s on us to get that out of them.”
The game got off to a strong start for the Bears. After winning the toss and deferring, safety Drew Polidore forced a fumble that was recovered at the UNC 24.
The offense went to work from there, with running back Kendrick Raphael picking up 11 and 8 yards in his first two carries. QB Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele two plays later took it in for a touchdown on a keeper to give the Bears a quick 7-0 lead after the PAT 2:08 into the game. The frosh QB shook off a rough first half to finish 21-for-39 for 209 yards and 1 TD with no interceptions in the win. Raphael led the Bears with 81 yards in 20 carries and a TD.
Following the opening score, the next three possessions saw three 3-and-outs before UNC finally got rolling.
Taking over at their 30, the Tar Heels struck quickly, going 70 yards in just five plays behind a 37-yard Gio Lopez completion to receiver Kobe Paysour and an 18-yard Benjamin Hall touchdown run after breaking an attempted tackle from cornerback Zeke Masses a play after the senior corner was whistled for holding. The game was tied after the PAT, 7-7 with 4:48 remaining in the quarter.
The Bears answered right back, putting together a methodical 12-play TD drive keyed by a 23-yard yard completion to receiver Jacob De Jesus on a 3rd-and-10 and a beautiful one-handed grab of an errant Sagapolutele pass and a stretch to the pylon for a 7-yard TD catch, putting the Bears up 14-10 after the PAT with :48 left in the quarter.
The senior receiver had a stellar game in the win, hauling in a career-high 13 catches for 105 yards including his TD.
“I just feel like I’ve been getting a little bit more of the load,” De Jesus said after the win. “I just give all the glory to God and thank him for putting me in this position He’s been putting me in. And I’m just grateful to the coaches and staff believing in me and trusting in me and putting me in those places to make a play.”
After trading possessions, the Tar Heels ground out an 11-yard scoring drive, settling for a 41-yard Reece Verhoff field goal to close out the 1st half scoring with the Bears up 14-10 with 6:18 left in the half.
Sagapolutele had a rough first half, despite his TD run and pass, completing just 11-of-25 passes (44%) for 115 yards. The running game was a bit better than it’s been recently, with the line opening up holes for several solid runs in the half.
The Bears started off the half on the right foot, putting together another one of their long, methodical drives, 11-play 79-yard TD drive as Sagapolutele hit the first six passes of the drive and Raphael finished up the drive with a 2-yard TD run up the gut to put the Bears up 21-10 5 minutes into the 2nd half.
The Bears took the lead into the fourth quarter but an undisciplined defensive performance on the first Tar Heels drive of the final stanza cut into their lead.
Following the Bears’ first sack of the game by OLB Chris Victor, the transfer edge was whistled for a questionable but totally unnecessary unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for celebrating the play that gave UNC the ball at the Cal 34. The Bears were also whistled for a 10-yard hold on the next play, giving UNC 25 consecutive yards in penalties. Following the penalties, the Bears lost contain and gave up a 17-yard run to running back Davion Gause, putting the ball on the Cal 7.
Two plays later, the Bears’ edge was completely sealed off, allowing Gause to easily stroll into the end zone on a 4-yard swing pass. The Tar Heels next went for 2 and again found paydirt, with QB Lopez hitting a wide open Benjamin Hall for the conversion to bring the Tar Heels within a field goal, 21-18 with 12:14 left in the game.
Unable to move the ball on the next posssession, the Bears were forced to punt deep in their territory. Punter Michael Kern, who had a dreadful game, unleashed a meager 32-yard punt, putting the Tar Heels in great position to take the lead at the Cal 47.
UNC was poised to take their first lead of the game 10 plays later as Lopez hit receiver Nathan Leacock for what looked like a sure touchdown but cornerback Paco Austin came up clutch, knocking the ball loose just before the goal line, with the fumble recovered in the end zone by Austin.
"That's as good an individual play as we've had this season," Wilcox said. "It was an unbelievable play."
Taking over at their 20 with 3:48 left, the Bears picked up a couple critical, clock-eating first downs, with Sagapolutele hitting De Jesus for an 11-yard pass and Raphael converting on 3rd-and-1 with a 3-yard rush up the middle.
The Bears were able to bleed the clock down to 13 seconds before punting, giving the Tar Heels one last chance chance to mount a long drive but UNC’s upset dreams ended on a multi-lateral play that momentarily looked promising but ultimately failed as the Bears hung on for the tight victory as time expired and the cannon exploded for the last time on Tightwad Hill.
Middle linebackers Cade Uluave (10) and Luke Ferrelli (9) led the Bears in tackles in the win.
The Bears will next go on the road to face 2-5 Virginia Tech in their second consecutive 7:30 pm Friday night game next weekend in Blacksburg, Virginia.
