Cal Football Rolls to 3-0 Record, Besting San Diego State, 31-10
Cal Football Rolls to 3-0 Record, Besting San Diego State, 31-10
The Golden Bears racked up 275 rushing yards against the Aztecs
The California Golden Bears (3-0) ran away from the San Diego State Aztecs (1-2), ending its non-conference slate with a perfect 3-0 record after a 31-10 decision Saturday evening.
Sophomore Jaivian Thomas made a statement in his first start for the Golden Bears with a career-high 169 rushing yards, including a 57-yard run down the middle to the San Diego State 7 on third-and-one at the start of the third quarter. His big play set up senior Kadarius Calloway's seven-yard rushing touchdown three plays later to give the home team a 14-3 advantage.
Calloway upped the ante with a blockbuster play of his own in the fourth quarter. The running back marched 60 yards down the field from his 25-yard line on California's second drive in the last period. On the next play, Fernando Mendoza connected with freshman Nyziah Hunter on a short 15-yard toss to the left to bring California up to 31-10.
Mendoza ended the game with 198 passing yards, two touchdowns, and one interception thrown, plus one rush for a score in the first quarter. Hunter was the signal-caller's favorite target, with 52 receiving yards.
California's star running back Jaydn Ott did not play after medical staff did not clear the junior to play before the game, Coach Justin Wilcox told reporters in the post-game press conference.
The Golden Bears and Aztecs played a sloppy game. The game started slow, with the first points coming with 5:44 remaining in the first period after the Aztecs' kicker Nick Lopez nailed a 29-yard score.
The two teams gave up a combined 27 penalties. San Diego State surrendered 15 penalties for 120 yards, while California gifted 113, including two unsportsmanlike conduct flags, which prompted Coach Wilcox to plead with the students to stop throwing things onto the field.
Read the insta-reactions to the California v. San Diego State college football game. Don’t forget to rate the game.
Please give them the half time speech before the get off of the bus in Tallahassee!
Random thoughts.
The TV timeouts seem to be getting more frequent and are definitely longer. The -- who asked for this? -- two minute warning makes it even worse.
The Bears have depth at RB and WR. Thomas and Calloway are very good backs.
San Diego State has a terrible offense and their QB was one of the worst I've seen at Memorial Stadium in recent years.
Our defense looks better this season especially at DB where we are talented and deep.
The students turned out last night but at least one of them -- the idiot throwing cards on the field -- should have stayed home.
Nice to see the chancellor leading cheers.
Mendoza is already a good QB and could well become an excellent one.