Cal vs. Notre Dame Football Insta-Recap & Rate the Game: Golden Bears Drop a Winnable Game 17-24
The California Golden Bears (2-1) fell to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1-2), 17-24, continuing its losing streak against the blue-blood college football program.
The two quarterbacks struggled.
Notre Dame quarterback Drew Pyne had his first career start Saturday, going three and out on the Fighting Irish’s first four drives of the game. On his fifth drive, he fumbled the snap, coughing the ball up to California.
Unfortunately, the first quarter was equally uneventful. The Golden Bears added three punts of their own and missed a field goal from 45 yards to keep the first period scoreless.
The contest picked up in the second quarter, as both teams traded scores. It wasn’t until the last period when Notre Dame iced the game with 10 unanswered points, including a 47-yard field goal to start the fourth quarter. The successful kick tied the game at 17-all.
California quarterback Jack Plummer never seemed to find his groove, often overthrowing his wide receivers. He finished the afternoon with a pedestrian 184 yards and one touchdown thrown, completing 16 out of 37 pass attempts. He spread the ball to five receivers, with none earning more than 100 yards.
Plummer’s most notable plays came on the ground. He added a one-yard rushing touchdown to give the Golden Bears a 17-14 lead at the end of the third quarter and kept drives alive with his scrambles.
Notably, the Notre Dame defense limited the Golden Bears’ star running back Jaydn Ott to 33 rushing yards and two pass completions for a total of 11 receiving yards.
Rate the Cal v. Notre Dame Game!
I don’t know about everybody, but that was an extremely entertaining game to watch. OLine is a hot mess, but that was some fun college football.
I just finished watching the second half. Frustrating. But a crazy last drive (how many lives did we get?) that ended in an almost hail mary.
ND coach needs to work on his body language. Showed his frustration a lot.