Cal vs. UNLV Football Insta-Recap & Rate the Game: Golden Bears Fend Off Rebels' Upset Bid, Win 20-14
California will travel to Notre Dame with an undefeated record
The California Golden Bears (2-0) earned a narrow 20-14 win against the UNLV Rebels (1-1), collecting its second victory of the 2022 college football season.
Despite out-gaining UNLV 268 yards to 109 in the first half, California could only put up two field goals after halftime, letting the visiting Rebels stay in the game well into the fourth quarter. The Golden Bears earned only 102 yards in the last two quarters.
The second-half malaise may have surprised some Cal fans, as quarterback Jack Plummer began his second game as the Golden Bears' lead play-caller in solid form. Plummer shed the jitters he demonstrated in his first game against UC Davis, going eight-for-eight in the first quarter this week, helping lead the Golden Bears to a 14-0 scoreline.
Plummer ended Saturday afternoon with 278 passing yards, completing 28 passes out of 39 pass attempts and one touchdown thrown.
First-year running back Jaydn Ott led California in scores, rushing for two yards in the Golden Bears' first drive and collecting a 12-yard reception from Plummer for his second touchdown.
Ott led California in rushing yards with 52, gaining an average of 7.4 yards per touch. Despite his explosive start, Coach Wilcox and his staff decided to spread the running game among four other tailbacks, averaging between three and five yards per attempt.
Coach Wilcox will hope his team maintains its winning habit ahead of their trip next week to South Bend, Ind., to take on the No. 8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
The Fighting Irish are looking for their first win of the season. After suffering a 21-26 upset at home against the Marshall Thundering Herd, Notre Dame will look forward to venting their frustrations on the visiting Golden Bears.
Well, normally at this point I'd say that the film always looks different than the game. But I think I can say after watching that game, even before going back and watching the film, that our O-Line was absolutely fucking terrible. And it's not because we don't have the horses or the athletic ability to get the job done. It's because time after time our guys made the wrong block, missed the adjustment, or got caught thinking instead of reacting. That's all on Coach McClure. I'm sorry to say that but it is. If our kids are unprepared it's on their coaches. UNLV's O-Line was heads and tails better than ours. What does that tell you? After last year and from what I saw today, we need something serious with respect to changes in O-line coaching. There is no excuse for how we played today against UNLV. If we play this way for the rest of the season we are in trouble. Sorry, that's just how I see it.
We won.