Cal vs. Utah College Football Insta-Recap & Rate the Game: Utes Run Away with a 34-14 Win
Cal vs. Utah College Football Insta-Recap & Rate the Game: Utes Run Away with a 34-14 Win
California struggled to sustain any drives against Utah
The California Golden Bears (3-4, 1-3 Pac-12) came up short in its bid to upset the No. 16 Utah Utes (5-1, 2-1 Pac-12) Saturday.
California started the game strong, surprising some college football fans by coming out ahead to a 7-0 start in the first quarter. Fernando Mendoza, who earned his second start as California's quarterback against Utah, connected with star running back Jaydn Ott on a pass to the right to complete a 48-yard touchdown.
But the Golden Bears scored just two touchdowns in Rice-Eccles Stadium, never finding the consistency to sustain a drive.
California's second touchdown came in the third quarter. Mendoza threw a deep pass down the middle for a Taj Davis 24-yard touchdown, which cut the Golden Bears' deficit to 14-24.
Utah had put the game to bed in the previous drive, as Jonah Elliss sacked and stripped the ball at the California 13 with 10:27 remaining in the third quarter. The Utes would convert the turnover into seven points, only three plays after the fumble recovery.
The Utes pulled away in the second half to prevail 14-34, bringing its home win streak to an impressive 18 games.
Cal v. Utah college football final game stats
Cal gets an overall grade of D for this game. The O line is still having trouble opening holes for Ott and keeping whichever QB is playing upright. The pass-catching was simply atrocious. I can't remember the last time I've seen so many dropped balls. Our run defense is almost non-existent and opposing QBs have all day to sit back and just pick apart the secondary. I thought that Johnson returning from injury was supposed to improve our pass rush? It has been non-existent lately. The only thing that prevented me from giving Cal a flat-out F were the nice touchdowns from Mendoza to Ott and Davis. If the O-line could give Mendoza more time to throw then maybe we might actually be able to win at least three more games. The way things are going now, 3-9 is looking like a distinct possibility.
Any lineman with a number that ends with a 2, needs a new coach!
Are we going on 7 seasons of the same issues?