Saturday, September 30, 2006

Daily Cal: More of the Same as Cal Piles It on Oregon State

The game may have been at a different venue, but the result—and the way it was achieved—stuck to the recent script for the No. 20 Cal football team. That is, strike early and strike fast.  The Bears reached the end zone four times and kicked a field goal in their five first-half possessions en route to a 41-13 victory over Oregon State. Quarterback Nate Longshore threw for 341 yards and four touchdowns.  Cal had scored 112 combined first-half points in the three games prior to Saturday’s bout with the Beavers (2-2, 0-1 in the Pac-10). The Bears (4-1, 2-0) sucked the energy out of a small, but vocal crowd of 39,309 at Reser Stadium, taking a 31-3 lead into the locker room.  Longshore tossed four touchdowns for the third time on the year, and again appeared comfortable in the pocket, completing 22-of-31 passes. Marshawn Lynch rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown. He also caught a air of scoring strikes from Longshore.

“Our offense did an extremely nice job in the first half moving the ball and converting some major third downs,” Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. “Those were big plays for us that kept drives alive.”  The Bears converted five of their six third down attempts in the first half.  Having lost to Oregon State, 23-20, a year ago at home, Cal wasted no time jumping out to a big lead.  Longshore, hit as he threw, delivered a perfect pass to Lavelle Hawkins for a score only 2:07 into the game. Hawkins ended the day with six catches for 128 yards.  That was only the beginning.  After Desmond Bishop forced a fumble by Beavers tailback Yvenson Bernard at the Bears’ 15-yard line, Longshore capped a nine-play drive by finding Jackson on a 27-yard strike.

“We have a lot of players who are capable of making plays out there,” Lynch said.  Lynch would add a pair of touchdowns—one on the ground and one through the air—and the damage was done, though Alexis Serna’s 58-yard field goal right before the half did put Oregon State on the board.

Cal returns home this week to face Oregon. The Ducks won easily, 48-13, over Arizona State on Saturday.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Next Saturday's primetime match is going to be on my mind all week long. Watching the highlights of Oregon vs. ASU, I found myself thinking that Cal's linebacking corps would do a better job than the Sun Devils' of handling all those underneath WR screens that Oregon were running. And put Hughes on Jaison Williams and see how much running room he has.

Oregon's running game and QB Dixon's mobility is going to be a problem. Putting pressure on him--hopefully without having to bring an 8- or 9-man front--will be important.