Cal scorches Sun Devils for school-record 42 first-half points
Rusty Simmons
It's usually a good sign when a coach starts looking for minute problems in the team's performance. Such was the case Saturday as Cal coach Jeff Tedford appeared less than enthused about the Bears opening the Pac-10 portion of their schedule by drubbing Arizona State 49-21 in front of 58,024 fans at Memorial Stadium. "I think in all three phases of the game, we played fairly solid, but we're still not where we need to be," he said. "We need to be able to put four quarters together, and we haven't done that yet this year." In consecutive weeks, No. 21 Cal (3-1) jumped out to a huge first-half lead and failed to score an offensive touchdown in the second half. That was probably the only obvious problem for the Bears, but the first-half numbers were askew. Arizona State rushed for 150 first-half yards to Cal's 68 and won the time of possession battle 20:49 to 9:11. Still, the Bears led 42-14.
That's because Cal dominated every other facet of the game as it scored four touchdowns in about six minutes. The Bears got four touchdown passes from Nate Longshore, a special teams and a defensive touchdown, and they didn't commit a penalty. The end result of the first-half barrage was 42 points, a school record for a half in a Pac-10 game. No. 22 Arizona State (3-1) lost its 11th consecutive game in California against Pac-10 teams, and the Sun Devils, under coach Dirk Koetter, are 0-4 against Cal, including a 27-0 loss in the teams' last meeting in 2004.
"We talked to the team about when you're on the road against a good team with a loud crowd, whenever that onslaught comes, you've got to be able to answer it," Koetter said. "We just couldn't answer it. "What Cal did to us is exactly what happened to them at Tennessee." The Bears have won three consecutive games after their season-opening loss at Tennessee. A large part of the turnaround has been the play of Longshore, who has thrown for 795 yards and 10 touchdowns in the last three games after passing for just 85 yards and a pick while being sacked three times in Knoxville, Tenn. "Nate's maturing on a regular basis," Cal offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar said. "He keeps getting better every week."
It helps to have the host of weapons the Bears possess among the receiving corps. Sophomore receiver DeSean Jackson, who had four catches for 67 yards, caught a touchdown pass in his sixth consecutive game, tying him for the longest current streak in the nation. Cal also got five catches for 83 yards from Robert Jordan and two catches for 49 yards and a score from Lavelle Hawkins as the Bears took advantage of Arizona State's aggressive defense for big pass plays. Entering the game, the Sun Devils led the nation with 18 sacks and were second with 32 tackles for a loss. The defensive front, which had 22 sacks all of last season, recorded just one sack against Cal, despite the Bears playing without both of their starting tackles, Andrew Cameron (ankle) and Scott Smith (knee). "We shouldn't have given up even one sack today, because I should have gotten that ball out," Longshore said. "People shouldn't be questioning our line just because we're a little banged up."
Instead it was the Bears' defense that took advantage of Arizona State's line, blitzing from a multitude of angles and sacking Rudy Carpenter five times. The sophomore, who led the nation in passing efficiency last season, never looked comfortable, completing just 16 of 36 passes for 177 yards and four interceptions (two more than he threw all of last season). The only possession the Sun Devils looked sharp on was their first, when they converted two third-down situations on a touchdown drive. The Cal defense has given up points on its opponent's first drive in three consecutive games, but as has become the custom, the Bears bounced back, allowing only one third-down conversion the rest of the first half.
ASU's opening drive sparked Cal, which came back with 35 unanswered points. Senior cornerback Daymeion Hughes, who has five interceptions in the last three games, capped off the first half with a highlight-reel, 30-yard return for a touchdown that gave Cal a 42-14 halftime lead.
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