Quarterback Kevin Riley knows that Cal has only proved so much with its two blowout victories to open the season. The eighth-ranked Golden Bears scored at least 50 points in their first two games for the first time in their history, following the season-opening 52-13 thrashing of Maryland with a 59-7 victory over Eastern Washington. Those wins came against a team that needed overtime to beat a Football Championship Subdivision team in the Terrapins and an FCS team in the Eagles. The real tests of whether this truly will be a breakthrough season for the Bears (2-0) are still ahead of them, starting Saturday at Minnesota. "We've won two games. We won convincingly," Riley said. "We'll start playing some better teams now on the road. Every loss we had last year was on the road. We'll have to improve on that and win some road games." The Bears have lost four straight road games. In fact, their only road win a year ago came against Washington State, which was one of the worst teams in major college football.
But Cal feels it will be in better shape leaving home this season. If the results from the first two games are any indication, they could be right. The Bears have topped 500 yards in each of their first two games, committing no turnovers and only eight total penalties in the span. The defense has allowed just one touchdown in each game, recording nine sacks along the way. "We felt like we've done a lot of great things," star tailback Jahvid Best said. "We still have things to clean up but we're happy with where we're at right now." Best is a big reason for the success. He's opened his Heisman Trophy campaign in impressive fashion, carrying the ball 27 times for 281 yards and three touchdowns the first two weeks. He has also caught a touchdown pass, while staying fresh for this upcoming difficult stretch.
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