Rob Calogne
Early in the week, quarterback Kevin Riley said Cal's first game was about 'revenge'. When Jeff Tedford was asked about that, he made sure to correct that by saying the game was about 'redemption'. Tedford went on to explain, "It's not the revenge of what they did to us, it's the redemption of what we did to ourselves."
Saturday night, it was ALL about what Cal did to Maryland as they dismantled the Terp's to the tune of a 52-13 whipping that answered any questions about Cal's worthiness as a Pac-10 powerhouse. After the game, Tedford was asked where his happiness with the game began. "With the win. That's first and foremost," he answered. After naming nearly everything that Cal did well on the night, he made sure to point out, "We still have things to work on and we'll get back to work and get on that tomorrow."
After going three and out on their first series, the Golden Bears put the game in the hands of their Heisman candidate, Jahvid Best. On a first and 10 from their own 27, Best exploded through the line and ran for 73 yards for the first score of the game. "It was great blocking and I was able to find a seam," said Best of the run.
The touchdown was made possible by receiver Verran Tucker, who Best made sure to point out. "There was a point where I noticed he [Nolan Carroll] had an angle on me, so I tried to wait a little bit and set up Tuck's block. Thank God he was there, because if he wasn't there, it probably wouldn't have been a touchdown."
The game would never get any closer than that. The kickoff immediately following Best's run turned into a fumble that the Bears recovered at Maryland's 22-yard line. Riley went to work quickly with a 20-yard strike to Marvin Jones and then he'd put the ball back in the hands of Best. Best dive over the pile for a two-yard touchdown and a quick 14-0 lead.
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