SAN DIEGO, Calif. – A night full of offensive fireworks, along with periodic bouts of sloppy football on both sides, provided plenty of intrigue until the final moments of the game but a late attempt at a thrilling comeback fell short for the Cal football team as the Bears fell 45-40 to San Diego State at Qualcomm Stadium.

Davis Webb led Cal (1-1) on the stat sheet, completing 41 of a school-record 72 pass attempts for 522 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions. Chad Hansen had his second-straight strong performance as Webb's top target and tied his carer-high in receptions, set just two weeks earlier, with 14 catches for 190 yards and a touchdown. The Bears outgained the Aztecs 604-463 but Donnel Pumphrey rushed for 281 yards and three touchdowns to lead SDSU (2-0) offensively.

After Cal's Derron Brown recovered an onside kick with 55 seconds left, the Bears got one last chance to stage a comeback. And, facing potentially one last gasp on 4th and 7 with less than 30 seconds left, Webb found Vic Wharton III for an 11-yard gain to put the Bears on the SDSU 29-yard line. A pass to Demetris Robertson moved the ball to the 22, an incompletion brought up third down, and Damontae Kazee made the game-clinching play, tipping Webb's pass to himself for an interception.

"We played hard. I was proud of their effort, proud of the fact that we hung in there. We just made too many mistakes," Cal head coach Sonny Dykes said. "Like I told the guys afterwards, you can turn the ball over four times and give up a kickoff return (for a touchdown) and beat some bad teams but you can't do it against a good team. San Diego State is a good football team."

Facing a four-point deficit and a San Diego State team that had led since the second quarter, Cal needed a stop late in the fourth quarter to give itself a shot at one last rally. Pumphrey made that comeback less likely, capping an eight-play, 73-yard drive in which he gained 63 yards himself with a 4-yard touchdown run to put the Aztecs ahead 45-34 with 2:47 left to play.

Webb wasn't quite done, navigating the Bears down the field quickly to keep hope alive. A 2-yard touchdown pass to Raymond Hudson with 56 seconds left made it 45-40 Aztecs, but a shovel pass attempt on the 2-point conversion ended short of the goal line to keep the SDSU lead at five. Cal's onside kick attempt landed in the outstretched arms of Brown, giving Cal one final shot.
 
Before Cal tried to rally late, the Bears used a solid third quarter to narrow the SDSU lead and climb back into contention. Pumphrey pushed San Diego State's lead to 17 with a 57-yard touchdown run but less than two minutes later, Webb hit Robertson in stride for a 59-yard scoring strike that doubled as Robertson's first collegiate touchdown.

After Cal forced a three-and-out to get the ball back, Matt Anderson converted on a 45-yard field goal attempt to leave Cal down 38-31 at the quarter break. Minutes later, momentum shifted further when Evan Rambo grabbed a Christian Chapman pass for an interception, the first by a SDSU quarterback in 14 games, and Anderson converted from 36 yards as Cal trailed 38-34 with 13:27 to play.

"Even when we got down two scores, it didn't look good but I think we all felt like we had an opportunity to win the game," Dykes said. "It kind of played out that way, we just didn't make enough plays down the stretch."

It took a few drives for both offenses to warm up Saturday but once they did, the first half became a back and forth battle on the scoreboard. San Diego State struck first, forcing a Cal fumble and then scoring on the next offensive play on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Christian Chapman to Rashaad Penny.

From that point until the end of the quarter, the Bears and Aztecs matched each other touchdown for touchdown. Webb went right over the top of the defense to find Bug Rivera for a 33-yard score but the Aztecs countered with a 100-yard kickoff return for a score by Penny. Webb again went up top to respond, this time connecting with Hansen for a 49-yard touchdown after Hansen simply ran right by man coverage on the outside to get free.

The big plays continued in the second quarter. Pumphrey, who moved past Marshall Faulk for No. 1 on SDSU's all-time rushing list Saturday, turned an inside draw into a 33-yard touchdown run for the Aztecs but again it was Webb who had an answer. His 21-yard touchdown pass to Ray Hudson came despite a pass interference call on the Aztecs, gave Hudson his first career touchdown as a Golden Bear and tied the score again.

San Diego State scored the final 10 points of the half to take a 31-21 lead into the break. A 10-yard interception return for a touchdown by Ronley Lakalaka and a 39-yard field goal by John Baron provided the difference and Cal's final effort to score fizzled around midfield.

With two games in the books, Cal now gets set for its 2016 home opener as Texas comes to Berkeley for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff on Saturday. That game will be broadcast live by ESPN. The Bears wrap up September with a road trip to Arizona State and return to Memorial Stadium on Oct. 1 to take on Utah.