BERKELEY – Touchdowns just before and immediately after halftime provided the spark Cal (2-0) needed and the Bears used that momentum to pull away for a 35-7 victory Saturday over San Diego State (1-1) at Kabam Field at California Memorial Stadium.
Heisman Trophy candidate junior quarterback Jared Goff led the way on the stat sheet yet again for Cal, completing 17-of-24 passes for 321 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Goff moved into second place on the school's all-time career list for passing yardage and became only the second player in school history to move past 8,000 career passing yards. Goff has 8,111 yards after 26 games (all starts) in his career and is only 15 shy of school record holder Troy Taylor (8,126, 1986-89). Goff extended his school record with the 14th 300-yard game of his career.
Senior running back Daniel Lasco also enjoyed a standout day for a Cal offense that ran the ball on its final 12 plays. Lasco finished with 123 yards rushing and his 17th career touchdown on 19 carries while Trevor Davis led Cal's receiving corps with three catches for a career-high 138 yards including a 75-touchdown catch from Goff. Davis' yards per catch average of 46.0 established a single-game Cal record.
A game that remained close early turned in the Bears' favor thanks to a series of key plays right before and after halftime. With the score tied at 7-7 and the Aztecs winding the clock down before intermission, Darius White put momentum back in Cal's corner with a diving interception, grabbing Christian Chapman's pass to give the Bears the ball on their own 35.
From that point on, it didn't take long for the familiar explosiveness of Cal's offense to make all the difference. Goff found Bryce Treggs deep over the middle for 28 yards to get the Bears into San Diego State territory, then connected with Kenny Lawler on a deep out that Lawler turned back inside for 24 yards and took to the San Diego State 13-yard line.
Maurice Harris got the next chance and he made it count, taking an inside screen from Goff and turning upfield behind plenty of blockers to punch in the 13-yard score. The three-play, 65-yard drive in just 52 seconds put Cal in front for the first time and gave the Bears the 14-7 lead heading into halftime.
Armed with the good mojo that it carried into the locker room, Cal came out for the second half and needed just one play to take control. After a touchback on the opening kickoff, a pump fake by Goff stopped San Diego State's defensive backs in their tracks and left Davis all alone behind the defense. Goff found the senior from Martinez, Calif. in stride and Davis raced untouched into the end zone for a 75-yard score that is Cal's longest play to scrimmage in 2015 to put the Bears up 21-7.
"I thought the turnover and the drive at the end of the first half was really critical," Cal head coach Sonny Dykes said. "Getting the interception we got and driving down and scoring with 11 seconds left was pretty substantial. To start the third quarter with a big play like we did was important as well."
Lasco helped build Cal's advantage on the scoreboard with a 3-yard touchdown run with 2:59 to go in the third quarter to make it 28-7 and Vic Enwere pushed the lead to its final margin of 28 when he rumbled in for a 17-yard touchdown run of his own with 8:07 left in the game.
"He's certainly going to be one of the great ones to ever play here if he's not right now," Dykes said. "It's hard to compare numbers. It's a different game now, we're a different offense than guys played in the past. But I'll tell you this, I wouldn't trade him for any other quarterback in college football."
That Cal led at the break spoke to the Bears' ability to take an opponent's best shot and keep going. San Diego State dominated time of possession (18:52 to 11:08) in the first half and took the early lead when senior Maxwell Smith, who would later give way to the redshirt freshman Chapman, found junior tight end Daniel Brunskill open over the middle for a 29-yard touchdown on the Aztecs' first possession.
The opening touchdown was all Cal's defense would yield for the rest of the game as the Bears held an opponent to seven points or less for the first time since a 23-6 win over Oregon State in a home game at AT&T Park on November 12, 2011. The Bears allowed just 325 yards of total offense while interceptions by White and Michael Barton brings Cal's total to six in the first two games this season after having 12 all of last year and five in 2013.
"It was good to finally have our defense carry us through the game and have the offense feed off our energy rather than the other way," Barton said. "We executed well, our veteran leadership showed a lot and there were plenty of times where we made big plays when we needed to. I think that really carried us through the game and into next weekend at Texas."
Saturday's victory wrapped up a two-game homestand to begin the season for the Bears, who now go on the road for two games beginning with next Saturday's non-conference matchup at Texas. Kickoff from Austin is set for 6:30 p.m. CST/4:30 p.m. PDT and will be televised by FOX. Cal then heads to Seattle to begin Pac-12 play at Washington on Sept. 26 before returning to Memorial Stadium on Oct. 3 to host Washington State for Homcoming. Kickoff times and television information for the Washington and Washington State games is expected to be announced 12 days in advance of each contest.
