Cal Hopes ‘New’ Offense Cures Bears’ Fourth-Quarter Blues

The fourth quarter has been the bane of Cal’s offense this season, although a bit of optimism was provided last week when Pat McCann took over play-calling duties.

Cal has given itself a chance to win games this season by its play through three quarters, only to have it slip away at the end. The Bears’ offense did not score a single point in the fourth quarter of Cal’s first three games against FBS opponents.

---Cal was tied with UCLA 24-24 at the end of three quarters, but the Bruins outscored Cal 21-0 in the fourth quarter for a 45-24 UCLA victory.

---Cal trailed Syracuse 18-14 after three quarters and again the Bears’ offense failed to score in the fourth quarter. Kingston Lopa’s fourth-quarter pick-six allowed the Bears to escape with a 21-18 victory even though Cal totaled just 41 yards of total offense in that final quarter.

---The Bears were tied with Clemson 10-10 with less than four minutes left in the third quarter, but the Tigers outscored Cal 14-0 the rest of the way for a 24-10 Clemson win..

---The Cal offense finally broke through in the fourth quarter against UNLV to take a 25-24 lead, although that 47-yard drive that ended in a touchdown with 11:38 left in the fourth quarter was aided by a shanked UNLV punt and a pass interference penalty.

However, even in that case, UNLV scored the next 15 points to steal a possible victory from the Bears, who added a touchdown in the closing seconds of Cal's 39-31 loss.

“You get to the fourth quarter, [and] you’ve put yourself in position to win, you’ve done some really good things,” Cal general manager Ron Rivera said this week. “To not win means you got to learn how to finish games. And that’s where we are. We’ve got learn to finish these games off.”

Rivera then listed a number of little things Cal must do late in games to turn losses into wins.

“We’re close, but we’re not where we want to be,” Rivera said.

The mark of a good team is that it can play winning football in the fourth quarter. That’s why players on the sidelines hold up four fingers when the third quarter ends, boldly indicating they think they can control the pivotal fourth quarter and pull out a win.

Cal is just 2-3 (1-3 against FBS teams) because its offense has failed to produce in the fourth quarter.

Until last Saturday, that is.

With McCann calling the plays, Cal scored 15 points in the fourth quarter against UNLV.

Presumably he will be calling the plays against Virginia Tech in the fourth quarter. McCann’s challenge will be formidable because Virginia Tech (4-1) is favored by 10 points, according to DraftKings, making Cal the biggest underdog it has been all season. Plus Cal will be going against a Hokies team that ranks third in the ACC in total defense and leads the ACC in sacks with 18.

Cal’s fourth-quarter challenge will be a bit easier if quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, running back Adam Mohammed and wide receiver Chase Hendricks are able to play, but all three were considered questionable to play in Saturday’s game as of Wednesday night.

Of course, Cal has to stay close in the first three quarters to make the fourth quarter matter, and that won’t be easy against the Hokies.

But Cal has been able to stay close this season, only to let the opportunity slip away in the fourth quarter.

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