Missed Chances Weren't Costly vs. UNLV But Could Doom Cal at Notre Dame
Here are four situations the Cal coaching staff is certain to jump all over this week as the Bears prepare for the big stage at Notre Dame Stadium:
-Cal was up 14-7 and had driven from its own 5-yard line to the UNLV 10 when Jack Plummer threw into coverage at the goal and was intercepted.
-It still was 14-7 against a team with just one winning season since 2000 when the Bears drove the ball to the 3-yard line before being forced to kick a 21-yard field goal.
-Hoping to build on a 17-7 halftime lead, Cal took the third-quarter kickoff and advanced as deep as the Rebels' 8 before settled again for a Dario Longhetto field goal.
-The game had tightened to 20-14 when the Bears hoped to gain some breathing room with 8 minutes left. But on fourth-and-2 from the UNLV 25, coach Justin Wilcox sent the field goal unit onto the field again. Longhetto was wide right from 43 yards, his first misfire of the season.
So yes, the Bears won 20-14, improving to 2-0 on the season. Next up is an eighth-ranked Fighting Irish team likely fall out of the Top-25 after a 26-21 loss at home to Marshall.
Wide receiver Jeremiah Hunter pulls in one of his five catches.
Photo by Darren Yamashita, USA Today
But back to our original thought. To summarize, Cal moved the ball 237 yards on four possessions, pushing as deep as the Rebels' 10, 3, 7 and 25 to score a total of six points. That's a lot of heavy lifting for such a small payoff.
And it will not get it done next week at Notre Dame Stadium. No one beats Touchdown Jesus with field goals.
Through two games, we have seen a Cal offense that looks much improved over last season at times. It was early in this game, later against UC Davis the week before.
What we have not seen is consistency and an ability to punch the ball in from the red zone or thereabouts.
“I think if we can do some small things a little bit better . . . we talked about these red-zone opportunities, if we put the ball in the end zone two or three times when we’re down there, we’re probably going to feel a lot different," Wilcox says in the video at the top of this story."
Plummer, who generally played quite well, says the offense has a responsibility to come through when the defense is playing so well. Through two games, the Bears are allowing just 13.5 points per game.
"You’re sitting there on the sideline watching the defense just battle. In today’s age of college football if the defense give us just 14 points, you better win," he says in the video above. "We definitely left some points out there.”
The Bears started fast, scoring on their first two possessions of the game. Freshman running back Jaydn Ott scored both touchdowns, on a 6-yard run and a 12-yard pass reception.
Afterward, offensive tackle Ben Coleman acknowledged his unit must do more.
"We got a get-out-of-jail card," he said "We’ve go to be able to finish games. The first half is how we want to play all the time.”
Cover photo of Cal running back Jaydn Ott by Darren Yamashita, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
