Cal Football: The Entire Cal Offense - Not Just Jaydn Ott - Clicked Against Arizona
Cal unleashed perhaps its best offensive performance in six seasons under coach Justin Wilcox on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. And certainly one of its worst outings on defense.
The equation added up to a 49-31 victory over Arizona in the Pac-12 opener for both teams and left Wilcox a bit conflicted.
Led by freshman Jaydn Ott’s 274-yard outburst, the Bears rushed for 354 yards — the most they’ve had in a Pac-12 game since 381 against Washington in 2003.
Quarterback Jack Plummer was 18 for 28 for 245 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions and no sacks a week after Notre Dame sacked him six times.
He completed at least two passes to each of six different receivers, with Jeremiah Hunter, J.Michael Sturdivant and Keleki Latu each catching touchdowns as the Bears (3-1, 1-0 Pac-12) snapped a six-game losing streak to Arizona.
The Bears finished with 599 yards and averaged 9.1 yards per snap.
Their 49 points matched the most they’ve totaled in a Pac-12 game under Wilcox. In 40 previous conference games since the start of the 2017 season, the Bears had scored 30 points or more just eight times while being held to 20 or fewer 20 times.
The defense, meanwhile, made big plays in the fourth quarter but was lit up much of the afternoon by Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura, who passed for 401 yards and two touchdowns.
“That’s as poor as we’ve played on defense in the first half,” Wilcox says in the video above. “There probably wasn’t anything good, to be honest with you. First half we didn’t tackle well, we didn’t rush, we didn’t cover anybody. It was bad.”
The offense, by comparison, was terrific.
Cal has resided near the bottom of the Pac-12 for several seasons in most offensive statistical categories. The Bears averaged 23.7 points through the first three games this season, 23.8 last year, 20.3 in the four-game 2020 season, and 21.2 points in 2019.
“I think we finally played up to our potential, finally showcased to the world what we know we can do,” Plummer says in the video below.
Ott and Plummer both heaped praise on the offensive line, which looked different Saturday than the first three games.
A week after the Bears at times struggled to move the ball against Notre Dame, the coaching staff shuffled the offensive line. Part of it was out of necessity because starting right guard Spencer Lovell was sidelined by an injury.
Wilcox explains in the video above the changes, which included shifting center Matthew Cindric to right guard, left guard Brian Driscoll to center, and giving first-time starts to freshman Sioape Vatikani at left guard and transfer TJ. Session at right tackle.
Among Cal’s five O-line starters, only left tackle Ben Coleman remained in the same position he played the first three weeks.
Cover photo of Cal guard Sioape Vatikani cheering on Jaydn Ott by Andrew Madsen, KLC fotos
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
