Cal (5-1, 2-1 Pac-12) amassed 467 total yards and 340 through the air but turnovers plagued the Bears as Jared Goff completed 25 of 47 passes for 340 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions. Utah's Devontae Booker was the statistical star of the day, rushing for 222 yards and 2 touchdowns on 34 carries. While Cal managed to force three turnovers on the night, the Bears also turned it over six times themselves.
Faced with a six-point deficit with time winding down, Cal got one last shot at a comeback. A strong
punt by Utah's Tom Hackett gave the Bears the ball on their own 5-yard line with 4:52 left, but instead of panicking, Goff got things started in earnest with a 17-yard pass to Darius Powe that, combined with a 15-yard personal foul penalty, took the ball to the 46.
The Bears continued to move down the field in chunks, with a pair of big third-down conversions coming courtesy of passes from Goff to Kenny Lawler. Faced with 4th and 5 from the Utah 21 with the game on the line, Goff's pass over the middle was batted down by Boobie Hobbs and the Utes (5-0, 2-0) kneeled to run the clock out.
“That was a tough one. Boy, our kids played really hard. I’m disappointed for them. It’s one of those games we’ll look back on and wish we could have it over," Cal head coach Sonny Dykes said. "Just made too many mistakes to win the football game. We’ll learn from it and the next time we won’t make as many mistakes. Got to give Utah a lot of credit. That’s a good football team and they played really hard. We turned the ball over six times, but they had a lot to do with that as well. So you have to give them credit. That’s two football teams that played really hard and it was a very good football game.”
Needing to make up ground in the third quarter, Cal got a little closer in the first 15 minutes of the second half. A 36-yard field goal by Andy Phillips pushed Utah's advantage to 27-17 with 11:05 left but, after the teams traded empty possessions, the Bears got a break when Booker coughed the ball up on the way to the ground. Caleb Coleman recovered to give Cal the ball on the Utah 27 with 2:45 left in the period.
Three plays later, Cal found paydirt. A 10-yard pass from Goff to Stephen Anderson took the Bears to the 10 and two rushes by Tre Watson resulted in a four-yard run to the end zone. Watson's second touchdown of the year narrowed the gap to 27-24 with 2:03 left in the quarter. Another Phillips field goal, this time from 39 yards, made the score 30-24 Utah with 12:07 left to play.
Cal trailed by just a touchdown at intermission but, as has become common for the Bears in recent weeks, a little momentum shifted back to the blue and gold just before halftime. After a 4-yard touchdown run by Devontae Booker put Utah up 24-10 with 1:47 left in the half, Cal managed to close the gap.
An inside screen from Goff to Trevor Davis gave the receiver some room in space and he turned that into a big play, weaving between defenders for a 50-yard gain to the Utah 9. After a pass to Anderson took the Bears to the 1, Goff rolled out and found Darius Powe for a touchdown to make the score 24-17 Utes heading into the locker room.
The late touchdown pass kept Cal in touch on the scoreboard despite one of the sloppier halves of football the Bears have had in 2015. Five turnovers led to 17 Utah points and allowed the Utes to get Booker rolling on the ground. The senior from Sacramento, Calif. rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns in the half.
“I thought our defense played hard all night," Dykes said. "They’re playing with some confidence. If somebody makes a play on us they just play the next play. They keep playing our game, keep playing hard and make people earn what they get. The defense certainly bailed the offense out in the first half. The offense gave them some short fields and the defense held them to field goals.”
After playing the late game on Saturday, Cal now sets its sights on a bye week followed by a trip to Southern California as the Bears will next play at UCLA on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 6 p.m. in a game televised by ESPN. After the trip to Pasadena, Cal returns to Kabam Field at Memorial Stadium for a Halloween showdown with USC.
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