BERKELEY, Calif. — A botched fake punt that went for a touchdown the other way. A missed field goal and giving up the ball on a surprise onside kick.
Throw in seven sacks and four turnovers and it became far too much for Washington State to overcome against a ranked opponent.
Jared Goff threw for 390 yards and four touchdowns and No. 24 California used opportunistic defense and special teams to beat Washington State 34-28 on Saturday in the Golden Bears’ first game as a ranked team in six years.
“I think we improved,” quarterback Luke Falk said. “We rose up together. We were really an unstoppable team. There’s going to be times where we could have taken control of this game, just a play here and there.”
Falk threw for 389 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score for the Cougars (2-2, 0-1 Pac-12) but it wasn’t enough as they lost for the 28th time in their past 29 games against ranked opponents.
“It comes down to plays all over the field,” coach Mike Leach said. “This was a narrowly sliced game and there were a lot of plays where we could have picked up the slack.”
Many of those key plays came in the third quarter. On the first drive of the second half, Leach called for a fake punt on fourth-and-1 near midfield and punter Zach Charme fumbled Stefan McClure picked it up and ran 45 yards for the score.
Washington State responded with a 4-yard TD pass from Falk to Gabe Marks and was in position to take control after Kenny Lawler lost a fumble for Cal (5-0, 2-0). But McClure came up with a big third-down sack and Erik Powell missed a 40-yard field goal.
Goff then threw two TD passes in less than 2 minutes with help from a successful onside kick in between.
“It was something that was there,” coach Sonny Dykes said. “We were looking for the right time to call it. At that point, we had a little bit of momentum and we felt like it was something that could change the tide of the game.”
The Cougars then lost two fumbles, threw an interception and had a three-and-out in the fourth quarter to end up on the short end.
Cal ended up with seven sacks and forced four turnovers as the defense stepped up on a day where the offense wasn’t as efficient as usual. It’s a far cry from the past two years when one of the worst defenses in the nation limited the Bears to just six wins.
“We’re just trying to write our own script,” McClure said. “Last year’s defense is last year’s defense. They’re not going to make or not make a play for us this year. We’re just all out there trying to earn everyone’s respect. We just have a chip on our shoulder.”
Goff set the school record for TD passes when he connected with Treggs in the first quarter for his 65th career touchdown pass. That broke a tie he had with Kyle Boller. Goff finished the day with 68.
Cal was stopped twice on fourth down in the first half and Goff threw an interception on the third play from scrimmage as Washington State broke out to a 21-7 lead.
Falk hit River Cracraft for one score and added another on a fourth-and-goal run from the 1. Gerard Wicks added a 7-yard TD run.
But Goff then threw his first of two TD passes to Lawler late in the second quarter to start the comeback.
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