Author: Aryan Virani
We were in attendance for one of the biggest west coast matchups of week 2, UNLV Rebels traveled to California to take on the Cal Golden Bears. The Bears held off the upset as they would come through with a 20-14 victory. This was a very interesting and eye opening game for both teams so let's talk about what went down.
UNlV started the game off with the ball but a strong defensive effort from Cal had them go 3 and out. The Bears started with the ball just around midfield after a weak punt. The Cal offense worked very quickly as they would take the ball into the end zone in just around 3 minutes. 5th year senior quarterback Jack Plummer hit his leading receiver Jeremiah Hunter twice for a total of 55 yards on the possession. After Plummer’s 37 yard pass to Hunter, Freshman running back Jadyn Ott would make a strong move to get into the end zone and put the California Golden Bears on the board early in the first quarter.
The Cal defense would follow up the touchdown with another quick stop putting Plummer and the offense back onto the field. Now, Cal starting with the ball on their own 20 would have to drive down the field to score. This was no problem for Plummer, the transfer from Purdue, as he would lead the team all the way down to the 12 yard line. The UNLV defense made a solid 3rd down stop to make it 4th and 2 but the Cal coach Justin Wilcox had trust in his offense and kept them out there. This decision would pay off as Plummer rolled out to his left after faking the handoff and would actually hit his running back Jadyn Ott. Ott would then make an athletic effort to get into the endzone, diving in like superman over UNLV defenders. The Rebels seemed to be in trouble down 14-0 in the first.
The Rebels would respond to that touchdown with one of their own after quarterback Doug Brumfield would go 4-4 with 60 yards and a touchdown pass to the junior receiver, Kyle Williams. The Rebels now only down 14-7, needed to keep momentum going their way. Cal got back on offense and drove 85 yards down the field but Plummers pass would be picked off by the Rebels. Unfortunately for them, they weren't able to get much going and gave it back to the Golden Bears. The Bears would kick a field goal to take a 17-7 lead and after 2 slow possessions from both teams, the Bears would go into Half with a 2 score lead.
The Golden Bears would start the 2nd half off with a long 14 play 70 yard drive, but couldn't quite punch it into the endzone so they settled for 3 again, now up 20-7.The Rebels needed to put some points on the board. After a slow first half offensively, they would come out scoring quick, with a 4 play drive capped off by a 30 yard touchdown run by junior Aiden Robbins, the transfer from Louisville.
After that last score by the Rebels, Both defenses would battle and no team was able to score for the remainder of the game. The Rebels had one more chance to score, down 6 points with the 1 minute left, and the ball at midfield. The first play of the Drive was a solid gain to put the Rebels in Cal territory. That play was followed up with a huge 13 yard sack from Henry Ikahihifo. Now on 2nd and 23 the Bears would sack Brumfield again! This time for a 4 yard loss by Myles Williams. The Rebels with 1 last play to try to make some magic happen get their pass intercepted by the Cal defense and they would escape the upset from the rebels!
Cal, now 2-0, travels to South Bend to take on the 0-2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Who have not fought well this year. UNLV will host North Texas, who is 2-1.