Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Cal shellacs No. 8 Washington State
CALIFORNIA 37, NO. 8 WASHINGTON STATE 3
BERKELEY, Calif. — Ross Bowers found a way to overshadow California’s opportunistic defense that forced seven turnovers and had nine sacks.
An acrobatic flip into the end zone will do just that.
Bowers scored on the touchdown leap and the Golden Bears used a dominant defensive performance to stun No. 8 Washington State 37-3 Friday night for their first victory in 14 years against a top 10 team.
“I didn’t think I could go left or right so why not over the top,” Bowers said. “Luckily I was able enough to land safely and all that stuff.”
Camryn Bynum had two of California’s five interceptions against Luke Falk, and the Bears (4-3, 1-3 Pacific-12) overwhelmed the Cougars (61, 3-1) for a signature victory under first-year Coach Justin Wilcox.
Cal was just 1-52-1 against top 10 teams since 1978 with the only victory coming over No. 3 Southern California in 2003 before breaking through against mistake-prone Washington State.
“There’s no bright spot. We were pathetic,” Cougars Coach Mike Leach said. “We’re a bunch of pathetic front-runners.”
The Bears used short fields on their first four scoring drives before Bowers delivered the highlight of the night with his touchdown run early in the fourth that left the crowd gasping in amazement.
Bowers scrambled and then bounded off two feet from just outside the 2. He did a front flip over Justus Rogers and fell in the end zone following the 7-yard run that made it 27-3.
“That was 11 out of 10,” Bynum said. “That was really nice. That’s crazy.”
Bowers, whose mother used to be the gymnastics coach at Washington, had scored on a similar flip in a high school game, and his mother once again was hoping for even more.
“She said the same thing to me after the game: ‘Why didn’t you do a double?’ ” Bowers said. “It was the same thing. It’s like deja vu. It keeps her coming to the games.”
The game was played in smoky conditions because of the wine country fires that had killed at least 35 people and destroyed at least 5,700 homes and businesses about 50 miles north of Cal’s campus.
The tone for this game was set when Falk was intercepted on Washington State’s third play from scrimmage, setting up a field goal by Matt Anderson.
The Cougars committed three turnovers in the first half, missed a field goal and had a 1-yard punt in the final minute of the half that set up a touchdown that made it 17-3 at the break.