Defense won this big game
Sonny Dykes got a running start, leaped into the air and landed in the arms of his quarterback. Davis Webb wasn’t letting go. This was the embrace of pure, life-changing victory at Cal’s Memorial Stadium.
It was quite enough to knock off previously undefeated Utah, 28-23, on Saturday. There was that familiar sight of thrilling, long-distance pass plays. But the nature of this win was entirely fresh. The Bears’ defense, a long-standing joke in the Pac-12 Conference, decided this game in a storybook finish.
What a spectacle. Nearly 3½ hours into a bitter struggle, 14 seconds remaining, time was out. Late-afternoon shadows had engulfed the field, the Cal cheering section still bathed in sunshine. The ball cast a lonely figure at Cal’s 1-yard line, with only the refereeing crew nearby. Cal linebacker Raymond Davison, who had just made a game-saving tackle, was being helped off the field by two staff members. He stopped short at one point, bent over, as if he couldn’t go on, but he finally made it to the sideline.
There was a reprieve. Utah tight end Evan Moeai had victory in his hands, if only he could grab a short pass from quarterback Troy Williams, but he dropped it just short of the end zone. It was a break the Bears gladly accepted, and then the fitting climax: Still needing just 1 yard, the Utes decided to run. Of course they did. They’re all about punishing, old-school, grind-it-out football, and surely coach Kyle
Whittingham had a gamewinning call in his pocket.
Not quite. The handoff went to running back Zack Moss, defensive tackle James Looney stopped him cold with a heroic hit, time expired — and absolute bedlam ensued.
“At the end, defense is going to win games for you,” said Looney. “Our defense played phenomenal today, and we played as a team. We believed. That was my play to make, and I made it.”
You’ve seen fans rush out of the stands in ecstasy, all over the country, and the sight can be a little bit frightening at times. This celebration was all about the players, Dykes’ entire roster storming the field in a leaping, chest-bumping, blue-and-gold frenzy. The beaming coach hugged Looney, wide receiver Chad Hansen, so many others, and Webb — “really an exceptional guy,” as Dykes described him — was the last man to leave, waving to jubilant end-zone fans as he disappeared into the tunnel.
“Probably the best team win I’ve ever been a part of,” he said.
Wherever pickup football is played, even on the streets, there’s the sight of someone “going long” and the quarterback looking to float a pretty spiral over the defender’s reach and hitting his man in stride. Webb is an absolute master at this, his quick release looking almost effortless and the ball appearing to stay airborne just as long as it takes. The last of his four touchdown passes, a picturesque 56-yarder to Demetris Robertson, reached that brand of perfection.
“He’s a good quarterback,” Utah defensive Brian Allen volunteered, grudgingly. “We knew he’s not very mobile, but that he’s good in the pocket. His receivers got open for him (two touchdowns each for Robertson and Hansen), and he just made some plays.”
Each week brings a new adventure in the Pac-12, so there’s no telling where the Bears go from here (strictly speaking, it’s a visit to Oregon State next Saturday). But they’d like to think this marks a critical stage of the season. A loss would have made them 0-2 in the conference, with fading hopes for a bowl appearance. They had taken heartbreaking losses in two of their three previous games. A defensive lapse in the frantic final seconds would have been devastating.
Instead, the Bears have a win that will draw national attention, for beating the Utes is a very big deal. In a conference known for flair and the spectacular, you’re not thinking John Elway, Marcus Mariota or Sonny Sixkiller when you watch these guys. They’re more like a bunch of leathery types on a construction site. The Utes’ idea of a really terrific drive is 70 yards over an hour’s time. If they were a train, they’d make 16 stops between Modesto and Merced.
That’s what makes Cal’s win so satisfying, earned the hard way with sheer toughness and resilience. “Just another regular ol’ Cal football game,” Dykes said afterward, but he knew better. A new dimension has risen to the surface, arriving just in time.