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FORT WORTH, Texas -- Jared Goff and Cal's Bear Raid offense was too much for Air Force's defense as he threw for six touchdown passes en route to a 55-36 victory.
First Quarter: Cal won the toss but deferred to the Second Half, giving Air Force the ball to start the game. The Falcons took the opening drive right down the field with a 11 play, 68 yard drive that never saw a pass. 6:27 was the time of possession on the drive, which was finished by Jacobi Owens to make the score 7-0 Falcons.
Cal got the ball back and flipped the field on their second play of the game as Tre Watson took the ball 32 yards over left tackle. The next play, Air Force lost their starting Strong Safety Weston Steelhammer to a Targeting call, giving Cal the ball at the 15 yard line. Four plays later, Vic Enwere punched it in from the 1 yard line to tie the score at 7. Cal's scoring drive went 7 plays and 65 yards. That gave Enwere his 7th rushing TD of the season, which led the Bears.
Weston Steelhammer is done for the game following a targeting call. WATCH LIVE: https://t.co/J9Xf58tAuT https://t.co/QnY8gcsxfH
— Air Force Football (@AFFootball) December 29, 2015
Air Force got the ball back but could do nothing with it, going three and out and punting to Cal. The Bears got the ball back and once again went down the field with a mix of runs and passes. However, Jared Goff fumbled the ball on 3rd and goal from the 3 after a hit by Dexter Walker, and Grant Ross took the ball back to midfield. However, video review showed that Goff's elbow was down, reversing the ruling on the field. A Matt Anderson Field Goal from 22 yards was going to be a fake, but Anderson missed the direct snap and Air Force got the ball on the 22 yard line.
The Falcons got the ball after the turnover on downs, but once again gave it up after a three and out. A good return by Maurice Harris past midfield gave the Bears the ball in plus territory. A quick throw from Goff to Bryce Triggs gave the Bears the ball inside the 30, and on the next play, the 2 play TD drive was complete with a Goff to Triggs throw over the right shoulder. The 47 yard, 27 second scoring drive gave the Bears a 14-7 lead at the end of the First Quarter.
Second Quarter: Air Force got a big return from Timothy McVey to open the Quarter outside of their 40 yard line. On the second play of the drive, a Karson Roberts to Garrett Brown wheel route down the right side netted 22 yards into Cal territory. A McVey carry on option right for 12 yards gave AF the ball in the red zone. On the next play, option right for Tyler Williams scored the Touchdown from 16 yards out. 5 plays and 59 yards made the score 14 all.
Cal got the ball back just shy of their 20 yard line, but three incompletions by Goff signaled the punt crew to come out on the field. The Falcons got the ball back at their own 42, but a 10 yard block in the back on the first play of the set pushed the ball back to their 32. That put the Falcons behind the sticks as they went 3 plays and out, punting the ball back to the Bears. The punt and a block in the back penalty gave the Bears the ball once again at their 19 yard line.
The Bears got some freedom off of two Goff completions with two Watson carries to get them past midfield. Then Goff dropped a dime to Maurice Harris for 40 yards to get Cal at the AF 5 yard line. Cal scored with a Goff to Powell TD pass on the next play. The drive covered 7 plays and 81 yards, and a Anderson PAT gave Cal the lead once again at 21-14.
Air Force got the ball back on the kickoff, but McVey fumbled the ball and got injured on the return. Air Force did get the ball in the scrum on their own 27 yard line to start the drive. That only prolonged the turnover though, as Kyle Kragen jumped on the fumble by Roberts on the first play of the drive. It gave Cal the ball on the Falcon 24 yard line, and it only took 1 play for Goff's third TD throw to find Lawler in the right corner of the end zone. 1 play and 24 yards on the scoring drive to make it 28-14 Cal.
Bryan Driskell got the Falcons the return to their 36 yard line on the ensuing Kickoff. Two Roberts keepers over the right side got the Falcons the initial First Down of the drive. A Garrett Brown tote on option right took the ball past midfield into Cal territory. Three plays later, a McVey option right carry for 19 yards got the ball into the red zone. A personal foul against Cal's Darius White for punching a Air Force WR gave the ball to the Cal 6 yard line. Two plays later, Roberts snuck it over the goal line for the Falcons TD to make it 28-21 Cal. The drive went 10 plays and 64 yards.
Cal got the ball back at the 22, and two plays was all it took to get inside the AF red zone. Biggest play was to Bryce Treggs for 55 yards. A third play got Cal the TD as Lawler took in Goff's 4th TD pass of the half from 14 yards out. 3 plays and 78 yards made it a 14 point Bears lead again at 35-21.
The Falcons regained the ball at their 31 yard line after the squib kickoff. But once again, no movement by the Offense made them punt away to Cal with :58 left in the half. Trevor Davis' return to the Cal 46 gave Goff a short field, 1 timeout and :46 to run the 2 minute drill. After offsetting penalties on the first play of the drive, a Goff to Trevor Davis pass got the ball to midfield, where Cal used their final timeout of the half with :31 to go. A 15 yard sack by Ryan Watson of Air Force put the ball back on the Cal 36, where the half ended with the score 35-21 Cal.
Air Force was led by Karson Roberts and Garret Brown with 43 yards of rushing each, while Timothy McVey had 42 yards. Roberts, Jacobi Owens and Tyler Williams had the scores for the Falcons, who had 170 yards rushing and 193 net yards on Offense.
Goff went 15 for 22 with 277 yards and 4 TD's in the 1st Half for Cal. Bryce Treggs had 102 yards rushing on 3 carries for Cal.
Third Quarter: After intermission, the Bears received the Second Half kickoff. Cal reached the 50 after five plays, including a false start penalty that set the Bears back 5 yards. Two passes from Goff to Harris got the ball within the AF 30 yard line. A personal foul of roughing the passer by the Falcons Santo Coppola put the ball inside the AF 12 yard line. On the next play, Goff threw his fifth TD of the day to Powell, his second TD catch of the day. The score then was 42-21 Cal, the drive went 9 plays and 76 yards to open the half.
A good kickoff return by Bryan Driskell gave the Falcons ideal field position at their own 39 to start their first drive of the second half. A fourth and 1 on the opening set of downs got the ball past midfield for the Falcons. Three plays later, a nifty Driskell carry got the ball inside the 13 yard line of Cal. However, two plays later, Jacobi Owens fumbled a handoff through the end zone for a touchback, giving Cal the ball at their own 20 yard line.
An incompletion and a stuff for no gain slowed Cal down for a hot minute, but a Goff to Powell for 44 yards put the Bears once again in AF territory at the 35 yard line. Two Kahlf Muhammad carries got the ball in the red zone. However, two carries and a Goff to Chad Hanson incompletion stalled the drive, and Matt Anderson kicked a 29 yard Field Goal through to make it 45-21 Cal. The scoring drive took 10 plays and 68 yards.
Another good return by Driskell return started the Falcons drive out at the AF 31 yard line. This time, Air Force was the beneficiary of a long pass play, as Roberts found McVey streaking down the middle of the field and hit him on stride for a 57 yard TD. 3 plays and 69 yards covered the scoring drive, and a Owens carry into the end zone for a 2 point conversion made the score 45-29 Cal with 90 seconds to go in the quarter.
Trevor Davis had a good return of the kickoff for Cal as they started the next drive at their own 39 yard line. Goff hit Bryce Treggs with the first play of the drive on a 41 yard gain to the Falcon 20 yard line. Two plays later, Kenny Lawler took a ladder screen pass from Goff to the end zone for a 25 yard TD, Goff's sixth TD throw of the day. The drive took all of 3 plays and 61 yards. The score became 52-29 Cal.
Air Force opened their drive at the 22 yard line, and a loss of 2 yards on the first play ended the third quarter.
Fourth Quarter: The Falcons had the ball to start the final 15 minutes of the contest, and moved the ball with two Roberts pass completions to the Bears 37 yard line. However, a few plays later Luke Rubenzer picked off a Roberts throw down the middle of the field to start another Cal drive at the 12 yard line of the Bears. The interception was the third turnover of the game for Air Force.
Cal had the ball and kept it on the ground, but that didn't do much and the Bears punted, giving the Falcons the ball near midfield. Karson Roberts took the ball to the Cal 31 with a option keeper behind left guard. A Roberts to Robinette pass took the ball to the California 17 yard line. Two plays later, Roberts found Robinette in the end zone for the TD. 7 plays and 52 yards on the TD, which made the score 52-36 Cal with 9:14 to go.
A short kickoff plus a Muhammed return to the 34 yard line gave the Bears decent starting position to their next drive. It took two Muhammed rushes to get the ball past midfield into Falcon territory.
Cal ended up wrapping up the scoring by kicking a 30-yard field goal, which ended up being their only points in the fourth quarter.