After the California Golden Bears scored to go ahead 6-3 on the Colorado Buffaloes, Colorado's drive stalled and Cal went back to work. An Isi Sofele sweep play to the left side (in addition to a personal foul penalty) set up the Bears in the red zone, but a Sofele running back pass play was blown up into a Colorado sack, and Cal had to settle for a 39 yard field goal for Giorgio Tavecchio to give the Bears a 9-3 lead.
Colorado managed to put more points on the board thanks to the efforts of their speedy running back Rodney Stewart. Colorado quarterback Tyler Hansen connected with Stewart on 12, 16, and 7 yard gains to give Will Oliver the chance to boom a 52 yard field goal, and the Buffs were right back to being down only three.
But Cal came right back. Coleman Edmond got a nice 27 yard kickoff return to the Cal 38. Then on 3rd down, Zach Maynard rolled to his left and found Keenan Allen outracing Parker Oms, who then streaked for a 37 yard gain. A bruising C.J. Anderson 13 yard run gave Cal first and goal, and on second down Maynard rolled to his left, came back and found Anthony Miller. The throw as a little off-balance, but Miller did manage to make a great one-handed grab to help put the Bears up ten at halftime.
Maynard has struggled with his command and accuracy (9 of 17 for 113 yards, 2 TD and an INT) and his footwork is still spotty, but he's made some great plays on the move and also was able to assist big-time on the double pass with his brother. Tavecchio has come back from a bad extra point block to nail a huge field goal and three touchbacks. And other than the Maynard interception, Cal isn't making any mental errors on the road in Boulder; the Buffs committed 9 penalties and cost themselves 68 yards, while the Golden Bears have yet to commit a penalty.
To discuss the game with Cal fans, check out the California Golden Blogs. To discuss the game with Colorado fans, head to Ralphie Report.