Cal Sports Report

Cal Football Game Summary: Jaydn Ott Runs for 274 Yards in Bears’ Win

Freshman records third highest rushing total in Cal history in win over Arizona in Pac-12 opener.

Jake Curtis

In this story:

Cal freshman Jaydn Ott ran for 274 yards and had touchdown runs of 73 and 72 yards in the Bears' 49-31 victory  over Arizona in its Pac-12 opener on Saturday afternoon in Berkeley, Calif.

Ott's total was the third highest rushing total in Cal history, behind Jahvid Best's 311 yards against Washington in 2008 and Jerry Drew's 283 yards against Oregon State in 1954.

CAL 49, ARIZONA 31.

RECORDS: CAL (3-1, 1-0 Pac-12), ARIZONA (3-1, 0-1  Pac-12)

PLAYER OF THE GAME, OFFENSE: Cal running back Jaydn Ott. Ott rushed for 274 yards on 19 carris and scored three touchdowns.

PLAYER OF THE GAME, DEFENSE:  Cal safety Craig Woodson. Woodson had seven solo tackles, including two for losses

TURNING POINT:  Trailing 24-21 at Halftime, Cal forced punts from Arizona on the Wildcats' first two possessions of the second half, and Cal scored touchdowns on each of its possessions following those stops to take a 35-24 lead.

KEY PLAY 1:  On the second play of the game Cal running back Jaydn Ott went off left tackle, burst through the hole and outraced the defense down the left sideline for a 73-yard touchdown run, putting Cal ahead 7-0.  Offensive linemen Brian Driscoll and Sioape Vatikani had the key blocks.

KEY PLAY 2: On a fourth-and-6 play from the Cal 33-yard line,  Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura completed a 7-yard pass to Jacob Cowing for a first down. Arizona scored a touchdown on that possession to tie the score 7-7 with 11:16 left in the first quarter.

KEY PLAY 3: Arizona had six plays of more than 10 yards in a 92-yard touchdown drive that gave the Wildcats a 14-7 lead with 5:28 left in the first quarter. 

KEY PLAY 4: One play after an apparent Arizona interception was overturned on replay and ruled an incompletion, Cal faced a third-and-10 from its own 33-yard line. On that third-down play Jack Plummer completed a 36-yard pass to J.Michael Sturdivant, who subsequently caught a 16-yard touchdown pass later in that same possession to tie the score 14-14 with 11:56 left in the first half.

KEY PLAY 5: Jayden de Laura threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Tetairoa McMillan, who outjumped Cal cornerback Isaiah Young for the ball in the end zone. That gave Arizona a 21-14 lead with 10 minutes left in the second quarter.

KEY PLAY 6: A 15-yard completion from Jack Plummer to Elijah Mojarro advanced the ball to the Arizona 3-yard line and subsequent a 3-yard DeCarlos Brooks touchdown run completed the 13-play, 82-yard drive and tied the score 21-21.

KEY PLAY 7: Tyler Loop kicked a 37-yard field goal to give Arizona a 24-21 lead with 40 seconds left in the first half.

KEY PLAY 8: On a second-and-5 play from Cal's 18-yard line, Jack Plummer completed a 23-yard pass to Keleki Latu, and Arizona's Hunter Echols was penalized for roughing the pass on the play, adding 15 yards for what became a 38-yard play to the Arizona 44-yard line.  Cal eventually scored on that possession on a fourth-down, 3-yard pass from Plummer to Latu to give Cal a 28-24 lead with 9:17 left in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY 9; On a first-down play from Arizona 18-yars line, Cal's Jaydn Ott seemed to be stopped by several Arizona defenders for a 4-yard gain, but he broke through to complete an 18-yard touchdown run that gave Cal a 35-24 lead with 4:59 left in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY 10:  Jack Plummer threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Hunter, giving Cal a 42-24 lead with 14:53 left in the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY 11: Jayden de Laura completed a 32-yard pass to Dorian Singer, putting the ball at the Cal 12-yard line. De Laura than completed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Cowling to reduce the Cal lead to 42-31 with 12:36 left in the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY 12: Cal safety Daniel Scott intercepted a Jayden de Laura pass at the Cal 6-yard line.

KEY PLAY 13: Jaydn Ott  scored on a 72-yard touchdown run, giving Cal a 49-31 lead with 4:56 left in the game.

STAT OF THE GAME:  Cal was 4-for-4 in the red zone, scoring touchdowns all four times it got inside the Arizona 20-yard line.

STAT OF THE GAME II: Cal quarterback Jack Plummer was not sacked in the game, after being sacked six times last week against Notre Dame.

QUARTERBACK STATS: Cal's Jack Plummer was 18-for-28 for 245 yards, thre touchdowns and no interceptions.  Arizona's Jayden de Laura was 27-for-45 for 401 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

WHAT IT MEANS:  Cal showed it can score enough points to win Pac-12 games, and the Bears won their conference opener.  

CAL'S BOWL BAROMETER:  The Golden Bears improved their bowl chances to about 60%. Their three wins get them halfway to the six wins needed to be bowl-eligible, but there are few certain wins remaining as the schedule gets tougher..

NEXT GAME: Cal (3-1. 1-0 Pac-12) at Washington State (3-1, 0-1 Pac-12), Saturday, October 1. Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. TV: Pac-12 Network. Washington State blew a 12-point lead with less than seven minutes left in the fourth quarter and lost to 15th-ranked Oregon 44-41 on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars beat then-No. 19 Wisconsin on the road two weeks ago and also have wins over Idaho and Colorado State. Incarnate Word transfer Cameron Ward is WSU's quarterback. Cal lost to Washington State 21-6 last year in Berkeley when Jayden de Laura was the Cougars' quarterback.

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Cover photo of Jaydn Ott by Darren Yamashita, USA TODAY Sports

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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