Cal Football: A Blocked Punt That Turned Out Badly Pretty Much Sums Up Bears' Loss

Of all the things that went badly for Cal in its 21-6 loss to Washington State on Saturday at Memorial Stadium, perhaps nothing went awry so strangely as a play that should have been a highlight for the Bears.

Down 7-6 midway though the first quarter, Cal forced WSU to punt from its own 29-yard line.

Nick Alftin, a junior tight end from Woodside on the Bay Area peninsula, chased down WSU punter Nick Haberer, who seemed to hold onto the snap forever.

Finally, the Cougars’ punter from Australia — unfamiliar with American football until getting here this summer — decided to punt the ball. Alftin blocked the kick.

While Alftin spun around looking for the ball, WSU’s Ron Stone Jr., who grew up in San Jose, collected it and ran the necessary 7 yards for a first down. Eleven plays later — including a roughing-the-passer penalty against the Bears — WSU scored to push its lead to 14-6.

If the Bears don’t figure out a way to salvage a season that currently sits at 1-4 overall, 0-2 in the Pac-12 Conference, this one quirky play may become a microcosm of their season.

“After the blocked punt and they scooped, we had a 15-yard variety penalty, then they had the third-down catch in the end zone . . . really kind of not a good start for us in the first quarter,” Cal coach Justin Wilcox said.

Calvin Jackson Jr. made a SportsCenter-worthy over-the-shoulder, one-handed catch of Jayden de Laura’s pass. But that play never happens if the entire punt block scenario doesn’t unfold the way it did.

In every way, this season has been one step forward, two steps back for Cal. The offense clearly was making substantial progress through four games, then had its lowest-scoring game against the Cougars since a 16-6 loss in 1983.

The defense shut out the Cougars the final 23 minutes on Saturday, but has struggled to find a rhythm all season.

No unit has been more confounding that the Bears’ placekicking team. They botched the snap on a PAT at TCU, did the same on a field-goal try at Washington and had more trouble in this one.

After Chris Brooks plowed his way 11 yards to a touchdown with 7:44 left in the first quarter, long snapper Slater Zellers sent a low delivery toward holder Jamieson Sheahan.

The ball scooted past Sheahan, and after what should have been a game-tying touchdown, the Bears trailed 7-6.

“The guys that are involved in that play have been very, very consistent for quite a long time,” Wilcox said. “Unfortunately, we’re struggling there right now. I think that’s obvious.”

Wilcox said the next step is to simply keep working at it.

“We have to help those guys with repetition and keeping calm, doing what they’ve always done,” he said. “Sometimes you can get into a spot where you’re thinking about it maybe too much.”

Cover photo of Justin Wilcox

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo