College Football National Cup - Day 5/Game 2 - (NCAA 14) - BuckeyeBoy315's Dynasty

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College Football National Cup - Day 5/Game 2 - (NCAA 14)

Posted on July 24, 2013 at 05:21 PM.

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GROUP E - Day Five

California - 24 vs. Air Force - 21
Jones AT&T Stadium - Lubbock Texas

Lubbock, TX - Sometimes calls don't your way. Sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way. Sometimes the reviews of plays don't go your way. It isn't often, however, that all three of those happen within the first 2-minutes of a game.

After a bad spot, fumbled snap on a field goal and a blown replay review, Air Force (0-1-0/0PTs) couldn't quite catch up to California (1-0-0/3PTs) in a down-to-the-wire 31-28 victory for the Golden Bears.

On a 3rd and 1 from the California 3-yard line in the first quarter, Air Force quarterback Kale Pearson had appeared to gain enough yards for a first down. The spot was well short and even pushed the Falcons back to a 4th and 2. As they settled for an opening field, the nap was low and Air Force didn't even get a kick off.

California would then march down the field until they found themselves with a 3rd and 8 from the Air Force 25 yard line. California quarterback Zach Kline threw a pass to the back right corner of the endzone which was ruled incomplete, despite looking as though Air Force cornerback Dexter Walker had intercepted the pass. With clear evidence, or so they thought, Air Force challenged the play, only to have the call on the field stand. California would go on to kick a 42 yard field goal, 3-points that would prove crucial to the outcome.

"Look, I don't like blaming the game on one play. Let's clear that up," said Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun. "With that said, the replay review was horrendous. Dex [Walker] clearly had one foot in-bounds. The momentum could've swung big time and the outcome might've been different. Oh, and before we move on, don't even ask me about the spot on our first drive. Ridiculous."

California countered Air Force's touchdowns all game long with scores of their own, but their hail mary to end the first half, following a failed Air Force onside kick, may've been the biggest play of the game. The touchdown put the Golden Bears up at the half by 10-points, their largest deficit of the game. While Air Force opened up the second half with a successful onside kick, followed by a touchdown, Calhoun says he regrets kicking the onside kick at the end of the first half.

"I am not saying I don't have confidence in our boys, but it was a little too aggressive," said Calhoun. "The idea of a hail mary didn't cross my mind. That's just flat out bad coaching, I credit them for sticking with California despite my error."

After a touchdown that made the score 31-28, with 0:36 remaining and 3-timeouts left, Air Force was able to get the ball back with 0:10 remaining, but all of their desperation heaves fell short.

The game was just as close as the score indicated, as well, so the idea of one or two plays tipping the final score is not too far off. Air Force gained 339 yards of total offense off of 73 rush yards and 266 passing yards, while California had a total of 334 yards with 72 on the ground and 262 through the air.

Opposing quarterbacks Zach Kline of California and Kale Pearson of Air Force combined for 528 yards passing, 8 touchdowns and a 71.4% completion percentage. Most surprising were Pearson's number, as Air Force is primarily a triple option team. California knew that shutting down the triple option was key, but head coach Sonny ****s says the team was too relaxed in the passing game.

"We were lucky so many things went our way. I'll be the first to admit it, too," said ****s. "Our defense was not very dominant. It is one thing to stop the option, which we did, but it is another thing to do so and still give up a boat load of passing yards. Makes the whole rush defense almost irrelevant."

A play that, in the end, didn't have much relevance to the game, may prove to be the defense play of the entire National Cup. Joey Nichol's close line hit on Dante Jefferson got all of the Lubbock crowd on their feet and will surely be talked about on all sports shows and internet sites for weeks.

"Holy s***. [laughing] That's all I thought," said Jefferson. "Completely clean hit, too, as it was right in my chest. My head hurts and he made sure I was okay. But wow, I really was hoping I would never get "Clowney-ed" and I sure did."

Jefferson will have to get right back up on his feet, as the Golden Bears will turnaround and face a battered Oklahoma State (0-1-0/0PTs) in Lubbock. The Cowboys are coming off of a smackdown at the hands of number one ranked Alabama (1-0-0/3PTs). It'll be the Crimson Tide as the next opponent for a snake-bitten Air Force squad. Even with the daunting task, the Falcons have one advantage: the game will be played close to home in Denver.

Copyright by STATS CFNCA and The National Cup Media Bureau

TOP PLAYS:

PLAY OF THE DAY - Presented by Leinenkugel

Joey Nichol lays a vicious close-line hit. Early contender for Play of the National Cup

BONUS PLAY:

Klein's half-ending hail-mary wows the Lubbock crowd

BONUS PLAY:

Pearson inches Air Force closer with a wild tackle-breaking touchdown pass

CLICK SPOILER TO VIEW BOX SCORE

Spoiler

Air Force Falcons at California Golden Bears
Jan 1,	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Air Force Falcons (0-1-0 (0PTS))	0	7	14	7	28
California Golden Bears (1-0-0 (3PTs))	0	17	7	7	31

Team Stats Comparison
	AFA	CAL
Total Offense	339	334
Rushing Yards	73	72
Passing Yards	266	262
First Downs	11	13
Punt Return Yards	0	0
Kick Return Yards	145	91
Total Yards	484	425
Turnovers	0	1
3rd Down Converstion	2/7 (28%)	5/6 (83%)
4th Down Conversion	3/4 (75%)	0/0 (0%)
2-Point Conversion	0/0 (0%)	0/0 (0%)
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	3-2-0 (66%)	1-1-0 (100%)
Penalties	0-0	1-15
Posession Time	7:47	8:13

Scoring Summary
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		AFA	CAL
2:27	(CAL) FG Cal: V. D'Amato, 42 Yd FG	0	3
0:54	(CAL) TD Cal: C. Harper, 24 Yd pass from Z. Kline (V. D'Amato kick)	0	10
0:03	(AFA) TD AF: C. Gann, 3 Yd pass from K. Pearson (B. Cannada kick)	7	10
0:00	(CAL) TD Cal: C. Harper, 41 Yd pass from Z. Kline (V. D'Amato kick)	7	17
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		AFA	CAL
3:50	(AFA) TD AF: T. MacArthur, 29 Yd pass from K. Pearson (B. Cannada kick)	14	17
2:06	(CAL) TD Cal: B. Teggs, 29 Yd pass from Z. Kline (V. D'Amato kick)	14	24
0:45	(AFA) TD AF: J. Lee, 42 Yd pass from K. Pearson (B. Cannada kick)	21	24
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		AFA	CAL
2:42	(CAL) TD Cal: B. Treggs, 11 Yd pass from Z. Kline (V. D'Amato kick)	21	31
0:36	(AFA) TD AF: P. Cender, 8 Yd pass from K. Pearson	28	31

Air Force Falcons
PASSING	C/A	YDS	TD	INT
K. Pearson	14/23	266	4	0
RUSHING	ATT	YDS	AVG	TD
K. Pearson	7	7	1	0
J. Lee	5	36	7.2	0
A. LaCoste	2	16	8	0
T. MacArthur	1	14	14	0
RECEIVING	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
P. Cender	6	123	20.5	1
J. Lee	4	52	13	1
C. Gann	2	49	24.5	1
T. MacArthur	2	42	21	1
DEFENSE	TACK	SACK	INT	TD
D. Walker	4	0	0	0
C. Miller	4	0	0	0
C. Healy	3	0	0	0
G. McHenry	3	0	0	0
K. Williams	3	0	0	0
S. Batts	3	0	0	0
J. Nichol	3	0	0	0
C. Spears	2	0	0	0
N. Fitzgerald	1	0	0	0
M. Fisher	1	0	0	0
J. Champaign	1	0	0	0
T. Williams	1	0	0	0
KICKING	FG	XP	PTS	LONG
B. Cannada	0/0	4/4	4	0
KICK RETURN	RET	YDS	AVG	TD
T. Williams	4	145	36.2	0

California Golden Bears
PASSING	C/A	YDS	TD	INT
Z. Kline	21/26	262	4	0
RUSHING	ATT	YDS	AVG	TD
B. Bigelow	8	46	5.7	0
D. Jefferson	1	6	6	0
Z. Kline	1	20	20	0
RECEIVING	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
B. Teggs	6	79	13.1	2
M. Harris	4	41	10.2	0
K. Lawler	4	41	10.2	0
C. Harper	4	84	21	2
B. Bigelow	2	11	5.5	0
R. Rodgers	1	6	6	0
DEFENSE	TACK	SACK	INT	TD
M. Jalil	4	0	0	0
K. Jackson	4	0	0	0
S. McClure	3	0	0	0
C. McCain	2	0	0	0
A. Sebastian	2	0	0	0
D. Camporeale	2	0	0	0
D. Coleman	2	0	0	0
M. Lowe	2	0	0	0
N. Broussard	2	0	0	0
K. Lawler	1	0	0	0
I. Lapite	1	0	0	0
K. Fortt	1	0	0	0
N. Forbes	1	0	0	0
G. King	1	0	0	0
C. Dozier	1	0	0	0
KICKING	FG	XP	PTS	LONG
V. D'Amato	1/1	4/4	7	42
KICK RETURN	RET	YDS	AVG	TD
B. Bigelow	3	84	28	0
M. Harris	1	3	3	0
S. Hagan	1	4	4	0