CAL FLOPS IN OPENER 

BEARS PROVE NO MATCH FOR SAN DIEGO STATE 

By RON BERGMAN 
Mercury News Staff Writer

SAN DIEGO -- Everything that went wrong last year for the Cal football team
went wrong Saturday night.

The Bears kicked off their 1995 season and the Labor Day weekend by being
routed by San Diego State 33-9 before 32,174 fans at San Diego Jack Murphy
Stadium.

Have a nice picnic Monday.

Interceptions, blocked punts, fumbles and all that familiar stuff from the
4-7 season in 1994 buried the Bears 19-0 before they could get on the board
against their Western Athletic Conference foe.

Ryan Longwell kicked a 43-yard field goal 18 seconds from the end of the
first half to make it 19-3. This caused no celebration.

In one of the rare Cal highlights, defensive tackle Brandon Whiting set up
the three-pointer by recovering a fumble on the Aztecs' 28.

Four plays later -- there was a procedure penalty against Cal -- the Bears
had marched all the way to the 25.

Quarterback Pat Barnes, who suffered through a miserable first two quarters,
was crushed by defensive lineman Jason Jones on third-and-seven. The pass
fluttered in the air like a dying bird.

Longwell kicked his field goal. And the Bears had all of halftime to regroup.

They didn't.

The Aztecs scored touchdowns the first two times they had the ball in the
second half. That put the host team ahead 33-3 with 4 minutes, 14 seconds to
go in the third quarter. Game, set, match.

Nothing worked for Cal. The vaunted front four did nothing. The young and
reworked offensive line couldn't open holes for the running backs or protect
Barnes from the blitzes designed by San Diego State defensive coordinator
Claude Gilbert, the former San Jose State head coach..

The kicking game? Don't ask. A blocked punt led to the Aztecs' first TD. A
field-goal attempt in the third quarter ended up with Longwell running for
his life after the snap went directly to him because holder Kerry McGonigal
let the ball go through his hands.

The Bears never led in the game, but they should have. Barnes marched Cal to
the San Diego State 17 on the second drive of the first quarter.

But on third-and-three, after a timeout no less called to send in a play,
Barnes threw off his back foot to the end zone.

Wide receiver Marty Gaskins, starting in place of the injured Iheanyi
Uwaezuoke, didn't have a chance because Eric Lewis was between him and the
ball. The interception in the end zone set the tone for all that followed.

Later in the quarter, Aztecs linebacker Joe Jackson blasted in on fourth down
and blocked a punt by Longwell. Lewis picked up the ball at the Cal 18 and
ran it to the 11.

If this looked familiar, well it was. Cal had five punts blocked last year.

Four plays later, tailback George Jones bumped in from the 1 for the first of
his two touchdowns. Jones, the leading junior college rusher last year at
Bakersfield, made an impressive big-time debut, scoring three touchdowns and
running for 147 yards in 24 carries.

Peter Holt missed the extra point. But he kicked a 39-yard field goal after
Cal went three and out for a 9-0 San Diego State lead. The rout was on.

Cal kept the ball only one play. Barnes tossed his second interception,
hitting strong safety John McCartney at the Bears 32.

San Diego State quarterback Billy Blanton, who outperformed Barnes in every
capacity, needed only two plays to get the Aztecs into the end zone.

The first play was a 29-yard pass to flanker Az Hakim. The second was a
2-yard flip to backup tailback Dayna Overton.

A 30-yard field goal the next time the Aztecs got the ball maDE it 19-0.

Jones ran 37 yards to Cal 43 on San Diego State's first play from scrimmage
in the second half. Jones was responsible for 65 of the 80 yards, including
the final yard, as the Aztecs moved in front 26-3.

Cal showed faint signs of life at this point, reaching the San Diego State 7
on the next series.

But Barnes was sacked on third down by Avo Avetisyan and the fouled-up
field-goal attempt followed. Barnes was sacked five times and tripped over
offensive linemen twice for losses in the game. He finished 22 for 42 for 216
yards with two interceptions.

The Aztecs took over on their own 34. This time, the march to the end zone
was methodical. In 12 plays, with Jones carrying the last two, San Diego
State had stretched the lead to 33-3.

Barnes was sacked and racked the entire game. Except for one series in the
first half.

And with 2:34 to go in the game, Reynard Rutherford took a pitch and swept
right end for the Bears' lone TD of the night.

Too little. Too late.