Wake Forest head coach Jake Dickert said all week he did not want his team looking ahead to the upcoming bye week. He said he wanted to make sure his players handled the time challenges of going to the West Coast to play Cal in a late-night game, East Coast time. Messages delivered. Messages executed.
The Demon Deacons took care of business early in Berkeley with a 41-7 win over the Golden Bears Saturday night. Cal was doing a tribute to legendary Bay Area band The Grateful Dead on Saturday. Wake’s offensive coordinator Rob Ezell had the Cal defense looking just plain ol’ dead.
Wake moved to 6-1 on the season and 4-1 in the ACC. Cal dropped to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in ACC play.
Wake Forest Dumps Cal
Dickert said after the game that his team had a lot of pent-up energy having gone out to the Bay Area on Thursday afternoon in order to be able to adjust to the time difference. “We felt like caged animals being out here waiting for this football game.” It showed in the mismatch of energy and execution between the two teams.
By halftime, Wake already had a 34-0 lead, having scored on every possession the Deacs had in the half. Wake had 394 yards of total offense to 114 for Cal. The Deacs were averaging just over 11 yards per play while Cal was at 2.9 yards per play.
Wake quarterback Gio Lopez was 10 of 16 throwing in the first half for 266 yards and three touchdowns. He finished the night 16 of 23 for 267 yards and four touchdowns. He also had 51 yards rushing on eight carries.
Cal’s primary quarterback, Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, sat out much of the game, despite recently clearing the concussion protocol. That left Jackson Brousseau as the sacrificial lamb. Going back to the decisive first half. Brousseau was 13 of 25 for 53 yards passing. And yes, he was the starter for the second half as well, with Cal head coach Tosh Lupoi choosing not to go to “JKS” until there were two minutes left in the third quarter.
Urgent Adjustment
The game did not start obviously well for Wake. On Cal’s first offensive series, Wake defensive back Davaughn Patterson was ejected from the game for targeting. He was replaced by Myles Turpin, who played quite well in the starter’s absence. Turpin finished with eight total tackles on the night. “Talk about a guy that we’ve seen in the shadows, play really well on special teams; does really well in practice; a very physical player,” Dickert said of Turpin. “I just thought he was ready for the moment. And he just kind of embodies what this team is.”
Frankly, it mattered little which one was in the secondary. The front seven had the Cal run game wrapped up and Brosseau running for his life in the passing game. Even with the targeting penalty, Cal had to punt on its first drive, pinning Wake down at its own one-yard line. No problem for Lopez and the offense. Lopez had back-to-back completions for 29 yards to give himself some working room.
Big Night for Barry
From Cal’s 39-yard line, Lopez found Dominick Barry wide open over the middle. The tight end barely kept his footing and found his way into the end zone, capping a 99-yard drive for the 7-0 lead.
Cal seemed to have a vision of what could come. The Bears had it fourth and one at their own 34-yard line but felt compelled to go for it even that early in the game. Brosseau’s pass was intended for Chase Hendricks but was broken up by Deuce Blades.
After taking over in Cal territory, Lopez found Jack Foley all alone at the three-yard line and the big receiver took it in the rest of the way for a 29-yard touchdown play. The drive took one play and six seconds. The Deacs were up 14-0 and had not had a running play yet.
Big Homecoming
Early in the second quarter, Lopez ran a flea flicker with the pass going to Kam Shanks along the left side at the six-yard line. The pass was underthrown, or Shanks likely would have scored on the play. It was just a matter of time anyway. Three plays later, running back Jamar Searcy bulled up the middle from a yard out for the touchdown and the 21-0 lead.
It was a big night for Searcy. Coming back home to Oakland and playing in front of dozens of friends and family, he was the leading rusher for the Deacs Saturday night with 61 yards and a touchdown on just five carries.
Cal’s offense just had nothing that was going to keep the Wake offense off the field. Credit the Wake defense as well. Defensive ends Langston Hardy and Gabe Kirschke continued to live in the opponent’s backfield. Kirschke had five tackles, including one for a loss. Hardy had four tackles, including a sack and a tackle for loss.
Wake’s next drive in the first half started at its own 25-yard line. On third and 10, Lopez connected with Shanks again. This time it was over the middle for 29 yards. Lopez scrambled for 15 yards. And then Ty Clark put the game away with a 31-yard touchdown run right up the middle. The two-point conversion failed. But Wake had gone 75 yards in just 1:16 to go up 27-0.
Cal finally put up some yardage with a 14-play, 64-yard drive. But even that bogged down and ended in a punt.
Wake had to start at its own four-yard line. That wasn’t a problem Saturday night. Searcy rushed twice for 36 yards to give Lopez some working room at the Deacs 40. The drive ended with Lopez finding Barry along the right sideline at the seven-yard line. He took it in for his second touchdown of the night, capping the seven-play, 96-yard drive to get the lead to 34-0 at the half.
Putting It Away
Wake actually had to punt for the first time in the game on its first series of the second half. But that was made up on the second series. The Deacs went 45 yards in seven plays with Lopez connecting with Barry for his third touchdown of the night. Barry had two receptions going into Saturday night. He left with a total of six catches, and half of them are now touchdowns.
At this point at the end of the third quarter, it was time to get the starters out. Steele Pizzella came in at quarterback. And there were plenty of substitutions on defense. That was when Cal scored its lone touchdown, ending the potential shutout.
Wake finished the game with 490 yards of total offense, while Cal had 266 (having gotten 114 in the first half).
The Last Word
Dickert is notorious for saying he can always find things that must be worked on. In his words a couple of weeks ago, “I’m good at finding things to complain about.” It is going to be penalties again, among other things. Wake had 11 penalties for 110 yards.
The Deacs will have time to work on their discipline as they now fly home and head into the one bye week for the season before hosting the Virginia Cavaliers on Halloween night.
We will have more post-game coverage with interviews later Sunday morning.
Main Image: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images