Home sweet Memorial Stadium.
California, behind stellar performances on both sides of the ball, continued on its torrid pace at home Saturday, pummeling ASU 50-17 and remaining undefeated in Berkeley this season.
“I'm not really sure if there is an answer for that,” Cal senior linebacker Mike Mohamed said. “I think one thing that plays a part [in] it is that we practice on that field everyday. Being at home, in front of the home crowd, I know we're definitely more comfortable at home, but who isn't?”
The Golden Bears (4-3, 2-2 Pac-10) have now outscored their opponents 189-34 in four home games this year.
“You would like to think that the crowd and the home field have an impact,” Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. “On the road, I thought we played well at Arizona. We just let a game get away from us that we should have won. But yes, home field is key.”
Cal manhandled the ASU defense to the tune of 371 total yards.
After a Thomas Weber field goal that put the Sun Devils (3-4, 1-3 Pac-10) up 3-0, the Golden Bears went off on a 40-0 run that lasted midway through the third quarter.
Junior tail back Shane Vereen rushed for 94 yards and two touchdowns while senior quarterback Kevin Riley threw for 240 yards and two touchdowns, completing 19 of his 28 pass attempts.
“Coach had confidence in us,” Riley said. “In practice this week, we took a lot of shots and that went well. I always feel comfortable throwing the ball down field; I've always said that's one of my strengths.”
Defensively, Cal held ASU to just three points on offense, the other 14 Sun Devil points were scored off a blocked punt return and fumble recovery return.
“It was a tough week. We had a lot of people doubting us but it fueled our fire,” Mohamed said. “We slowed down the pass, and then in the running game, everyone was just flying to the ball. We just wanted to make sure we had guys in the right position because [ASU] does a good job of getting the ball out quick.”
The Sun Devils, who entered the game averaging 142 rushing yards per game, were held to just 57 Saturday.
“You can’t really put a finger on it,” said defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast. “Every game is the biggest game of the year that week and a lot of the things we do are based on matchups. We wanted to come out and take advantage of some possible turnovers.”
Cal applied constant pressure to ASU, sacking the quarterback twice and forcing three interceptions.
“I think everyone was kind of in the zone,” junior defensive back Sean Cattouse said. “It was great. We just went out there and executed our game plan.”
In their previous outing, the Golden Bears fell 48-14 to Southern California.
“The consistency thing, like I said last week, isn't so much about lack of preparation,” Tedford said. “I don't see an up and down team every week in practice. Obviously, what happens in the games says what it says, but I still love this team. I love their character. I love their work ethic [and] I'm proud of the way they bounced back.”
Reach the reporter at tyler.emerick@asu.edu
