It’s the Jadyn Ott Show!
Freshman Leads Cal to 49-31 Win Over Arizona
BERKELEY — Jaydn Ott ran for 274 yards and three touchdowns and the Cal football team opened Pac-12 play with a resounding 49-31 victory over Arizona at Memorial Stadium.
Ott scored on a 73-yard run on only the second play from scrimmage, an improbable 18-yard TD in the third quarter after he had appeared to be stopped for a short gain, and then another 72-yard score to ice it late in the fourth.
"Every time I touch the ball, I feel like I'm going to score," Ott said. "That's my mentality."
It was the most rushing yards in a single game by an FBS player this season and the third-most in Cal history, trailing only Jahvid Best's 311 against Washington in 2008 and Jerry Drew's 283 against Oregon State in 1954.
"That's explosive," Coach Justin Wilcox said. "We've been talking about it for a long time. You've seen it in flashes. We saw it a bunch today. He's a dynamic guy and has the ability to take it to the house from a lot of spots."
Jack Plummer added three touchdown passes for the Golden Bears (3-1, 1-0), who won their sixth straight home game. It's their longest winning streak at Memorial Stadium since a nine-gamer in 2008-09.
A year after Arizona beat COVID-depleted Cal 10-3 at home for its only win in 2021, the teams exceeded that point total after both teams scored touchdowns on the opening drive. It was a back-and-forth, high-scoring affair in the first half with Ott scoring on a 73-yard run on the second play from scrimmage to set the tone.
The Wildcats were initially able to keep up with the Golden Bears, at least in the first half, as they also scored on four of their first five drives of the game. But Cal’s defense made adjustments at halftime and limited Arizona to only one score in the second half.
Cal kept retaking the lead throughout: Plummer threw a 16-yard TD pass to J. Michael Sturdivant in the second quarter and then gave the Bears the lead back early in the third when he found Keleki Latu from 3 yards out on fourth-and-1.
Ott added his second TD midway through the third quarter. He ran into a group of defenders at the 13 but his offensive linemen helped block, push, and then pull him free from the mob to allow him to score yet again to make it 35-24.
Ott added his second breakaway run late in the fourth quarter, this time a 72 yard scamper to the bank. It was an amazing display by the Freshman running back.
