Cal won the turnover battle 4-0 and hold the opposing offense to three 1st downs over the opening 45 minutes of the game. That should be the formula to a blowout victory in which the 4th quarter is an exercise in tedium and back-up playing time.
Thanks to a concerning offensive performance, that wasn’t exactly the case. Cal’s win was never truly in danger - ESPN’s win probability never went below 99% even after UNC’s 2nd touchdown - but the events of the 4th quarter certainly tamped down on typically hopeful expectations.
If this game is a true representation of Cal’s performance level the rest of the way, then it looks like we’ve somehow managed to pull a complete 180 from the final year of the Dykes era, with a top of the conference defense and a bottom of the conference offense.