The offense did its job, especially wide receiver Chad Hansen and new quarterback Davis Webb who became more and more confident as the game wore on, but the defense remains more a question mark than a brick wall.
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The curtain is raised on college football as California faces Hawaii at 7 p.m. (PT) Friday.
Cal will be playing a football game outside of the United States for only the second time in school history. The kickoff time is 7 p.m.in the Bay Area, which will be noon in Sydney.
“Too many mistakes and turnovers, and it cost us”, said Nick Rolovich, a former Hawaii quarterback making his head coaching debut for the Rainbow Warriors.
Following a bowl win and the departure of now-Rams quarterback Jared Goff, the Cal football team will look to prove that it can survive without the talents of the number one overall pick.
Wide receiver Marcus Kemp leads the return of the squads’ top three pass catchers. Woolsey is experienced but only completed 49 percent of his passes and threw six interceptions to five touchdowns in 2015.
Webb got into the act himself, rushing three yards off-tackle for another Cal touchdown and a 34-14 halftime lead.
Hawaii was without three key players for unspecified disciplinary reasons.
A Rainbow Warriors spokesman said just before the game began that safety Daniel Lewis Jr., linebacker Jerrol Garcia-Williams and tight end Metuisela Unga were not with the team at the Olympic stadium. Cal had eight wins last season, their most since 2009 for a program that is rebuilding with the Sonny Dykes. Following this trip to Australia, Hawaii goes to MI the next week, then back home to play Tennessee-Martin, and then to Arizona.
It also noted that the event “virtually bankrupted promoters”. After losing the coin toss and Cal chose to receive, Hawaii tried an on-side kick that the Bears were able to recover at midfield. They hope for a good start from Texas Tech Graduate Transfer David Webb who has the experience.
Last season the Rainbow Warriors were 3-10 and winless at 0-8 in the Mountain West Conference. Cal beat SDSU 35-7 previous year and holds a 4-3 head-to-head edge in games since 1982.
At the very least, Cal started 2016 off on the right foot Friday against Hawaii.
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In an eccentric strand of global trade, Australia has provided American college football with a pipeline of punters (plus a few other players), and now the United States will provide Australia with a college football game – or “college football match”, in Australian parlance. But thanks to the generosity of the Rainbow Warriors, the Bears responded by scoring 17 straight points to stretch the lead to 20, and the issue was really no longer in doubt.
