It was more than two hours before the start of Saturday’s USA college season opener between California and Hawaii, and Anthony Goodluck and his son were already milling outside Sydney’s Olympic stadium, soaking up the early atmosphere.
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Hawaii was without three key players Saturday in the opening game of the college football season against California for unspecified disciplinary reasons. Despite a good kick by Hawaii’s Rigoberto Sanchez, the ball was recovered by Cal’s Patrick Laird. It was a midday start so that the game could be televised back to the U.S.in prime time on Friday night, and was played under sunny skies and with light winds.
Senior quarterback Ikaika Woolsey, starting for the second time in a UH season-opener, went 17-of-34 for 234 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Hawaii fumbled on a kickoff following Matt Anderson’s second field goal for Cal, and Webb’s 34-yard pass to wide receiver Hansen on the next play gave Cal a 27-14 lead.
Hawaii’s Rainbow Warriors stretch during a training run at a field in Sydney, Australia, Friday, Aug. 26, 2016.
Defensively, California football allowed 30.7 points per game with 243.9 yards in passing and 209.8 in rushing. Given the second chance, Webb directed the Bears across midfield and into field goal range.
Webb’s 14-yard touchdown pass to freshman receiver Melqui Stovall made it 41-17 with 8:18 left in the third quarter.
California led 17-14 at the end of the first quarter before pulling away with three consecutive touchdowns.
The Bears narrowly missed covering the 20.5 point spread but chose to run out the clock on the Hawaii half yard line to end the game. Marcus Kemp and John Ursua have combined for 143 receiving yards and one touchdown while Diocemy Saint Juste has two receptions. Jahlani Tavai leads the Rainbow Warriors with 12 tackles, Makani Kema-Kaleiwahea has one sack and Jalen Rogers has one pass deflection.
“I thought Hawaii played well, they were very well coached”. John O’Korn takes over at quarterback after throwing 34 touchdowns in two seasons with Houston.
“They’re big and strong up front, they’ve got a good offensive line and their running back (Saint Juste) is a good player”. Also, unliked the Golden Bears, the Wolverines can play defense with the best of them.
The Hawaii entourage went straight from the stadium to the airport to get a scheduled 9 p.m. flight back to Honolulu.
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