By Grant Marek
Daily Californian
(U. California-Berkeley)

(U-WIRE) EAST LANSING

Michigan State was No. 15? Please.
Saturday afternoon, the Spartans (2-1) were stuck with less flattering numbers here — clearly the second-best team on the field and No. 3 on California’s win list this season.
The Bears smoked the lackluster Spartans 46-22 to start the season 3-0 for the first time since 1996.
As the Cal football team exited Spartan Stadium, victorious against a top-25 team on the road for the first time since 1974, it marched to the call of wide receiver Lashaun Ward “C-A-L,” with the team response of “what, what.”
Everyone in attendance was left wondering what, exactly, has come over Ward and his teammates.
The Bears faced a heavily favored opponent on hostile ground and answered the call, thoroughly dominating every significant moment in the game.
“A great effort by all three phases of our team,” Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. “Our kids are going to expect to win. In the locker room I asked them if they were surprised, and they said no.”
It’s safe to say they were in the minority. The sellout crowd of 72,634 certainly looked stunned as it began to pour out of the stadium midway through the third quarter with the Bears leading by three touchdowns.
“It feels really good,” running back Joe Igber said of the mass exodus.
“Especially because their team’s losing. We’ve been on the flip-side of that.”
Igber muscled through the MSU defense for 108 yards and caught four passes for 44 yards receiving and a touchdown.
It wasn’t the offense, however, that put Cal in control of the game. The Bears gained a total of 16 yards on their first two offensive drives, but already owned a 15-0 lead by that point.
Jemeel Powell set the tone, returning the Spartans’ first punt for a 90-yard touchdown, the fourth longest in school history, to give the Bears a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.
Cal used a combination of big plays on both sides of the ball to grab a 25-0 halftime lead.
“Our defense did an excellent job,” Tedford said. “When they were knocking at the door to score, we came up with two critical turnovers.”
After MSU drove to the Cal 1-yard line following Powell’s touchdown, Spartans running back Dawan Moss fumbled a pitch from MSU quarterback Jeff Smoker, which was recovered by Bears linebacker Matt Nixon.
MSU’s next trip to the redzone would also end in disaster. Smoker threw to a double-teamed Charles Rogers in the endzone, only to be picked off by Bethea on the Bears’ 18-yard line.
“Our coach expects us to make turnovers, at least three a game,” Powell said. “(The Spartans) said they respected us, but really they underestimated us.”
On the day, Cal forced two interceptions and recovered three MSU fumbles, two of which came on special teams.
Cal also came up with a safety at the beginning of the second quarter to make the score 9-0.
On the ensuing drive, kicker Mark Jensen made up for an earlier miss with a career-best 51-yard field goal.
“That’s what we preach,” Tedford said. “This game was not won by the offense, the defense, or the special teams. It was a whole team effort.”
Consecutive touchdown drives by the Spartans to start the second half brought the lead to single digits, but the Bears responded to the challenge.
Kyle Boller scored on a two-yard keeper at the end of the third. Cornerback James Bethea intercepted the first pass on the ensuing MSU drive. Fourth-quarter TD catches by Igber and Ward put the icing on the cake.
“When we score points, we get point hungry,” Ward said. “Once we get on the road, we want to keep the road going.”
Ward finished the day with three catches for 68 yards, a touchdown, and three returns for 104 yards, as well as a touchdown pass to Boller.
Boller finished the day 19-for-33 for 232 yards, two touchdowns, and his first interception of the year.
In the end, there was one sight that summed up the day’s achievement for the Bears.
“Seventy-four thousand,” Tedford would say to a resounding response from his team — “disappointed fans.”
© 2002, Daily Californian via U-Wire