Cal won its first game! As a journalist (sort of?) I might have to remain objective, but as an anonymous UC Berkeley student, I shall express all the joy.
I won’t lie — the start of the game had me a little nervous. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but I definitely understood when the score was 7-0, UC Davis. For a moment, it seemed like the game was down the drain. (Had Jack Plummer unclogged the drain?)
Things took a better turn though, and maybe Cal was being nice to its younger UC sibling by giving the Aggies a head start — unlikely, but it’s a nice-sounding excuse for negative numbers in the stats box, which even I know are bad.
I mentioned in my last column that I have no clue how a team randomly gets three points sometimes. And seeing as that happened to Cal twice in the first game of the season, I figured now would be a good time to figure it out.
My research tells me football teams get three points when they score a field goal. So what is a field goal?
According to the internet, a field goal is when a player kicks the ball between the opposing team’s goal posts from anywhere on the field. And teams do this when they’re running out of time or downs (I still have to figure out what those are).
Honestly, it seems like if you have a kicker you can rely on (and I think the Bears do; Dario Longhetto did his job, after all), field goals are easier than touchdowns. And two field goals are almost one touchdown (with a successful point after touchdown), so why don’t teams do them more often? Someone please actually explain.
Other things I’ve learned? Sacks are when the quarterback gets tackled (a bit embarrassing, in my opinion), and interceptions are when someone from the other team catches the ball instead of the intended receiver. And when that happens, the other team gets the ball, which is not good. Pretty self-explanatory.
As for this upcoming game day, I don’t know much about UNLV’s football team. The school can tout Guy Fieri, but it also produced Tomi Lahren, which I’m pretty sure cancels out most, if not all, of the Flavortown magic.
The game itself would probably be more fun in Las Vegas (maybe Chase Garbers would make a cameo), but would the score even count if it was? (What happens there stays there, after all). Regardless, I can’t wait to see the Rebels break football rules — not that I’ll know what rules they’re breaking.
My completely inexpert take? The Bears should have Jaydn Ott on the field at all times. I still don’t know what a running back does, but the man is pretty good.
Ditzy Darlene is chronicling her journey to understanding the sport of football. Contact her at ditzydarlene@dailycal.org.