Maryland at Cal: Halftime update

To start the quarter, Maryland was driving with a third and five situation at Cal's 31-yard line.  Ernest Owasu sacked Turner for a loss of four, seemingly ending the drive.  Maryland went for it on fourth and nine and completed a screen pass to Lansford Watson for the needed nine yards and a first down.  With the Terp's at Cal's 22, Devin Bishop nearly sacked Turner, but the quarterback got out of harm's way only to find Cameron Jordan clean him up for a two-yard loss.  Maryland kicks a field goal, bringing them closer.  Cal is still up 14-6.

The officers responsible for bringing that Garrido guy to justice are introduced to the crowd.  The stadium is nearly full and has been loud, but I think that the cheers for these officers is probably the loudest the crowd has been yet.

Cal takes three plays to gain thirteen yards and a first down.  The first down wouldn't have happened had Brian Holley not had a run in which he used second and third effort to gain four yards on a run that should've gone nowhere.  Kevin Riley has been throwing behind his receivers and nearly got Verran Tucker creamed on one play.  The next play, he threw a little behind Tucker, who was interfered with, but Tucker made a circus catch for a 40-yard gain to get Cal to Maryland's 22.  After a sack and a couple of more incompletions, Vince D'Amato came on for his first career field goal attempt--it was good from 31 yards.  Cal increases their margin to a 17-6 lead.

Tavecchio kicks to the Maryland five and it's returned to the 27 for 22 yards.  Maryland came out hot, completing two first-down plays in a row, but then a pass was nearly picked by Thompson.  After a double-reverse went for four yards, Mike Mohamed strip sacked Turner and the ball was recovered by Cameron Jordan at Maryland's 49-yard line.

After a quick first down pass to Holley, the Terp's held Cal to a third and three situation.  Riley made his best play of the game by perfectly reading a blitz overload on the left side and throwing to an open Shane Vereen for 16 yards to get to Maryland's 16.  Marvin Jones made a great catch on an inside slant pass that was thrown a little high.  The catch put Cal at the Terp's three.  On the next play, after a fake handoff, Riley evaded a sack, ran to his right and threw a nice strike to Skylar Curran.  It was Curran's first career touchdown.  Up 24-6, Cal wasn't done yet.

After Maryland began the series at their own 26, two 10+ plays put the ball on Cal's 49-yard line.  That's when the wheels fell off.  A sack by Ernest Owusu and then a sack by Jarred Price put the Terp's in a third and 28 situation at their own 31-yard line.  Thompson fair caught the ball at Cal's 31.

Another nice play by Riley had Shane Vereen catching a screen pass and running 18 yards to Maryland's 39-yard line.  On the very next play, Riley stepped up into the pocket while being pressured, kept his composure, and threw a perfect strike to Nyan Boateng for a touchdown with only 25 seconds to go in the half.  Cal now leads 31-6.

Things are going so well for Cal that even a botched squib kick by Tavecchio, which let Maryland take possession at Cal's 45, turned into nothing.

At the end of the half, Cal leads 31-6.  Unless Maryland comes back in the third quarter, this will be the last update for the night.

At the end of the half, Cal is outgaining the Terp's 288 yards to 146.  The 21-point line is looking very much like another good call by the Vegas odds makers.  Best has seven carries for 90 yards and two touchdowns.  Riley is 12-19-0 for 189 yards and two scores while Maryland's Chris Turner is 12-21-0 for 113 yards and has been sacked five times.

Check back later tonight for a full recap and stats.