Sep 14, 2008 3 min read

No. 16 ranked California University of Pennsylvania throttled visiting Lake Erie, 54-0, in a game that probably wasn’t anywhere near as close as the lopsided final would indicate. The Vulcans spent the rain-soaked evening delivering knockout blow, after knockout blow, while Lake Erie looked like a program playing its first year of collegiate football – which it is. “It was a big confidence boost for the team to come out like we did today,” said California Head Coach John Luckhardt. “We had a tough loss last week and that can tend to be demoralizing to a team, but we bounced back nicely and it was important to get off to such a fast start.”

The Vulcans opened the scoring on the games first possession when Daine Williams capped off a 7-play, 67 yard drive with a 3-yard score up the middle. Two possessions later, Brandon Lombardy scored on a 2-yard plunge to give California a 14-0 lead just ten minutes into the game. Just three minutes later, Marcell Pestano scored on a 45-yard punt return, pushing the Vulcans lead to 21-0.

California quarterback Kevin McCabe had a short day, thanks to the blowout, and finished the game 11-of-15 for 177 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The first touchdown came on a 23-yard strike to a wide open Cory Garver on the first play of the second quarter, as Garver found himself alone behind the Lake Erie secondary.

On the Vulcans’ next possession, McCabe hit Pestano on a perfectly thrown fade pattern in the front corner of the end zone to extend the California lead to 35-0.

When McCabe wasn’t throwing touchdowns, the Vulcans stable of running backs was on display as they totaled 347 rushing yards as a team, including a game-high 143 from Freddie Bacco. It was the first 100-yard game of Bacco’s career.

“I think our group of running backs is the best group at this level,” said Bacco. “We just have so much depth at the position and we showed it today.”

The Vulcans’ offensive line spent the day opening up rushing lanes and mauling the Lake Erie front seven, giving Bacco, Williams and Lombardy gaping holes to run through.

“Our offensive line was fantastic today,” said Bacco. “Nobody was getting through and it was huge to come out here today and get off to such a fast start and get a big win like this.”

While the offense and special teams were impressive in their ability to produce big plays, the defense was downright dominant, only allowing Lake Erie to cross midfield one time during the game, and that wasn’t until the 3-minute mark of the third quarter. Quarterback Sean Bedevelsky spent most of the day on his back, as the freshman signal caller was sacked six times and hurried on seemingly every other attempt. He was 5-of-19 passing for 54 yards before exiting late in the third quarter.

Willie Walker recorded two sacks, while Matt McClellan led the team with seven tackles, including two for losses.

“It was a big win for us today,” said Luckhardt. “We were playing against a young program and it gave us an opportunity to get a lot of young guys into the game and get some different people some experience.”