Cal Grinds Down San Jose State, 48-21

California’s game plan Saturday was modified by success in the form of 303 yards rushing.

“The plan was to use the whole offense. It just turned out that we ran the ball a heck of a lot,” quarterback Kevin Brown said after the Golden Bears’ 48-21 victory over San Jose State.

Fullback Ed Barbero ran for Cal’s first two touchdowns, and the Bears totaled seven touchdowns on the ground. The rushing yardage total was the Bears’ highest since 1978.

“We used the whole package. We ran inside and we ran outside,” said tackle Mark Stephens, the offensive captain.

“How many sets of running backs did we use?” asked Coach Joe Kapp, whose substitutions went four deep in that department. “And they were all good ones.”

San Jose Coach Claude Gilbert said: “I didn’t think they could take the ball and move it up the field physically as much as they did.”

The Spartans drove 65 yards on their first possession and scored on Keith Vanderhoff’s 27-yard field goal. But Cal’s first-string defense was excellent from that point on, and the Bears got touchdowns in pairs from Barbero, Dwight Garner and Brian Bedford as they built a 42-3 lead by late in the third period of the nonconference game.

Randy Walker of San Jose scored three touchdowns on short runs late in the game, missing tries for two-point conversions each time, and Cal freshman William Jackson made a two-yard touchdown run in the final minute.

Cal’s Brown passed for 150 yards to complement the strong running attack. Bedford took over at quarterback early in the third period with Cal ahead, 28-3.

Cal’s point total was its highest since 1977.