ALAMO BOWL : Barr Is Sharp as Cal Gets a 37-3 Victory to Remember

Dave Barr threw three touchdown passes and Jerrott Willard had three sacks and returned an interception 61 yards for a score as California routed Iowa, 37-3, Friday night in the inaugural Alamo Bowl.

Barr led the Golden Bears on time-consuming drives and repeatedly picked Iowa apart on third down, ripping holes in the seams of the Hawkeyes’ zone defense with precision passes.

Willard and his band of blitzing defenders, meanwhile, held Iowa to 20 yards in 21 rushes.

California (9-4) won its third bowl game in four years. Iowa (6-6) barely managed to get into a bowl after finishing eighth in the Big Ten without beating a team with a winning record.

The Golden Bears scored on four of their first five possessions, including field goals by Doug Brien of 37, 20 and 30 yards, and led, 23-0, at intermission. Barr, who was 21 of 28 for 266 yards, also hit Mike Caldwell with a 6-yard touchdown pass in the first half.

Iowa’s only score came on a 42-yard field goal by Brion Hurley with 10 minutes left in the third quarter after Bo Porter shook the ball loose from Barr on a sack and Matt Hilliard recovered at Cal’s 19.

The Hawkeyes’ Matt Burmeister, who was six of 17 for 70 yards with one interception, never got going against a Cal defense that pressured him most of the night.

The Bears’ knockout punch came on the first half’s final play when Regan Upshaw pressured Burmeister into throwing a weak pass that was picked off by Willard, who lumbered 61 yards untouched for the score.

Cal had the ball for 21 minutes, 14 seconds of the first half and limited Iowa to only 69 yards, six in the first quarter. The Hawkeyes’ deepest penetration in the first quarter was their 29.

On four of Cal’s scoring drives, Barr faced third-and-long situations and each time converted, including a scrambling 11-yard pass to Damien Semien on third-and-10 that gave the Bears a first down at Iowa’s 42 midway through the third quarter.

Five plays later, Barr hit Iheanyi Uwaezuoke with a 34-yard touchdown pass, giving Cal a 30-3 lead with 4:05 left in the period.

Barr also hit Brian Remington with a 12-yard touchdown pass on third-and-4, which put Cal up, 37-3, with 7:59 to play.

Iowa appeared to be closing in for a score in the second quarter as it crossed midfield for the first time. A 33-yard strike from Burmeister to Harold Jasper put the Hawkeyes at Cal’s 28.

But Kent Kahl ran for no gain, Burmeister threw an incomplete pass and Willard rocked the Iowa quarterback for a 12-yard loss, pushing the Hawkeyes out of field goal range.