Cal holds off Belichick's Tar Heels, but have to play much better'

"Carolina had second-and-8 from the Cal 13-yard line when quarterback Geo Lopez connected with wide receiver Nathan Leacock steaming toward the goal line. Austin, a senior transfer from South Florida, arrived too late to stop Leacock's momentum into the end zone, but he punched the ball free near the 1-yard line, then scrambled after it for the recovery on the left edge of the end zone with 3:48 left."

"But the Bears' 21-18 victory over coach Bill Belichick's struggling North Carolina team on Friday night at Memorial Stadium won't be the standard they aspire to the rest of the way. They're hard to come by so we will celebrate a victory, said Cal coach Justin Wilcox, whose team was favored by as many as 10.5 points late in the week. We have to play much better football moving forward in every phase of the game that's obvious."

Cal improved to 5-2, its best start in 10 years, after a 21-18 win over North Carolina at Memorial Stadium. The Bears were favored by as many as 10.5 points but produced a performance the coach said required improvement across all phases. Cal overhauled its offense this season with coordinator Bryan Harsin and a mostly new staff, yet scoring fell from a 32-point average in the first three games to 17.5 points over the next four. Two defensive back plays swung the result: Cam Sidney forced and recovered a first-play fumble setting up a 25-yard score, and Brent Paco Austin punched free and recovered a late goal-line fumble for the game-saving turnover.

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