It was a day that, at times, didn’t seem completely real. College football in Australia?
It’s been a dream of mine for the decade I’ve followed the game, and finally it came to fruition on a wonderfully sun-drenched Saturday afternoon at ANZ Stadium with the University of California, Berkeley taking on the University of Hawaii in the inaugural Sydney Cup. And what an afternoon it was, with Cal outlasting the Hawaiians 51-31.
Here are my heroes and villains from a memorable day.
Sydney
More than 61,000 fans wearing literally a thousand different jerseys – although, as we expected, Jarryd Hayne’s San Francisco 49ers #38 was the most popular – flocked to ANZ Stadium for the inaugural Sydney Cup, and were treated to a wonderful afternoon of football. And, of course, healthy smatterings of the pageantry and tradition that make college football so good.
Wonderful shots of Sydney on a glorious winter day were beamed across America and around the world. I know it had an impact just by talking to many folks I know over there, all of whom were in awe of the scenery shots they saw coming in and out of every ad break on the ESPN coverage.
This could become a bucket list trip for college football fans in future.
The NSW Government through Destination NSW should be commended for taking a punt on a college game while other cities in Australia wait around to try and lure an NFL contest.
The success of Saturday’s event should see a return trip next year, with rumours of a three-year contract in the works, and based on the numbers I saw, the government is going to net a nice, tidy profit each time.
Davis Webb
Starting his first game for the Golden Bears, the transfer quarterback Webb proved to be a great choice to pilot the Cal offence in 2016, sliding in behind the controls as though he’d played multiple seasons under Sonny Dykes.
The Bear Raid system obviously mirrors what Webb ran with reasonable effect at Texas Tech, which helped him settle in early and pick apart a porous Hawaii defence. Webb finished 38-54 for 441 yards and four passing touchdowns. He also ran a score in.
Impressive debut.
Steven Lakalaka
The Hawaiian running back became something of a cult favourite in the second half, ripping off a series of bruising runs for 61 hard-earned yards. His rumbling touchdown run earned one of the biggest cheers on a day full of them. It was great to see so much love for these student athletes.
Chad Hansen
How’s this for a statement game? A season ago, Hansen had 19 receptions for 249 yards and one touchdown. On Saturday afternoon at ANZ Stadium, Hansen, in an MVP-like performance, snagged 14 catches for a whopping 160 yards and two scores.
He said later that he’s found good rhythm with Davis Webb, so opposing defences should watch out. And Hansen celebrated a touchdown by mimicking an AFL goal umpire signalling a goal, which was arguably his most awesome contribution on a big day!
Warren Smith
The popular voice of FOX Sports’ NRL coverage had a tough job to do Saturday, working the sidelines for the ESPN-produced broadcast while analyst Mike Bellotti and play-by-play commentator Allen Bestwick called the game from TV monitors thousands of miles away in ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut.
Smith, whom Bestwick called the hardest working man in Australian television, never missed a beat, and impressed many Americans on social media.
Hawaii’s Band and Cheerleaders
I was at the pre-game breakfast at the Showgrounds and witnessed the Hawaiian band and cheerleaders up close.
It was a wonderful performance of both schools’ fight songs, and, of course, a rendition of the Hawaii Five-O theme song. It was a fantastic
Nick Rolovich
Hawaii’s first-year head coach proved he’s something of a riverboat gambler with his bold call to open the game with an onside kick attempt. Yeah, it wasn’t successful, but it showed he isn’t afraid to take a risk or two. I
t’s going to be a long year for the rebuilding Rainbow Warriors squad, but they appear to be in good hands with Rolovich. If nothing else, he’s popular with the fan-base. I spoke to plenty of Hawaii fans pre-game and they absolutely love him.
Defence
What defence? If you were a casual observer yesterday – and surely there were plenty of those – then you’d have loved the point-scoring fest, but the many defensive lapses would’ve driven coaches mad.
Cal and Hawaii both kept the scoreboard operators busy, rolling up a combined 82 points in 60 minutes of football. Neither defence looked particularly impressive, which doesn’t bode well for the season ahead. It wasn’t exactly a game for the purists.
Hawaii’s turnovers
Turnovers kill in football, and the Rainbow Warriors gave up some bad ones on Saturday, ruining whatever chance they had of winning the game.
That’s got to be frustrating for the coaching staff, because when they could hold onto the football, they had some success moving it against the Cal defence. The game might have been closer if the Bows had been able to hold onto the football better.
Drunk fans
Perhaps I should clarify here. I’m talking here about the Aussie fans who clearly possessed only rudimentary knowledge of the game who decided to get absolutely sloshed and complain loudly – and rudely – about the play calls over and over and over.
I was on the 400 level, great seats with a wonderful view, except for the pack of idiots behind us who were going on like absolute galahs from halftime onward, unloading all sorts of moronic criticism of what both offensive coordinators were doing or, more precisely, weren’t doing.
And, please, don’t even get me started on the people who complained that the game took forever. Surely, they knew what they were getting in for when they bought tickets? It’s no great mystery that American football has many stoppages. Hearing people constantly complaining got old fast.
Cal’s band
The Hawaiian band were there – and I got to see them up close – but the Cal Spirit band didn’t make the journey down to Sydney, resulting in a canned version of the Golden Bears fight song being played every time the Golden Bears scored a touchdown.
Compared to the live music from the Hawaii band, it wasn’t a great look, and, for mine, it took away from the atmosphere. You’d think if the Golden Bears come down again, that oversight will be corrected.
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