3. Plays of the Day:
Lots to choose from here, which again, reflects what type of day it was in Irvine. Quarterback Spencer Rattler rolled out to the left, then tossed a throw back to the right to Juwan Johnson from the 20-yard line. Johnson was in full stride and got stopped at the 1-yard line. On the next play from the 10-yard line, Rattler executed a perfect zone read, and handed the ball off to running back Cam Akers who scampered in for an easy touchdown. Another rep showed inspired play on both sides of the ball. With Jake Haener at quarterback, and the ball at the plus 8-yard line heading into the east end zone, Haener took the snap and immediately got pressure from blitzing linebacker Jaylan Ford from the left side. Haener somehow eluded the fierce rush, and still backpedaling, threw off his back foot to the left sideline, where wide receiver Dante Pettis made the grab, but before he could get in the end zone, he was drilled out of bounds at the 1 by rookie safety Jonas Sanker. Finally, with the teams moving to the west end zone now, with Tyler Shough at quarterback and the ball at the 7-yard line, Shough handed the ball off to Clyde Edwards-Helaire who proceeded to try and find a hole off right guard. About two yards into the rush, Edwards-Helaire stopped on a dime, avoided contact, cut back to the left and waltzed into the end zone, prompting the normally reserved Alvin Kamara to come off the bench for a leaping high five with CEH. It was the second TD of the day for CEH and capped off a fun day on the West Coast.