The first quarter went mostly in Cal’s favor. The second quarter was dominated by Utah. The third quarter? Somewhere in between. Perhaps most importantly, the Bears reappeared with an impressive touchdown drive to close the penultimate frame of play.

Here’s how it played out:

Shane Vereen gained 21 yards on his longest run of the quarter. Kevin Riley hit Anthony Miller up the middle for a 30-yard reception. After being sacked on the next play, Riley found wideout Verran Tucker for 19 yards. Then, Riley dumped it off to Vereen for 11 yards before the sophomore tailback punched in a one-yard cruise to the end zone.

SCORE: Utah 27, Cal 21

It was the first drive of the game on which Riley was able to find multiple seams in the Utah secondary, definitely an encouraging sign for the Bears. Meanwhile, the Utes are knocking at the door to start the fourth quarter. They ended the six-play drive with a 25-yard field goal at the 13:05 mark.

SCORE: Utah 30, Cal 21

Here’s one thing the Cal football team has done in the second half:

Keep punter Bryan Anger busy.

He has punted on the Bears’ first two possessions of the third quarter, which featured unsuccessful runs by tailback Shane Vereen and inaccurate passes by Kevin Riley. Groans could be heard from the section of Cal fans when Riley fired a ball over fullback Brian Holley’s head on a third-and-two from the Bears’ own 13-yard line.

Now, members of the Cal defense have hands on their hips as Utah marches downfield midway through the third quarter. The halftime score hasn’t changed … yet.

The last play of the second quarter was an emphatic sack of Cal quarterback Kevin Riley, which seems emblematic of the Bears’ performance in the first half of the Pointsettia Bowl.

Utah quarterback Jordan Wynn is having a field day with the Cal defense, using a well-executed combination of short passes out wide and long passes downfield. Ever since Bears linebacker Eddie Young intercepted Wynn and scored his team’s second touchdown, the secondary has looked confused. Simple screen passes have gone for 14 yards and 17 yards. Shovel passes have led to huge scampers for the Utes, who have scored 24 consecutive points.

Utah wideout Kendrick Moeai has two touchdown receptions, the first for six yards in the back corner of the end zone and the second for 15 yards over the middle. Running back Eddie Wide has 25 yards on 13 carries, but he’s done more damage as a receiver, taking two passes for 74 yards.

SCORE: Utah 24, Cal 14.

Stat of the half: Passing yards. Wynn has racked up 225 yards (along with three scores) for the Utes, while Cal quarterback Kevin Riley has managed only 47.

Bears tailback Shane Vereen has been somewhat effective on the ground, averaging 6.6 yards per carry through two quarters. However, the Utah defense has begun stacking the box because Riley has not been able to complete passes downfield. An underthrown ball to Alex Lagemann on a potential first-down pickup late in the second quarter was particularly memorable. In any case, we’ve seen Vereen shoulder the load before — remember the Big Game? — but it looks like he’ll need some help if Cal hopes to stick around.

Also, it should be noted again that special teams coverage has been porous for the Bears, as they’ve given up 97 yards on three kickoffs. They have the ball to start the third quarter … Vereen was just tackled for a four-yard loss.

Not a good sign for Cal, to be sure.

The Cal football team was in complete command of the Pointsettia Bowl at 14-0 … Not so fast.

There’s less than five minutes left in the second quarter, and the Bears have given up 17 straight points to Utah. Utes quarterback Jordan Wynn found wideout Kendrick Moeai for a 15-yard touchdown pass up the middle for his team’s first lead of the game. It was Moeai’s second score of the game.

SCORE: Utah 17, Cal 14.

Does Utah have the Bears figured out? Kyle Whittingham’s offense is picking apart the secondary, and his offense isn’t giving tailback Shane Vereen much room to run. If Cal can’t find success through the air, it could be a very long second half.

We have reached the end of the first quarter here in San Diego and the score reads:

CAL – 14, UTAH – 7

The Bears came out on offense with a running mindset and tailback Shane Vereen capitalized on it. Vereen already has 77 yards on the ground and a touchdown. Thanks in large part to offensive linemen Mark Boskovich and Mike Tepper, Vereen found himself a hole, cut back, and ran 36 yards for the game’s first score. Just one play later, linebacker Eddie Young added another touchdown to give Cal a two-touchdown lead.

The Utes were not rattled, however. While the Bears were able to get to Utah’s Jordan Wynn on the first few series, the Utes finally buckled down and gave Wynn plenty of time to throw the football and find open receivers. On first and goal with under two minutes left in the quarter, Wynn rolled right and found tight end Kendrick Moeai for a six-yard touchdown reception. The ruling on the field appeared questionable at first, but it didn’t take the referees long to confirm the ruling on the field. Cal also didn’t do itself any favors with its kickoff coverage that preceded the opposing team’s scoring drive. The Utes started from the Bears’ 30 after a 61 yard return by Shaky Smithson.

Different defensive looks have helped, but it appears that the Bears will have to try to stop the pass if they want to win this game.

Giorgio Tavecchio buried his first two kickoffs inside the five-yard line. His third? More characteristic. It landed around the 10-yard line, then coverage broke down and the Utes returned the kick to Cal’s 30-yard line. Working with a short field, Utah didn’t move the ball extremely well but was able to go for it on fourth down thanks to the advantageous field position and converted. Jordan Wynn then hooked up with Kendrick Moeai in the back corner of the end zone for a touchdown.

Kickoff coverage has been a thorn in the Bears’ side all season. We’ll see if it bites them again in this game.

The Cal defense made things easy for the offense midway through the first quarter, forcing Utah to punt out of its own end zone.

With advantageous field position, the Bears quickly crossed midfield and scored the first touchdown of the game when tailback Shane Vereen found a huge hole to the left and raced 36 yards to the house. Vince D’Amato connected on the point-after attempt, culminating the five-play drive.

SCORE: Cal 7, Utah 0.

Scratch that. Bears linebacker Eddie Young picks off Utes quarterback Jordan Wynn on the first play of the ensuing drive and returns the ball for another touchdown with 5:55 left in the opening quarter. It was Young’s first career trip to the end zone.

SCORE: Cal 14, Utah 0.

Cal came out in a 4-2-5 on defense to start the game — a look that they’ve shown sparingly this season. Cameron Jordan, Derrick Hill, Kendrick Payne and Tyson Alualu were on the line. Cornerback Syd’Quan Thompson did start. Bryant Nnabuife was the other corner. Marcus Ezeff, Chris Conte and Sean Cattouse (not senior Brett Johnson) were in at safety.

They switched it up a little after Eddie Wide’s 45-yard run, but still came up with a stop.

Looks like the Bears are going to start out relying on speed to counter Utah’s spread attack. It helps that the line is getting a pretty good push right now. Payne just sacked Utah quarterback Jordan Wynn for Cal’s first of the game, but Wynn has been under pressure several times already through the Utes’ first two series.

Hello and happy holidays from San Diego. There’s about half an hour until kickoff of the Pointsettia Bowl here at Qualcomm Stadium, and both teams are warming up on the field.

Cal is coming off a 42-10 loss to Washington, not exactly a good way to end the regular season. Coach Jeff Tedford’s squad is playing in its school-record seventh straight bowl game.

No. 23 Utah finished Mountain West play with an overtime loss to Brigham Young (which, by the way, put quite the beating on Oregon State in the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl last night). The Utes have won eight consecutive bowl games, fueling the argument that they would fare well in a major conference.

Here are a few keys to the game for the Bears:

1. Pass efficiency: Utah is statistically strong against the air attack, which could make life difficult for Cal quarterback Kevin Riley. The Bears often go as their junior signal-caller goes, and this evening he’s up against the 14th best pass defense in the country. As always, he’ll have to be aggressive enough to balance the offense but cautious enough to avoid throwing picks.

2. Desire: Cal could have been playing at Qualcomm Stadium for the much more prestigious Holiday Bowl if it had taken care of business in Seattle. The Bears were impressive in bouncing back from an 0-2 start to conference play, but will they show the same character in a season finale that could have been accompanied by different red flowers?

Kickoff in three minutes. Stay tuned for updates throughout the game.

As you probably know, the Cal football team got bowled over by Washington on Saturday at Husky Stadium in Seattle — not exactly a good way to turn heads for postseason play.

It was announced Sunday that the Bears will play their last game of the season at the San Diego County Credit Union Pointsettia Bowl on Dec. 23 at Qualcomm Stadium. Their opponent will be announced later today.

Here’s the bowl itinterary for the Pac-10:

Rose Bowl: Oregon

Holiday Bowl: Arizona

Sun Bowl: Stanford

Emerald Bowl: USC

Las Vegas Bowl: Oregon State

Pointsettia Bowl: Cal

In 2004, the Bears went to San Diego for the Holiday Bowl and lost to Texas Tech. They returned to Southern California for the Holiday Bowl in 2006, when they beat Texas A&M, 45-10.