Cal Bears Apply Caulk To Sdsu Star Faulk -- `Mr. Heisman' Gets Hopes Dented

BERKELEY, Calif. - California's defense put the squeeze on Marshall Faulk and damaged his Heisman Trophy chances in the process.

Dave Barr threw four touchdown passes for California and Faulk had the second-worst outing of his career as the Golden Bears overpowered San Diego State 45-25 yesterday.

"We showed what we could do against the best back in the nation," Cal linebacker Jerrott Willard said.

"We kept him from getting a seam. We shored up all the gaps and he couldn't go anywhere."

Faulk, the NCAA rushing champion the past two seasons, was held to 28 yards in the first half and finished with just 64 yards on 22 carries.

It was his second-lowest rushing total, excluding two outings cut short by injury. He ran for 39 yards on 11 carries in his freshman debut against Long Beach State on Sept. 8, 1991.

Faulk, who also caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from David Lowery in the fourth quarter, said he was more concerned about the outcome of the game than his Heisman chances.

"I am not going to do anything special," he said. "I just want to help my team to win. If I don't win it, so what?"

Barr also helped keep the ball out of Faulk's hands by completing 18 of 33 passes for 335 yards, the second time in his career he has gone over 300 yards. He threw for 365 yards last Oct. 24 against Arizona.

Lindsey Chapman ran for 80 yards and a touchdown, and also caught Barr's final scoring pass, a 19-yarder with 12:23 left.

Reynard Rutherford added 58 yards, including a 39-yard TD with 4:46 left.

At times, California (2-0) threw up eight- and nine-man fronts to slow down Faulk, runner-up in last year's Heisman Trophy balloting.

"They were saying, `Come on, Mr. Heisman, what are you going to do?' You've got eight men up, what can I do?" Faulk said.

Cal defensive coordinator Artie Gigantino used the overloaded defensive fronts until the Bears took a commanding lead.

"I think our guys did a nice job of swarming and I think when they got there, they did a nice job of tackling," he said. "He's obviously an outstanding back and quite frankly, I hope he wins the Heisman Trophy. It'd be great for him, San Diego State and the West Coast."

Faulk complained that some Cal players were trying to hurt him in pileups at the end of plays.

"I am getting legs twisted under the pile, that's the type of stuff I'm talking about," Faulk said.

"It's not been like that before. I guess I just have to prepare myself for that type of thing."

Cal linebacker Paul Joiner denied any dirty tactics but admitted taunting Faulk.

The Bears were flagged for 14 penalties for 130 yards, including several personal fouls.

"We were trying to intimidate him any way we could. We came out trying to throw him off his game," Joiner said.

With Faulk hemmed in, San Diego State (1-1) turned to the pass, but Cal's defense came up with a pair of interceptions that led to 10 points on Doug Brien's 46-yard field goal and Barr's initial touchdown pass.

Cal, hampered by 11 first-half penalities, led just 14-12 before taking control in the third quarter with 17 unanswered points.

Brien's field goal followed Eric Zomalt's interception of Lowery's pass. Barr threw scoring passes of 10 yards to Marty Holly and 36 yards to Damien Semien.

Lowery was 18 for 42 for 323 yards and three touchdowns, the last an 82-yarder to Darnay Scott with 9:12 remaining.

Scott also caught a 5-yard touchdown pass to give the Aztecs a brief 6-0 lead midway through the first quarter. Peter Holt's extra point try went wide right.

California answered with two second-quarter touchdowns as Chapman scored on a 1-yard run to finish off a 67-yard, 12-play march, and Barr threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Semien.

Cornerback Jody Graham's interception of Lowery's pass and 5-yard return to the San Diego State 37 preceded the score by Semien.

Lowery came back to throw a 48-yard pass to Ray Peterson, and Faulk ran it in on the next play from 2 yards out to pull the Aztecs to within 14-12.

Their attempt to pass for the two-point conversion failed.