Cal rolled past Hawaii in the opening game of the college football season on Friday night, 51-31. It was a bit of a weird one, with early onside kicks and mostly optional defense and, above all else, the game being played in Sydney, Australia.

The game’s unusual locale was not lost on the Bears and Rainbow Warriors. And how could it have been? Australia is quite far from both Berkeley and Honolulu.

Australia has a long history of playing sports that are kind of like American football but different in myriad ways. One is rugby, in which players can score a "try" by running the ball past the other team and then downing it in the "try zone," like an end zone.

When Hawaii’s Marcus Kemp scored an early touchdown on a 39-yard catch-and-run from quarterback Ikaika Woolsey, he gave a nod to the locals.

Aside from rugby, Australian rules football is really popular Down Under. The flagship league is the Australian Football League, and the rules of that sport also have a good bit in common with the American game. Aussie rules football players can score "goals," and when they do, umpires make a signal that looks like firing two pistols.

So, Cal receiver Chad Hansen, when you haul in a 17-yard score from quarterback Davis Webb, how are you going to respond?

Here’s to continued American-Aussie harmony in the years to come.