Ohio State, Cal each show their strengths Buckeyes have football brawn, but Bears have beauty, brains

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It's a long way from Columbus, Ohio, to Berkeley. And we speak in terms of geography and philosophy.

Columbus is home to a famous football team that happens to be affiliated with a university. Berkeley is home to a famous university that also fields a football team.

In a lot of ways, it's that simple. Priorities are everything. And those priorities were on full display in Strawberry Canyon on Saturday.

The Ohio State Buckeyes rolled into Memorial Stadium and gave the Cal Bears a thorough lesson in football, winning 52-34 and showing Berkeley's new head coach, Sonny Dykes, just how far he has to travel to match up with the likes of his counterpart, Urban Meyer.

In return, Cal showed Ohio State what it's like to play football at a fabulous new facility with integrity and ingenuity. You know, with great weather and amateur players and all the rest.

Call it a draw, with the Buckeyes winning on the field and the Bears winning in life. There's a reason half the crowd was wearing Ohio State gear in Berkeley on Saturday afternoon. Many of those folks moved out here. (I know. I grew up in Ohio.)

On the field, things were predictable. The Buckeyes scored early, traversing 94 yards in three plays and 32 seconds on their first possession. And often, scoring two touchdowns in the first 73 seconds they had the ball. But Cal fought gamely, cutting the deficit to 24-14 at the end of the first quarter. The score never got any closer, and in the end the result on the field followed the expected script: National powerhouse pummels striving locals.

About the only thing one can say on the football front would be this: Coach Dykes needs to stop drawing up fancy new plays on his cocktail napkins and spend a little time on defense. His Louisiana Tech team fielded the worst defense in the nation last year. His first Cal team isn't much better. We know the defense has sustained great injury this season, but spend the money on a top-shelf defensive coordinator, Sonny. Put the "D" back in Dykes.

Ohio State's Corey Brown (10), covered by Cal's Jalen Jefferson, catches a 6-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. Ohio State's Corey Brown (10), covered by Cal's Jalen Jefferson, catches a 6-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Ohio State, Cal each show their strengths 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

That said, the rest was straightforward. Jared Goff is a fabulous young talent at quarterback. And it looks as if he has a legitimate go-to receiver in Bryce Treggs. The defense is a mess. The rest is just typing.

While the actual result may have been predictable, the themes and motives behind a matchup like this are much more fascinating. When a football factory like Ohio State comes to town, you see the best and worst of college football.

On the plus side, the fans were great. Thousands of scarlet and gray enthusiasts flooded the Bay Area all week, chanting "O-H-I-O," wearing "Muck Fichigan" shirts and generally having fun. My favorite was the Woody Hayes lookalike standing in front of Memorial Stadium on Saturday, replete with the short-sleeved dress shirt, black cap and thick, black glasses. You simply had to stop and take a picture with the guy.

On the negative side, Ohio State is a thinly disguised professional team with more talent than most any other team in the country. They'd be favored by four against the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars. It's a factory in the truest sense, churning out championship product at any cost. As one Ol' Blue put it to me before the game: "Should be a good season for Ohio State. Before they go back on suspension." And with success comes support. Cal's stands were awash with scarlet Saturday. It may have been 50/50 between Cal and OSU fans. There may have been more Buckeyes.

And that kind of thing creates envy. For decades now, Cal has aspired to match the likes of Ohio State or Alabama or USC on the football field. And Ohio State dreams of matching Cal or Michigan in the classroom, as much as they'd never admit it.

My question for both schools is: Why? There is only one Ohio State, with 100,000 faithful in the Horseshoe. And there's only one Cal, where they don't have enough shelves to house all those Nobel Prizes.

Despite Saturday's loss, Cal football is in a pretty good place right now.

After a long, hard fight, the university succeeded in building a truly world-class facility that should increase athletic revenues and improve recruiting in the long run. They have hired a young, innovative coach who simply needs some help on defense. And they learned a most valuable lesson last season.

Even though the team finished 3-9 and plenty of Blues were angry, the Cal community barked even louder when it was revealed that Coach Jeff Tedford's program had fallen to the bottom of the Pac-12 in terms of graduating players.

Losing was one thing. But letting academics slip was another altogether. The school and its football program regrouped and redirected their efforts to fit the institution's ideals. Tedford was fired. And Dykes got the message. He has instituted a class-check program, hired two learning specialists and made it clear that anyone with academic issues will not practice or play.

That is Cal Bears football. And it hasn't nothing to do with matching wits with Meyer and Ohio State.

It has everything to do with being Berkeley: a great place to watch football with an even better fan base.

The horrifying thing for Cal is this: If they want to emulate another program on the field, they should try to match what hated Stanford has achieved. Football and academic excellence, happily joined.

Of course, Stanford fans would do well to emulate their counterparts in Berkeley, where students and alumni actually go to games and pack the stadium.

The good news for both schools is the distance between Berkeley and Palo Alto is quite short, in terms of both geography and philosophy.