Two days later, a few more takeaways from Cal’s 59-20 defeat at SMU on Saturday:

That gruesome second half

Cal began playing football in 1882 and not once since then has experienced a second half quite like the Bears endured at SMU.

Being shut out 42-0 after halftime was bad enough — possibly the worst second-half margin Cal has suffered since the 1973 season opener, when Bear Bryant’s Alabama team outscored the Bears 45-0 over the final two quarters on the way to a 66-0 win on a hot and humid night in Birmingham, Ala.

We’ll acknowledge not having access to the score by quarters of Cal’s 60-7 road loss to a 1980 USC team that featured Marcus Allen and Ronnie Lott.…