Cal's failed fake punt was hilariously bad (GIFs)

Things did not go so well for Cal in the first half against USC Thursday night.

Already trailing 28-2 with 5:20 to go in the second quarter, the Bears lined up to punt on 4th-and-12 from their own 31-yard line. Instead of kicking it deep, Cal called for a fake punt. It didn’t work.

Punter Cole Leininger took the snap, did some weird two-step thing and threw a lame duck pass toward Jack Austin. The pass fell incomplete and the Bears turned it over on downs.

I’m not really sure how those two high steps were supposed to fool USC. It looked like Leininger was doing some aerobics instead of executing the fake.

USC capitalized on Cal’s gaffe and added a field goal to take a commanding 31-2 lead. Though the Bears stormed back in the second half, USC held on and won 38-30.

This isn’t the first time Cal attempted a fake punt like this. Last year against Stanford, Cal ran a similar fake – Leininger two-step and all.

Similarly, this one came up short and the Bears turned the ball over on downs. 

Sonny Dykes might want to take that one out of the playbook.

For more Cal news, visit GoldenBearReport.com.

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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!

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