Bakersfield College cruised to three victories to open the season, obviously against inferior talent. But the Renegades ran into a buzz saw against their first potent opponent on Saturday.

The 40-24 loss at El Camino demonstrated the value of having a top-line quarterback. It was 3-3 after the first quarter but after that it got away from the Gades. El Camino built a 30-10 lead at one point.

The BC defense dominated its first three opponents, but El Camino QB Matt Simms (son of ex-NFL great Phil Simms) picked apart the BC secondary with crisp, short passes, with an occasional long toss thrown in. He had 403 passing yards by the end of the third quarter and 431 in the game.

Simms passed quickly -- often using a two-step drop and throwing. That left little time for the BC rush to put much pressure on him. BC sacked him only twice, and he was hit after throwing only a handful of times.

There were two long pass plays -- a 50-yarder to El Camino's top receiver Kenbrell Thompkins who ran a fly pattern, got behind the BC defenders and received a perfectly thrown pass from Simms. The other long one was 51 yards to Tony Sekona, but that was a short pass that turned into a long gain when BC defender Deonata Nard missed a tackle that would have ended the play after about 12 yards.

El Camino, on the other hand, got constant pressure on BC QB Logan Kilgore. Kilgore had some chances but overthrew a few balls. The best pass play of the night was a great throw and subsequent catch by Vince Van Horne at the 1-yard line as he somehow kept his feet in bounds along the sideline for a fingertip catch.

It's hard to imagine BC facing a QB like Simms or a group of receivers like El Camino has. El Camino had 10 different players with receptions, and the majority of them ran sharp routes, had good hands and found seams in the BC secondary.

Aside from the first drive of the night, BC never got its ground game going. Unofficially 31 net rushing yards illustrates how tough it was to run against an El Camino team that consistently had eight players close to the line of scrimmage.

Next up for BC is Pasadena in the Northern National Conference opener for both teams, which both have 3-1 records. Pasadena routed Riverside 38-7 on Saturday.

A week from next Saturday BC is in Santa Maria to face Allen Hancock, which improved to 4-0 Saturday by rolling past Citrus 48-23.

So these next two games loom large. The challenge is seeing how the Renegades bounce back after Saturday.

The Renegades won another laugher Saturday, 43-0 over a winless Santa Monica, which gives BC a 3-0 record.

But the next game will illustrate how good the Renegades are. On Saturday, BC travels to 3-0 El Camino, a team that year in and year out ranks among the best in the state.

El Camino won 57-0 vs. Compton today (Sept. 19). Compton is another hideous team, so El Camino is in the same boat at BC: facing its best opponent when it lines up vs. BC.

It would help the Renegades if their banged-up running backs return next week, but one would surmise that could be a longshot. Neither Andre Smith (severe ankle sprain) nor Eric Jones (ankle sprain, less severe than Smith but still unable to cut on it) may be available.

Logan Kilgore had by far his best game as BC's quarterback, completing 14-of-15 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns. Great performance, and he'll need to be very sharp and keep mistakes to a minimum against El Camino next week to give the Gades a chance.

It's too bad this game will be played in Torrance, given a matchup like this would generate a good crowd in Memorial Stadium. But El Camino has played so many games in Memorial Stadium in recent seasons it's only fair for one of these traditional big game is played down south.

BC's 55-7 slaughter of L.A. Valley on Saturday night demonstrated that the Renegades ought to rank among the top SoCal teams, but the enthusiasm needs to be tempered somewhat because Valley was simply overpowered by BC's physical play.

But it's obvious the offensive line is big and physical, and the defensive line is quick, big and physical. I figure only the top-level JC teams in the state will match up with that physical play up front. El Camino, who plays host to BC a week from next Saturday, is one of those types of teams. That will be the first real test for the Renegades.

The running back depth took a bit of a hit. Andre Smith is already out (ankle), and Eric Jones, who looked sensational (78 yards, nine carries) hurt his ankle in the fourth quarter. Ben Estill (147 yards), Keldon Hampton (28 yards) and Julian Dean-Johnson (51 yards) looked good, as did backup QB Lyle Negron (57 yards).

It will be interesting to see how BC does in its first road game, next Saturday at Santa Monica. The so-so BC team from last year did score 60 points vs. Santa Monica a year ago, so one would think this could be another blowout. We'll see.

BC opened its season Saturday by beating Fresno City College 33-14. The story in Sunday's Californian focused on the defensive performance, although the running attack led by Andre Smith (two TDs, runs of 79 and 17) and Ben Estill impressed.

Some other thoughts:

The first play from scrimmage saw QB Logan Kilgore throw a sideline pass to first-year receiver Rishard Matthews, who made a leaping catch. No one on last season's squad could have pulled that off.

Other passing highlights: Vince Van Horne's 1-hand grab for 25 yards down to the FCC 17-yard line in the third quarter, one play before Smith's 17-yard TD run. Also, the TD pass to TE Vince Misa-Amituanai (I know that's a mouthful) in the first quarter. BC has rarely thrown to TEs in recent seasons. This guy is a bonafide receiver with good moves and size (6-4, 248).

Kilgore threw for only 59 yards as a high school quarterback, going 5-for-11 in two seasons. He threw for two TDs and 140 yards on Saturday.

QB coach Carl Dean had second-string QB Lyle Negron in for  a series, immediately after Kilgore had thrown an interception. QB coach Carl Dean said he wanted Negron to play and promised Negron he'd get into the game, adding that Negron's playing time had nothing to do with the Kilgore interception. Kilgore returned to the field on the subsequent BC possession.

Other defensive highlights:

Four sacks by BC.

Limiting FCC to 43 net rushing yards.

BC safety Tanner Webb out of Wasco had a nice game. His most notable play: picking off a fumble in mid-air and racing 39 yards to the 3-yard line. That set up a Josh Gallington field goal.

FCC had a solid game from freshman linebacker Alek Taliulu -- who graduated from Tehachapi High. Shawn Pimentel, another Tehachapi grad, caught a TD pass for FCC.

Also on FCC's roster: Taft High products Tony (DL) and Ben (OL) Savaii, BHS grad Kenny Wallace (DL) and Stockdale grad Chris Bowie (TE).

And a stadium note: fans in attendance probably noticed the 25-second play clock, which is on both ends of the stadium. FCC was called for two delay penalties and had to burn a second-half timeout to prevent another one.

An area to watch: BC's kicking game. Punter Dalton Botts has towering kicks, but not great distance. On the plus side, the hang time does prevent big returns. BC kickoffs were fairly short most of the time, which usually gives the opponent good field position,  and Gallington had a field goal attempt blocked.