1927 season As a sophomore in his first game with Cal, Lom threw two long
forward passes to win the game. In another game that season, several of Lom's passes led Cal to a 13–0 win over
Saint Mary's College of California. The team went 7–3 that season and Lom was named as an honorable mention on the
Associated Press All-America team and was named as a first-team member of
Lou Little's All-America team.
1928 season and 1929 Rose Bowl Cal finished with a 6–1–2 record in the 1928 season and faced the
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the
1929 Rose Bowl. In the second quarter, Lom forced a fumble by Stumpy Thomason of Georgia Tech. Lom's teammate
Roy Riegels picked up the ball at the Georgia Tech 35-yard line and headed for a touchdown but reversed direction after spinning to avoid tackles and started heading towards his own goal line. Lom chased after Riegels trying to tell him to turn around, but Riegels couldn't hear him over the roar from the crowd of 70,000. Recovering the ball inside their own one-yard line, the Cal Bears opted to punt on first down. Lom attempted the punt, but Lom's punt was blocked and the ball was recovered by Georgia Tech after a "mad scramble" for a safety that gave Georgia Tech a 2–0 lead. Lom was retrospectively honored in 1953 with the Player of the Game Award of the 1929 Rose Bowl game, one of only two players from the losing team to be selected outright for the honor.
1929 season The team had a 7–1–1 record in 1929. Highlights of the season included a 54-yard
kickoff return on the opening play of a game against the
University of Pennsylvania that Cal won 12–7. In a November 1929 game against the heavily favored
University of Southern California Trojans, Lom set up for a punt and ran the ball back for an 85-yard touchdown after a USC player trying to block the kick was blocked and two USC players were avoided near the line of scrimmage. Cal beat USC 15–7, and Lom's performance led the
United Press to write:"Standing out above all the others in the California lineup were Benny Lom, the slight Jewish halfback, and Roy Riegels .... If there ever was any doubt that Lom was a great back he proved it to-day. His long punts continually offset advantages Southern California gained through hard running plays. His passing was deadly. He ripped off long gains with disturbing frequency and finally took the game out of the disputed class by running eighty-five vards through the entire Trojan team to a touchdown, the second for the Bears." In 1929, Lom was selected for the All-Pacific Coast first team and a second-team All-American by the Newspaper Editors Association and the North American Newspaper Alliance, He was also received honorable mentions from
Grantland Rice and
United Press. ==International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame==