Cal Football Game Summary: Bears Beat Colorado
Cal defeated Colorado 26-3 before a sparse crowd Saturday afternoon in Berkeley.
Cal quarterback Chase Garbers was 22-for-29 for 225 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions and also rushed for 96 yards as Cal ended a three-game losing streak by beating an FBS opponent for the first time this season.
Cal led 23-3 at halftime and coasted home from there.
Here are the facts:
CAL 26, COLORADO 3
RECORDS: CAL (2-5, 1-3 Pac-12), COLORADO (2-5, 1-3 Pac-12)
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: Cal quarterback Chase Garbers. He threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, and he also ran for 96 yards.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: Cal safety Elijah Hicks. Hicks had six tackles, one sack, 2.5 tackles for loss and an interception. He was a key tackler when Cal stopped Colorado on a fourth-and-1 play in the first quarter (Key Play 2).
TURNING POINT: Chase Garbers' 38-yard run on a third-down play during Cal's first possession put the Bears in position to score a touchdown and take a lead it never lost.
KEY PLAY 1: Cal quarterback Chase Garbers scrambled for 38 yards on a third-and-6 play from the Bears' 30-yard line. That put the ball at the Colorado 32-yard line and led to Dario Longhetto's 49-yard field goal, which gave Cal a 3-0 lead with 9:47 left in the first quarter. Garbers broke Joe Kapp's Cal record for career rushing by a quarterback with that run.
KEY PLAY 2: Colorado running back Jarek Broussard was stopped for a 1-yard loss on a fourth-and-1 play from the Cal 49-yard line with 7:26 left in the first quarter.. Elijah Hicks and Nate Rutchena combined on the stop.
KEY PLAY 3: Chase Garbers threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to freshman tight end Keleki Latu, who made his first career reception. The touchdown catch ended a 50-yard drive that began after the fourth-down stop of Colorado (Key Play 2) and gave Cal a 10-0 lead with 6:05 left in the first quarter.
KEY PLAY 4: On a fourth-and-4 play from the Colorado 32-yard line, Chase Garbers completed a 15-yard pass to Jeremiah Hunter. That led to a 30-yard field goal by Dario Longhetto that increased the the Cal lead to 13-0 with 9:23 left in the first half.
KEY PLAY 5: Colorado's Brenden Rice (Jerry's son) returned a kickoff 67 yards to the Cal 33-yard line. It led to Cole Becker's 33-yard field goal, which cut the Cal lead to 13-3 with 6:47 left in the first half.
KEY PLAY 6: Chase Garbers completed a 31-yard touchdown pass to tight end Gavin Reinwald, which gave Cal a 20-3 lead with 3:21 left in the second quarter.
KEY PLAY 7: Cal's Dario Longhetto kicked 51-yard field goal on the final play of the first half, which ended with Cal holding a 23-3 lead. (It was one yard short of Longhetto's career long, achieved last year).
KEY PLAY 8: Colorado blocked a Cal field goal attempt and ran it back for a would-be touchdown, but the Colorado player who blocked it was offsides on the play. Dario Longhetto kicked a 33-yard field goal on the replay.
STAT OF THE GAME: In the first half, Chase Garbers was 12-for-15 for 161 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, and he also rushed for 82 yards before halftime.
STAT OF THE GAME 2: Cal outgained Colorado 297-91 in the first half.
STAT OF THE GAME 3: Cal scored on every first-half possession.
STAT OF THE GAME 4: Cal recorded six quarterback sacks, and the Bears allowed their quarterback to be sacked just once..
QUARTERBACK STATS: Cal's Chase Garbers was 22-for-29 for 225 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 96 yards. Colorado quarterback Brendon Lewis was 9-of-17 for 69 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. He had minus-9 yards rushing.
WHAT IT MEANS: It was Cal's first win over FBS team and first Pac-12 win, and it ended the Bears' three-game losing streak.
PLAYER AVAILABILITY: Cal: Outside linebacker Kuony Deng (lower body) missed his fifth straight game Saturday, and he is likely to out a little longer. Cal running back DeCarlos Brooks missed his fourth straight game with an unspecified injury. Starting nose guard Stanley McKenzie is out for the season.
CAL'S BOWL BAROMETER: Cal's bowl chances rose to about 20 percent. The Bears still need to win four of their five remaining games to become eligible for a bowl.
NEXT GAME: Cal plays Oregon State in Berkeley on Saturday, October 30. Kickoff: 4 p.m. TV: Pac-12 Network. The Beavers were 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Pac-12 heading into Saturday's 4:30 p.m. game against Utah. Oregon State had a bye last week.
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Cover photo of Chase Garbers by Kyle Terada, USA TODAY Sports.
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