Cal Football Game Summary: Bears Beat Oregon State
Cal defeated Oregon State 39-25 Saturday before a sparse crowd in Berkeley.
The Bears rolled up 517 yards of offense and limited the Beavers' powerful running game. Cal had no turnovers for the third straight game while recording their second straight win and biggest victory of the season.
Cal played without outside linebacker Cameron Goode, who was out with an unspecified health issue. The Bears' other outside linebacker, Kuony Deng, missed his sixth straight game.
Here are the facts of the game:
CAL 39, OREGON STATE 25
RECORDS: CAL (3-5, 2-3 Pac-12), OREGON STATE (5-3, 3-2 Pac-12)
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Cal quarterback Chase Garbers. He completed 17-of-26 passes for 262 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, and also ran for 58 yards.
TURNING POINT: On the game's first play from scrimmage, Cal recovered a fumble by Oregon State's B.J. Baylor at the Beavers' 22-yard line and it led to an early Cal touchdown. Cal held the lead for the rest of the game.
KEY PLAY 1: Beavers running back B.J. Baylor was stopped for a 3-yard loss by Josh Drayden and Marqez Bimage on Oregon's first play from scrimmage. Baylor fumbled on the play and the ball was recovered by Bimage at the Oregon State 22-yard line. Six plays later, Cal scored a touchdown on Chase Garbers' 3-yard run to make it 7-0 with 12:03 left in the first quarter.
KEY PLAY 2: Chase Garbers threw completions of 16 yards to Jeremiah Hunter and 25 yards to Kekoa Crawford to set up Dario Longhetto for a 45-yard field goal that gave Cal a 10-0 lead with 4:30 left in the opening quarter. Hunter dropped a perfectly thrown 27-yard pass that would have been a touchdown immediately before the field goal.
KEY PLAY 3: Oregon State quarterback Chance Nolan completed a 28-yard pass to Luke Musgrave that put the ball at the Cal 14-yard line and set up Everett Hayes' 29-yard field. That reduced the Cal lead to 10-3 with 13:44 left in the first half.
KEY PLAY 4: A 22-yard run by Chase Garbers and a 20-yard run by Damien Moore were the big plays in a 75-yard drive -- all on the ground -- that ended with Moore's 8-yard touchdown run. That gave Cal a 17-7 lead with 9:19 remaining in the second quarter.
KEY PLAY 5: Oregon State quarterback Chance Nolan threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Trevon Bradford with 55 seconds left in the first half, cutting the Cal lead to 17-10.
KEY PLAY 6: Chase Garbers threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Christopher Brooks, giving Cal a 24-10 led with 11:37 to go in the third quarter.
KEY PLAY 7: Cal's Dario Longhetto missed a 48-yard field gal that would have given the Bears a 17-point lead midway through the third quarter.
KEY PLAY 8: Oregon State's Chance Nolan threw a 40-yard completion to Champ Flemings that put the ball on the Cal 30-yard line and led to Deshaun Fenwick's 4-yard touchdown run. That cut the Beavers' deficit to 24-17 with 2:55 left in the third quarter.
KEY PLAY 9: Cal's Nick Alftin blocked a Luke Loecher punt, which traveled just 1 yard and gave the Bears the ball at the Oregon State 38-yard line.
KEY PLAY 10: On the first play after the blocked punt, Chase Garbers threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Trevon Clark on the final play of the third quarter to give Cal a 31-17 lead.
KEY PLAY 11: On a third-and-12 play, Chance Nolan threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Trevon Bradford. Nolan then ran for the two-point conversion to cut the Cal lead to 31-25 with 11:26 left in the fourth quarter.
KEY PLAY 12: Chase Garbers threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Christopher Brooks to complete a 75-yard drive. After Brooks ran for the 2-point conversion following that touchdown, Cal had a 39-25 lead with 5:36 left in the fourth quarter.
STAT OF THE GAME: Cal committed no turnovers, and Oregon State committed three turnovers.
STAT OF THE GAME 2: Oregon State running back B.J. Baylor had just 42 yards on 13 carries. He entered the game averaging 118.6 yards per game, which was seventh in the country, and 7.03 yards per carry, which was ninth in the nation.
STAT OF THE GAME 3: Cal rolled up 517 yards of offense.
STAT OF THE GAME 4: Oregon State had 135 rushing yards. The Beavers came into the game averaging 245 rushing yards per game, seventh best in the country.
QUARTERBACK STATS: Cal's Chase Garbers was 17-for-26 for 262 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran for 58 yards. Oregon State's Chance Nolan was 15-for-26 for 243 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
WHAT IT MEANS: Cal got its second straight win, and this was the Bears' biggest win of the season. It was the Bears' first win over a FBS team with a winning record, and it was by far Cal's best performance of the season.
CAL PLAYER AVAILABILITY: Starting outside linebacker Cameron Goode did not play because of an unspecified injury or illness. Starting inside linebacker Muelu Iosefa did not play as a result of an injury. Outside linebacker Kuony Deng (lower body) missed his sixth straight game Saturday, and he is likely to out a little longer. Offensive lineman Brian Driscoll was not available because of injury. Cal running back DeCarlos Brooks missed his fourth straight game with an unspecified injury.
CAL'S BOWL BAROMETER: Cal's bowl chances rose to about 50 percent. The Bears still need to win three of their four remaining games to become eligible for a bowl.
NEXT GAME: Cal plays Arizona in Tucson, Arizona on Saturday, November 6. Kickoff: Noon Pacific time. TV: Pac-12 Network. The Wildcats are 0-8 overall and 0-5 in the Pac-12 after losing to USC 41-34 on Saturday. Arizona had lost 20 games in a row overall, but Cal has not has defeated the Wildcats since 2009.
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Cover photo of Cal's Marqez Bimage tackling Oregon State's B.J. Baylor is by Kelley L. Cox, USA TODAY Sports.
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