Bears Dominate Oregon State in 44-7 Win

BERKELEY, CA - The Bears ended their 4-game run of futility in dominating fashion today, manhandling Oregon State, 44-7 on a beautiful day in Memorial Stadium on ESPN2. The win evened Cal’s overall record at 4-4, with OSU falling to 4-4 as well.

Quarterback Fernando Mendoza had a strong performance, going 27-for-36 (75%) for 364 yards and 2 TDs with no interceptions. Receiver Nyzaiah Hunter had 4 catches for 85 yards and a TD in the win and receiver Trond Grizzell grabbed 5 balls for 95 yards. Tight end Jack Endries continued his strong run of play, leading the team with 6 catches for 55 yards and narrowly missing a TD reception after the ball was ruled just short of the goal line on one of his catches. 

So thorough was the Bears’ domination that they more than doubled OSU’s offensive production, totaling 478 yards to just 200 for OSU, with almost half of those yards (75) coming in their last possession of the game.

The Bears’ beleaguered offensive line gave up no sacks and allowed Mendoza the time to find receivers that he’s lacked during the last two games and the Bears’ defense held OSU to just 1-for-12 on third downs. The Bears also had no turnovers and generated two themselves.

“I thought we played pretty clean for the most part in all three phases of the game,” head coach Justin Wilcox said after the game. “Limited some of the penalties that had been hurting us, especially offensively. I thought that Fernando was really efficient, especially early. 

“We were moving the ball effectively. We still need to do a better job in the red zone. Derek kicked five field goals today. I believe that tied the school record. That should be celebrated however we don’t want to be the team that leads the country in field goals. We’d like to score touchdowns.

“Defensively, really, we played pretty clean until the fourth quarter. Proud of the way the guys competed. Got off the field a bunch on third downs against a good rushing attack and a really good team on third down. They came in converting them at a really high clip. 

“Special teams - had the five field goals, blocked a kick and then Hunter Barth forced a fumble on a kick return so we had some really good play.

“There was some really good football out there. We talked about in the locker room like it really wasn’t like everyone played out of their minds, making one-handed grabs and super human efforts. It’s just playing really good football and that’s what we want to do at a really high rate and that’s what we did today.”

With key starting inside linebacker Cade Uluave ruled out late with an injury, grad transfer Liam Johnson got the start, with junior Hunter Barth playing substantially as well. Leading tackler Teddye Buchanan led the Bears again with 6 tackles, a TFL and a QB hurry but Johnson and Barth were right behind with 5 tackles a piece along with a QB hurry by Johnson and a pass defended and forced fumble by Barth in the win.

As if purging the horrible disappointment of four straight losses in more than winnable games, the Bears got rolling right away on both sides of the ball in a dominant first half display of football.

After receiving the opening kickoff, the Bears went right to work. After driving to midfield, quarterback Fernando Mendoza hit wide-open receiver Trond Grizzell on a deep crossing route for a 40-yard gain, giving the Bears 1st-and-10 from the OSU 11. Two plays later, after Mendoza hit running back Jaivian Thomas on a quick pass, the defense held up Thomas long enough for the soph running back to lateral it to a streaking Mendoza who high-stepped his way into the end zone to put the Bears up 7-0 just 3:27 into the game.

After forcing a 3-and-out where OLBs Xavier Carlton and Serigne Tounkara sacked Beaver QB Jevani McCoy just beyond the end zone on third down, the Bears took over at midfield and wasted no time getting on the board again, scoring in just three plays, including a 27-yard gain on a quick pass to running back Jaydn Ott -making his return from injury - that the talented back took up the field for the big gain. After a 5-yard false start penalty on WR Mikey Matthews, Mendoza hit redshirt frosh receiver Nyzaiah Hunter for a 20-yard TD to put the Bears up 14-0 on the Derek Morris PAT just six minutes into the game.

The Bears’ defense stood strong, holding the Beavers to just one first down in their next two possessions before taking over at the Cal 14 on a 38-yard Josh Green punt then going on the move again, driving 72 yards in 9 plays before settling for a 33-yard Derek Morris field goal to go up 17-0 early in the second quarter. Morris would go on to set a Cal record with 5 field goals on the day in a perfect performance.

The Cal defense made short work of OSU on the next drive, with safety Craig Woodson hauling in his first interception of the season on a McCoy throw on the sidelines on the third play from scrimmage. 

After their drive stalled at the OSU 28, Morris added to the Bears lead, converting a 46-yard field goal to bring the score to 20-0 with 9:31 left in the half.

With the Cal D forcing another 3-and-out, the Bears took over at the Cal 30 and put other another impressive drive together, going 70 yards in 6 plays, culminating in a 2-yard Thomas TD plunge to extend the lead to 28-0 after a successful 2-point conversion pass from Mendoza to Hunter with 5:09 left in the half. 

The Bears tacked on another 3 to close out the half. After driving to the OSU 5, Cal settled for a 19-yard Morris chip shot to go into the locker room up 31-0 in a thoroughly-dominating first half performance.

The third quarter was still all Bears with Morris adding a 25-yard field goal followed by another TD drive after forcing a turnover on downs at the Cal 29. Consecutive completions for 35 yards to Nyzaiah Hunter and a pair of 12-yarders to tight end Jack Endries and Hunter got the ball into the red zone and powerful frosh running back Jamaal Wiley capped off the drive with a 1-yard power run up the middle for his first career touchdown to put the Bears up 41-0 heading into the fourth quarter.

On the following kickoff, a big Hunter Barth hit on the return forced a fumble that was recovered by Cal nickel back Cam Sidney at the OSU 23 but a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the first play of the drive put the Bears behind the sticks and they settled for Morris’ fifth field goal of the game, this one from 38 to extend the Cal lead to 44-0 to begin the fourth quarter.

Facing 4th-and-goal from the Cal 2 on the ensuing possession, OSU finally got on the board with backup QB Ben Gulbranson hitting receiver Trent Walker for the TD with 5 minutes left in the game to make it 44-7 and close out the scoring.

The Bears will have a week to get healthy with a bye week this week and will return to ACC play against 4-4 (2-2) Wake Forrest after their 27-24 win at Stanford today. The Bears will be looking for their first ACC win of the season as they hit the stretch run for bowl eligibility and a chance to salvage their season in the last four regular season games.

“I think the way we dominated today, that gives us confidence going into our next opponent,” safety Craig Woodson said after the game. “When we’re playing in our capacity, we can beat anybody in the fashion we did today so we just have confidence going into the next game.”