Bears Come Out Strong, Hammer Oregon State, 34-15 in Corvallis

CORVALLIS, OR - Coming into the game a surprising 1.5 point underdog, the Bears took a step towards proving the doubters wrong, jumping out to a decisive 34-15 victory over Oregon State.

True frosh QB Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele‍ was stellar in his Cal debut, going 20-for-30 for 234 yards and 3 TDs with no interceptions. The offensive line played their part, giving up no sacks and very few pressures in the victory.

“Once I got the nod that I was that was a starter, I had that mindset that we're here to win,” the frosh QB said. “And all the guys felt that. As you can see today, we we had a good performance, but it wasn't our best. And we're just gonna see it week by week, and we're just continue
to get better.”

Team captain MLB Cade Uluave was the defensive leader for the Bears with 10 tackles and standout physical play. The Bears’ defense held one of the nation’s top running backs Anthony Hankerson to just 42 yards in 15 attempts (2.9 ypc) and the OSU running game to just 65 yards overall.

“Being a team captain is truly an honor, and puts me in a role to be a leader,” Uluave said. “So as much as I can be a leader out on the field, I'm going to do so. And I'm super proud of my guys. Man, they played their hearts out, offensively, defensively, special teams. Man, they played good. So definitely we’ll watch and look for things to improve and continue to get better and just keep on continuing to build and move forward.”

The game started inauspiciously for the Bears after going 3-and-out in their first series but the host team delivered a gift that would prove costly to them when they were whistled for 12 men on the field on the punt, giving the Bears a first down at their 41. 

The Bears wasted no time taking advantage of their good fortune as Sagapolutele connected on his first collegiate throw with a sideline pass to senior receiver Trond Grizzell for 35 yards to the OSU 27. Grizzell’s grab pushed him over the 1,000 yard receiving mark in his career.

Three plays later, the frosh QB hit tight end Mason Mini with a nice back-shoulder pass for a 19-yard TD pass to put the Bears up 7-0 just 3:37 into the game.

After forcing a 3-and-out on the Beavers’ first possession, the Bears went right back to work, with Sagapolutele hitting tight end Landon Morris on the first play of the drive for 26 yards to the Cal 48. Four plays later, the frosh QB took advantage of stellar protection with another perfectly-placed TD pass - this one a beautiful dart to Grizzell for 32 yards to put the Bears up 14-0 with 7:57 still left in the first quarter.

The frosh phenom completed the first nine passes of his career in just the second start from a true frosh QB in Cal football history, 12 years after Cal legend Jared Goff made his Cal debut.

Taking over at their 22 two possessions later, highly-touted OSU portal transfer QB Maalik Murphy hit receiver Trent Walker for a 30-yard completion to the Bears’ 42. The Beavers finally got on the board three plays later with a 53-yard Caleb Ojeda field goal after the drive stalled to make the score 14-3 with 9:29 left in the half.

Taking over with 2:09 left in the half, the Beavers tried to narrow the deficit, driving to the Cal 41. On 1st-and-10, Murphy hit tight end Bryce Caulfield at the 36 but a big hit by corner Brent Austin‍ jarred the ball loose and was recovered by OLB Ryan McCulloch and the Bears took over with :39 left on the clock.

The Bears capitalized on the late turnover, with Sagapolutele picking up 25 yards on a scramble to put the Bears in field goal position. After taking two deep shots, they settled for a 49-yard field goal attempt, hit cleanly with room to spare by kicker Abram Murray‍ to close the half up 17-3 going into the locker room. 

Sagapolutele had an impressive opening half, going 17-for-25 for 191 yards and 2 TDs along with his long run. The running game was decent, averaging 4.6 ypc, mainly after running back Kendrick Raphael‍ came on to relieve starter Brandon High, who gained just 12 yards in his five first half carries. The Bears’ defense was sturdy to start the game, giving up just 102 yards in the half and stifling the Beavers’ running game with just 1.9 yards per carry.

A third down team sack on the OSU opening drive forced a Beaver punt, fielded by returner Jacob De Jesus‍ at the Cal 36 and returned 24 yards to the OSU 40. 

The Bears struck quickly as Sagapolutele hit receiver Mark Hamper‍ down the sideline for 35 yards on the second play from scrimmage. The Wisconsin transfer was injured on the play. Two plays later, the frosh QB hit a wide-open TE Morris for the TD, pushing the Bears’ lead to 24-3 after the PAT.

Not content to let the game slip away, the Beavers went on their first sustained drive of the game, moving 81 yards to the Cal 3. Facing third-and-goal, QB Murphy was intercepted by cornerback Hezekiah Masses‍ and returned 105 yards for a seeming touchdown but on a controversial call, the junior corner was whistled for pass interference, giving OSU first-and-goal. Running back Anthony Hankerson took a direct snap and powered in for the TD on the next play, drawing to within 24-9 after the 2-point conversion attempt failed.

“I feel like I wasn’t really holding him but they called it,” Masses said after the game.

Masses didn’t spend any time pouting as he jumped a Murphy pass and returned the ball 41 yards to the OSU 2 to nearly hit paydirt again. On the next play, soph running back Brandon High‍ powered in with his first TD as a Bear to push the Cal lead to 31-9 after the PAT with 12:02 remaining in the game.

“Man, I should’ve scored and taken it to the end zone,” Masses said with a smile.

With the Bears’ defense perhaps wearing down late in the game, OSU went on another sustained drive, this time hitting paydirt, with QB Murphy converting a 4th-and-goal from the 3 for a TD, narrowing the gap to 31-15 with 8:16 remaining after another 2-point conversion attempt failed.

The Bears put one final nail in the coffin in the closing seconds of the game, driving to the OSU 5 and wrapping it up with a 23-yard Chase Meyer‍ field goal with :20 left to hand the Bears their 19-point victory.

Wilcox was happy after the win and commented on several elements that went well for the Bears as well as areas where they’d like to see some improvement.

“Coming out and scoring early a couple of times in the first quarter, getting some stops on defense,” Wilcox noted. “We had some good momentum there. We kind of stalled out a bit in the second quarter. And you’ve got to give them credit. Obviously, Oregon State does a good job, and they have good players too. So I thought there's some things to like on offense and defense, the special teams, the return game was a big deal. Return game was a big difference in the game. We were almost plus 100 yards in return. And sometimes we had some really good returns set up, and other times Jacob De Jesus, he made plays.

“So there's a lot to like, but then we’ve got to run the ball better. We have to do better on third downs. We have to tackle much better on defense. We had a couple coverage busts that cost us big on deep balls but it's great to learn those lessons in a win.”

Perhaps summing up the transient nature of the transfer portal, the Bears had 15 players start their first games for Cal today with eight on offense (OT Leon Bell‍, Hamper, High, OT Braden Miller‍, Mini, center Tyson Ruffins‍, Sagapolutele, Jordan Moko‍) and seven on defense (Austin, TJ Bush‍, Isaiah Crosby, Luke Ferrelli, Aiden Manutai‍, Masses, and Curlee Thomas IV).

The Bears will return to Berkeley for their home opener next Saturday vs. Texas Southern at 3 pm in Memorial Stadium.