Bears Steamroll Beavers in Corvallis, 49-7

CORVALLIS, OREGON -The Bears traveled North to Oregon, desperate for a victory after three straight losses to start Pac-12 play. Mission accomplished, as Cal parlayed strong defensive play with a rejuvated offense to win, 49-7 over Oregon State in front of 32,390 fans at Reser Stadium.

Garbers got the start -his fourth of the season- and had success leading the offense against a porous OSU defense. After losing his starting role in the past two games to soph QB Brandon McIlwain, Garbers put together his best game of his young career, going 17-for-26 for 234 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions. Garbers also picked up another 56 yards on eight carries, including a couple crucial first downs.

"I felt like the offense operated really well," said Garbers. "We had a rhythm going and the guys took a big step forward."

Senior running back Patrick Laird got his mojo back in a big way after struggling much of the 2018 season, totalling a season-high 193 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground as well as three receptions for 48 yards, including another touchdown through the air.

Coming into the game, the Beavers (0-4/1-6) had struggled all season long but the offense had been fairly productive.

The Cal defense put an end to that, surrenduring just 241 yards of total offense while holding OSU to their season-low of 7 points.

The Bears had easily their season high in TFL's with 12 for 51 yards, including sacks from Tre Turner (team-high 8 tackles), Jordan Kunaszyk, Evan Weaver, Tevin Paul, Luc Bequette and Chris Palmer.

"It's a credit to our coaching staff -Coach DeRuyter, Coach Sirmon, Coach Tuioti -all the coaches," said Kunaszyk, who had six tackles, including 2 TFL's and a breakup on the day. "They've been preparing us and we just executed the gameplan and went out there and played as hard as we can.

"It just felt good to win. It was great to see the offense play so well today and seeing so many people contribute. Seeing Tre Turner balling out. Seeing Tevin Paul making tackles for loss. Nearly everyone in the front seven had a sack today."

"We knew this game was huge, being 3-3 and being away, too," said Paul. "We haven't won a road game in three years in the Pac-12. So we prepared like that all week.

"We had a players' meeting, offense and defense, just to talk about how our season was going so far and I feel like it really helped everyone out.

"We just needed to trust each other. There was like -not necessarily conflict between offense and defense- but it had been just kind of up and down, one side doing good and one side doing bad. So I think it was just kind of a trust-building meeting.

"The seniors kind of gave their spiel about how important this season is and what it really means to them."

The Bears got on the board first with a 6-play, 76-yard drive, culminating in a 3-yard touchdown pass to fullback Malik McMorris from Garbers for a 7-0 lead after a Greg Thomas PAT. A 55-yard completion to senior receiver Vic Wharton set up the score. It was the first of many explosive plays on the day -something in short supply so far this season.

"It felt great," said Garbers of the long completion to Wharton. "Any time you get a big play like that, you feel pretty strong about things offensively."

"It's all about setting them up," said McMorris of his td catch. "The prior play, we gave them the same action, but on the touchdown, I just snuck out the backfield. They weren't expecting that and it was the perfect play call."

The Bears took a 14-0 lead on Laird's first touchdown on a 29-yard wheel route reception with 6:59 left in the half.

"Our coaches are smart. There was a certain look and situation with their personnel that we thought we could exploit with me getting one-on-one with a linebacker or a rush end," said Laird. "We called the play -a wheel- and it worked."

Cal extended the lead to 21 with Laird's second touchdown of the day on a 4-yard run for the score late in the 2nd quarter.

The Bears came out hot in the 2nd half, driving 78-yards in four plays on the strength of a 53-yard Laird burst up the middle and a four-yard touchdown run by running back Chris Brown -his first as a Bear- with 13:28 left in the 3rd quarter to go up 28-0.

The Beavers finally got on the board, driving 64 yards in 12 plays, with a 1-yard td rush by QB Jack Colletto, who platooned with Conor Blount at QB. The drive was kept alive on the Bears' second targeting penalty of the game -this time by Zeandae Johnson, who will join safety Jaylinn Hawkins sitting out the 1st half of next week's home game against Washington, a big blow to the Cal defense. The hit by Hawkins on Colletto was the second targeting call on the safety already this season.

"We're very concerned," said Wilcox of the targeting penalties. "Totally unacceptable. It's not what we stand for as a program.

"It will be the first thing we talk about Monday."

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The Bears extended their lead to 35-7 on a beautifully-timed Garbers 24-yard slant that went for a td to junior receiver Kanawai Noa with 9:44 left in the game. Noa had five catches on the day for 73 yards and the touchdown.

The Bears were led in receiving by Wharton with five receptions for 80 yards on the day.

The Bears continued to stretch their lead in the 4th quarter, with Laird adding his third td of the game on a 30-yard scamper as the Bears up 42-7.

The cherry on top came with less than a minute in the game. With OSU trying to drive and put a few more points on the board, cornerback Josh Drayden swooped in for an interception he took to the house down the sideline for a 54-yard touchdown return.

"I think the guys played really hard," said Wilcox of the win. "You can take that for granted but you practice hard and run the football and play with a chip on your shoulder.

"Oregon State's done some good things on offense, moving the ball on people and scoring points. We knew there'd be a challenge there and I thought our guys really showed up and responded. They had an attitude about them and how they wanted to play and how they wanted to look like on that side of the ball."

The resounding win was the Bears' first conference road win in nearly three years and gives the team a bit of momentum in what's sure to be a challenging battle against Washington in Berkeley next weekend.

Cal moves to 4-3/1-3 on the season with the victory.