Oregon State is seen as the chaos-bringer in Cal lore. Cal hasn't been the same as a program since 2007, when the Bears, ranked number 2 in the country, fell to the Beavers. The job is far from done in Berkeley, but with former head coach Jeff Tedford looking on, the Bears held down a strong Oregon State rushing attack, playing as fundamentally sound as they have all season, exorcising a couple ghosts on their way to a 39-25 victory over the Beavers.

Cal forced three turnovers, Chase Garbers threw three touchdown passes, two to Christopher Brooks, and Cal held Oregon State over 100 yards below their season rushing average in arguably the strongest performance of the year by this Cal team, with 262 yards passing and 255 rushing in the win

The first play may have been a harbinger of things to come for the Bears, as Josh Drayden and Marqez Bimage popped a ball loose from Pac-12 rushing leader BJ Baylor, while Bimage recovered at the OSU 22. Cal was playing without starters Cameron Goode and Mo Iosefa, on defense, with Collin Gamble going out early with an apparent ankle injury, but the backups held up well in their stead.

Cal cashed in on the next drive, with Chase Garbers breaking the tie for most QB rush TDs in Cal history with a 3 yard jaunt. It marked the 5th TD Cal has scored on an opening drive this season. Cal and Oregon State would trade punts, with Trey Paster getting his first career sack, but Chase Garbers would start to heat up, finidng Jeremiah Hunter then Kekoa Crawford for chunk plays. Hunter would have one of the rare mistakes in his young Cal career, dropping a well placed fade ball from Garbers from 27 yards out, but Dario Longhetto knocked through a 45 yard field goal to give the Bears a two score lead.

Cal would allow a few strong runs to Oregon State, including a QB keeper to the Bears' side of the field. Luke Musgrave followed with a 28 yard reception on a Y-leak concept to get the Beavers down the to the 14, but Isaiah Young, in for Gamble knocked a pass for Trevon Bradford away, forcing a 29 yard field goal by the Beavers.

Then Cal ran. They ran on 8 of 9 plays on a 75 yard scoring drive, with Damien Moore scoring from 9 yards out. Moore, who rushed for a neat 111 yards on 11 carries, didn't come in until the 2nd quarter on that drive.

Young would make another big play, as Oregon State drove down the field thanks to a handful of conversions. Young deflected a pass, and Nate Rutchena finished the play with an interception. Cal would not convert a 3rd and 2, punting the ball back to Oregon State with just over three minutes to go. Oregon State would find Trevon Bradford for 31 yards and a score over Young, his sole mistake of the game, making it 17-10.

Cal would get the ball back with 55 seconds left, but Wilcox noted in the post-game press conference that they wanted to be a bit more conservative at the end of the half, as the Bears ran twice, threw a deep ball to Jeremiah Hunter, as Hunter couldn't shake a couple OSU defenders going into the half. That double move Hunter ran, per Chase Garbers, was what showed the offense that they could score on double moves.

Second Half

Trevon Clark had a couple big 3rd down receptions to start the second half, with 22 yards on a 3rd and 9 and 7 yards on a 3rd and 6. Collin Moore would have an orbit motion which confused Oregon State, enough for Christopher Brooks to be wide open on a wheel route, scoring from 31 yards out. Brooks scored his first receiving touchdown since the Illinois game in 2019.

Oregon State would go 3 and out, as Cal marched into Oregon State territory on another Trevon Clark 3rd down conversion, this one for 17 yards on 3rd and 2, but a deep ball to Nikko Remigio was well defended by Ron Hardge, and Longhetto hooked a 48 yarder left. Oregon State would hit a 40 yard pass to Champ Flemings before six straight runs got the Beavers 30 yards and a Deshawn Fenwick score.

Cal would go three and out, but forced an Oregon State punt, which Nick Alftin blocked, arguably the most important play of the game, as Garbers hit Clark on a double move right after for a score, as Clark was matched up on a linebacker. It marked Clark's 3rd TD reception of the year.

Oregon State would not be done, as an arguably missed offensive pass interference led to another long touchdown from Chance Nolan to Trevon Bradford, with Nolan running in a two-point conversion. Cal would not slow down offensively, with Garbers converting on a 3rd and 3 with a scramble, Brooks moving the pile down to the 20, with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty tacked on, then Garbers would improvise and find a wide open Brooks on a 3rd and 2 rollout. Brooks would score Cal's first two point conversion since 2017 to make it a 39-25 game.

Elijah Hicks, who led the Bears with 8 tackles, finished off the Beavers with a final interception of Nolan on a deep ball, allowing the Bears to run clock. Brooks had a monster 3rd down run, where he and his blockers pushed 7 yards after getting stopped early, and Damien Moore broke a long run down to the OSU 1, one which was originally ruled a touchdown. Cal would kneel and throw a high arcing pass on the 4th down to run out most of the clock, with Oregon State kneeling out the final second.

- Cal held an Oregon State outfit averaging 245 yards on the ground to 135, with Pac-12 rushing leader BJ Baylor held to 3.2 yards per carry

- Cal was a season best 13-19 on 3rd down

- Damien Moore had his second career 100 yard game thanks to the late 56 yard run, a career long for him.

- The young defensive players, namely Femi Oladejo, Nate Rutchena, Isaiah Young, and Lu-Magia Hearns stepped up to a big challenge, with the Bears tackling well in the open field

- First starts for Oladejo, Jaedon Roberts, and Marqez Bimage at Cal. First appearance by Andy Alfieri on kickoff team

- Brayden Rohme came in for an injured Will Craig in the fourth quarter.

- Cal did not allow a sack, and only allowed one tackle for loss on the final drive

- Cal has some much needed momentum with a win over a good Oregon State team and a little more confidence. They'll bring that into their road game against Arizona, where the Bears haven't won since 2004