Saturday's win over Oregon State was the kind of game imagined prior to the season, a grinding effort on offense with some pro-style passing game thrown in. A defense able to lock up in coverage giving the front seven more leeway to leave men in the box and stop the run. A special teams unit that will occasionally make plays, but stays consistent throughout.

The 1-5 start Cal had didn't inspire the kind of confidence to make people believe this kind of game was possible, but two straight weeks, Cal has done it. Last week was against a Colorado team whose offense wasn't great going into the game and looked worse after. Oregon State came in leading the conference in rushing and points scored, playing at the level Cal envisioned themselves at prior to the season. Cal outplayed the Beavers, made fewer mistakes, and capitalized on their opportunities in the brightest spot of the season to date.

Right now, we've got

Garbers' Most Complete Game

Chase Garbers has found something at points during the year, but hasn't always sustained it, as the Bears have had struggles scoring in the third quarter. This may have been his most complete game he's played ever. You could argue his performances against Ole Miss, Stanford, or Illinois in 2019, but this was arguably as consistent as the senior quarterback has played since he stepped on campus in 2017.

Garbers went 17-26 for 262 yards, 3 TDs, and 10 carries for 58 yards with a rushing touchdown. He's the Pac-12's leader in total offense, and the Cal quarterback was on on every level. He threw the deep ball accurately. He had one questionable third down throw, missing Trevon Clark on a crossing route in front of the sticks on third down, but every other decision was sound. He scrambled when needed, and Garbers never seems to get caught as he makes it to the sideline. Even with Oregon State spying him, Garbers got away.

That led to one of his best plays at Cal, where he ran the play action fake, avoided the pressure from Omar Speights, reset his feet, and found Chris Brooks for a two yard score. That's a play Garbers doesn't make in the past, as his feel has improved throughout the season in Bill Musgrave's offense.

Isaiah Young

Isaiah Young moved up on the depth chart this week, something you don't pay attention to when it's the third string cornerback. When Collin Gamble went off the field with an injury early in the first half, Young came into his first real action with confidence. He batted a jump ball away from Trevon Bradford. He did get beat by Bradford on a touchdown, but Young tipped one out of the hands of Zeriah Beason and into the hands of Nate Rutchena. He had another two passes broken up during the game, playing the remainder of the contest in place of Gamble.

Wilcox noted in the aftermath of the game that Young had made a lot of progress in the last month and a half outside of the field, from the practice field to the weight room and beyond. This was as good of a time for him to step up as any.

Tackling

Cal's tackling had been suspect throughout the early portion of the season, but there has been growth there throughout the last two weeks, especially in the open field. It goes hand in hand with some of the young defensive players getting better in tackling in the open field. In particular, Femi Oladejo, Nate Rutchena, Elijah Hicks, Daniel Scott, Lu-Magia Hearns and Collin Gamble have impressed over the past couple of weeks in that area. Hearns in particular, at a listed 160 lbs, has impressed since fall camp with his physicality.

Double Moves

While the deep ball to Jeremiah Hunter at the end of the first half causing confusion, especially with Cal's conservative clock management to end the half (Wilcox said in the aftermath that they played the end of the half conservatively for a handful of reasons), it showed Garbers one thing that he mentioned in the post-game, that Oregon State could be taken on double moves.

The first one came to Chris Brooks, helped by some Collin Moore orbit motion that looked a bit strange. On the play, Monroe Young took his defender on a dig route, which drew the attention of the safety, which left Brooks on a linebacker. Brooks, who has run that flat route several times on film, turned up into a wheel route, running right past the linebacker for a touchdown.

The second double move came after Cal blocked punt, similar to the Y-Leak concept that Oregon State runs well. It was similar to what Cal ran with Nikko Remigio against Oregon a year ago as well, adding in a half roll for Garbers after the play action. Garbers rolled, Clark ran a drag, turned up into a wheel, and he got open against a linebacker, another good matchup for the Cal offense.

Offensive Line Work

Cal's offensive line, over the last two weeks, has allowed one sack. In eight games, Cal has allowed 14 sacks, one fewer than what Cal allowed in 2020. While Chase Garbers has done really well at avoiding pressure and taking fewer sacks, Cal's offensive line got more push, even without Brian Driscoll to spell the two guards.

The offensive line continuity has been helpful, as Valentino Daltoso continued improving after struggling against Washington State and Oregon. To an extent, Cal outdid Oregon State at their own game.

New Faces and the Youth Movement

Cal's defense has changed since the beginning of the year, with Femi Oladejo, Nate Rutchena and Trey Paster taking over at inside linebacker (no Mo Iosefa). With Cam Goode out, Marqez Bimage got his first start. Collin Gamble (when healthy), Isaiah Young, and Lu-Magia Hearns have played well at corner.

Cal is going to continue to be able to play their younger players as the season goes on, and in particular, Hearns, Oladejo and Rutchena are way ahead of where they were assumed to be prior to the season. Rutchena, adjusting to a new position at the next level, has not looked out of place, with the playmaking ability he showed at nearby Monte Vista.

Nick Alftin

Number 88 appeared among the captains in pre-game as a game captain. Alftin has been seen as a special teams wizard by the Cal coaches, and made a gamechanging play against the Beavers. The former volleyball standout blocked a punt near the end of the first half.

Alftin, a local player from Archbishop Mitty, has found his niche as a special teams ace and as a blocker on offense. At 6'6" and a solid runner, Alftin has a place on block teams, and he's been solid in kickoff coverage as well. He's someone to focus on through the final four games.

Run and Grind

It might be a surprise to know that Cal leads the Pac-12 in time of possession, and they upped that lead against the 2nd ranked team in the conference. In the second half, Oregon State had the ball for just over 10 minutes. Cal had the ball for nearly 20. Cal ran the ball well enough for the average 3rd down to be 3.7 yards to go. Cal went 13 of 19 on 3rd downs because of it, with the consistent running of Brooks (20 carries for 83 yards), Damien Moore (11 carries for 111 yards, 1 TD), and Garbers (10 carries for 58 yards, 1 TD) helped to shorten the game for the Bears.

It's the kind of game Cal wants to play with their identity as a team, as they have momentum they'll look to carry through the last four games of the regular season.