BERKELEY, CA - The opening of Cal's 2019 gave Cal fans a reminder of how the Bears ended 2018.

Fumble, Davis touchdown, interception, Davis field goal, another fumble.

Despite the three turnover disparity in the early going, Cal came back to take a lead at halftime, and put the burden on the shoulders of RB Chris Brown Jr. and WR Kekoa Crawford in pulling away in the second half, as Cal pulled a 27-13 win over the UC Davis Aggies to move to 1-0 on the new year.

Davis won the opening toss, and Ashtyn Davis took the ball at the goal line, looking to make a return. He was stripped by Davis's Pat Miller, and the Aggies had the ball at Cal's 20. Four plays later, Davis had a 7-0 lead.

Cal traded three and outs with Davis, then a miscommunication with the receivers happened, and Garbers threw an interception. Davis didn't turn that into anything, but pulled out a field goal to make it 10-0. An Evan Weaver pressure and Luc Bequette TFL forced the field goal.

Then, Cal decided to see what Brown could do for them, as the true sophomore rushed for over 100 yards in his first career start. Brown broke a 26 yard run down the sideline to end the first quarter. That drive ended with the third turnover of the afternoon, as Jordan Duncan had the ball popped out by Davis OLB Nas Anesi.

Cal made a stop, thanks to a Kuony Deng PBU, and got the ball back at their own 13, starting off their first scoring drive. Nikko Remigio caught a crossing route for 30 yards, then Kekoa Crawford got wide open 15 yards downfield, doing the rest and skying over a UC Davis defender for the 37 yard score. It was Crawford's first career catch in Cal's blue and gold.

With another 3 and out, thanks to a QB hurry by Deng, Garbers hit a leaping Jake Tonges for 31 yards, but couldn't get much more, relying on a Greg Thomas 44 yard field goal to even the score at 10.

After another stop, punctuated by a Brett Johnson TFL, Cal got the ball after another touchback, and had a grinding drive, taking 3:25 off the clock near the end of the 2nd quarter, relying on a 47 yard field goal by Thomas to take the lead at 13-10. That's where it would stand at the half.

Davis came back out with a bunch of five yard gains by Ulonzo Gilliam, getting stopped at the 15 and settling for a 32 yard field goal to tie it.

Two drives later, following a Nikko Remigio punt return where he escaped in a phone booth worth of space, Brown took off again. He busted a first down run of 11 to start the drive, and the Bears were aided by a late hit on Garbers. A Crawford reception of 21 yards on a scramble drill set up the Bears' first red-zone appearance of the year, which Brown capped with a 5 yard TD on a stretch run.

Cal forced yet another 3 and out, as Chigozie Anusiem broke up a pass intended for Justin Kraft. Brown started the next drive with two carries for 18 yards, then two catches by Remigio and Makai Polk (his first career reception). Then Garbers floated a pass to Crawford on a rollout, which got deflected into the hands of Crawford for his second score.

That would do it for the scoring, and despite another fumble by Garbers, following a forced fumble by Luc Bequette. Cal would grind out the game with tough runs from Brown and Marcel Dancy. Greg Thomas would miss a 44 yard field goal. Cal burned the final 5:26 of clock with Brown runs to end the game.

Brown finished with 36 carries for 197 yards, with a touchdown. That's the most yards by a Cal back since Patrick Laird eclipsed the 200 mark against Oregon State in 2017. Brown had 37 carries in all of 2018.

Cal had three passes of over 30 yards, after having 5 total in all of 2018.

Three Areas

Turnovers: Cal 4, Davis 1

3rd Downs: Davis 5-17, Cal 4-15

Explosive Plays (over 20 yards): Cal 7, Davis 2

Cal faces Washington next week, as the Huskies beat Eastern Washington by a final of 47-14.