Like many of Cal's wins on the year, it wasn't a complete performance, but the Bears did more than enough, improving in number of areas in a 37-23 win over Oregon State. It was a game they needed to have, and they did it with the running game and possibly Ross Bowers' best performance on the year.
Even without one of their starting linemen, the Bears ran for 233 non-sack yards for 5.4 yards a carry. That was balanced with 259 yards through the air from Bowers and company. There's a lot of reasons why the Bears were on top of their game offensively, but the defense also provided a solid performance on the afternoon, limiting Ryan Nall to less than three yards a carry.
Takeaways
- Starting with Laird and the offensive line, the boys up front, with Mike Saffell stepping in for Valentino Daltoso at right guard, flourished. Laird got downfield three or four yards before getting touched at times. Laird made the rest look good, breaking out of arm tackles after getting downhill to the secondary. Laird looked his shiftiest today, with a number of impressive runs to his name, as you can watch below. As for the line, they got a push, made some impressive mesh blocks in getting to the second level, allowing for Laird to get into the secondary easier.
- More on the blocking, Malik McMorris should be feted as a modern day folk hero for his performance today. On Vic Enwere's final touchdown run, he essentially led Enwere into the endzone, providing a big hit on his man to spring Enwere. McMorris may be the most unsung hero on this team with his blocking, and on the sack preceding the touchdown, they could have repaid him with a pass in the flats, where he was open.
- One of the more pivotal drives came in the final 40 seconds, as the Bears went 53 yards in 39 of those seconds with some nice catches from Jordan Veasy and Jordan Duncan, as well as Vic Wharton getting open behind the defense on a broken play to get a big chunk. Justin Wilcox gets an assist for getting over to call the timeout with a second remaining, giving Anderson a 49 yard field goal, which he knocked through without issue.
- Defensively, the Bears used different personnel at times, with Darius Allenswoth seeing more time in the slot, Luke Rubenzer getting more time at safety, and Evan Weaver getting more time than Jordan Kunaszyk at the middle linebacker spot. Rubenzer and Weaver are good downhill players, and they helped stymie Nall. Defensively the Bears did struggle at times containing, getting caught up in the fly motion, along with getting completely fooled on the throwback double pass that got Oregon State's first points, but they recovered, as Weaver looked like he was in on everything
- In that regard, the linemen on defense had a solid day without flashy stats, as James Looney and Ray Davison combined on the only sack of the day. Chris Palmer has been flashing recently, and he got his hands on Nall and Artavis Pierce a couple of times at the line. The Bears used some stunts, a twist with Looney cutting under and opening a pass rushing lane for a looping Tony Mekari to get pressure on Garretson comes to mind
- Good gameplan on both sides of the ball, trying to bait the longer passes on the defensive side, while running and making consistent throws in zones on offense, with the RPO game working for Bowers. It got Vic Wharton another 100 yard performance, and Bowers completing 80% of his passes. Bowers has a knack for making great plays after bad ones, following a sack with a pretty fade route to Wharton.
- Veasy had a subtle double move to free up his touchdown, a little look and stutter inside before fading to the outside and getting open. It also was the culmination of a drive that answered the final Oregon State threat, putting the lead up to double digits and essentially ending hope for the Beavers.
- Starting notes: Davison and Alex Funches started at the OLB spots, with Funches taking Cam Goode's spot after the latter was ruled out for the year.
- Cal only had 10 3rd down situations. They converted 6 of them. That's how you know they ran extremely well. The 34 first downs do that too (on 76 plays)
- Matt Anderson now holds the Cal all-time points record, getting to 297 points over his three years. He's gotten back to being automatic, and getting to break the record on senior night is special.
- FIrst game the Bears have won while losing the turnover battle, as the Laird fumble didn't prove to be key, though the Bears could have used those points.
The Bears have a bye, resting up before the Big Game, which seems just a little more winnable than it was a couple weeks ago. They'll have time to heal before trying to swallow up Bryce Love.
This game was a step in the right direction, with the line getting the confidence they need in the run game as they go forward against teams that have struggled against the run, like Stanford and UCLA. They need one more for Bowl eligibility, something that they desperately crave going forward.
