By Morris Phillips

What transpired in Pullman, Washington deep in the recesses of Saturday night truly was unbelievable.

The Cal Bears, facing record-breaking Connor Halliday and Washington State, found a way to win despite trailing by 10 points after one quarter, 11 points at halftime, and 11 points on three separate occasions in the third quarter.

In a game of non-stop offense and scoreboard changes, the Bears’ James Langford suffered the worst indignity when his PAT was blocked with 8:52 remaining and Cal clinging to a rare lead, 54-52.

With long time Cal play-by-play announcer Joe Starkey besides himself regarding referee calls on caught passes, fumbles and the like, saying several times that “every, single call has gone against Cal,” the Bears actually benefitted from penalty calls, committing just 8 for minus 34 yards while the Cougars were whistled 12 times for 121 yards.

And even as Halliday set an FCS record for passing in a game with 734 yards, the Bears got 527 yards and five touchdown passes from Jared Goff and hung on to win 60-59.

The win improved Cal’s record to 4-1, 2-1 in the Pac-12, one season after they failed to win a conference game and finished 1-11. The Bears have undeniably taken the rough, unpaved road through five games, winning the last two by a combined score of 119-115. Despite averaging 50 points a game, the Bears haven’t been able to relax, allowing 40 points a game with a defense that ranks 119^th and allows 545 yards per game.

Against WSU, the Bears faced a season’s worth of adversity, allowing Halliday to throw for better than 600 yards and six touchdowns through three quarters. With two minutes left in the third, Halliday hooked up with River Cracraft for a nine-yard score which put the Cougars up 52-41. But in a crazy affair, that would be Halliday’s final touchdown pass of the night.

Through three quarters, the Bears led just once, 27-24 early in the second half, after they scored two quick touchdowns right after halftime. But that lead lasted less than a minute, as Halliday hit Cracraft on an 86-yard scoring pass and run two plays after Cal took the lead.

When the Bears regained the lead for the second time, Langford missed the extra point, leaving Cal vulnerable to a potential game-winning field goal. But with the clock running out, Washington State’s final drive stalled on Cal’s 3-yard line, and their kicker, Quentin Breshears missed a 19-yarder with seconds remaining.

Breshears had connected on all three of his field goal attempts over 30 yards, but with the miss, the Turlock native has missed two of three from less than 30 yards. Stuck with a difficult angle for the kick, the junior missed left. The Bears celebrated wildly before taking a knee on the game’s final play.

Besides Goff, the Bears were lead by Trevor Davis, who returned two kickoffs for touchdowns, one covering 98 yards and the second for 100 yards. Davis also pulled down the game-winning touchdown catch from 51 yards out, a play that put Cal up, 60-59 with 3:18 remaining.

Bryce Treggs also had a big game with 10 catches for 120 yards and two touchdowns.

The Bears have a share of first-place in the Pac-12 North with a 2-1 record. But things get increasingly tougher for Cal in the coming weeks with five of their seven remaining opponents currently ranked. But first up the Bears face unranked Washington at Memorial Stadium on Saturday.