By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, Calif. — Linebacker Evan Weaver didn’t want to interrupt the celebratory mood surrounding Cal’s third straight win to open the season, but the defense mistakes were troublesome to him.

“It’s gonna get harder,” Weaver admitted. “We have a tough Pac-12 schedule, and it’s going to get harder to win these games.”

Beating Big Sky opponent Idaho State 45-23 was satisfying no doubt, but conference football is a different animal, and it was apparent that the Bears could be in for a rude awakening when Oregon visits Berkeley in two weeks.

“We scored a touchdown, and then the ball comes back and then we are out of bounds,” coach Justin Wilcox said. “We can’t have that. If it’s 10 out of 11 guys doing it right and one not. They’re trying, doesn’t mean they aren’t trying. No one on our team overlooked the opponent today, we just have to play better. It’s technique, it’s focus, and it’s training. We have to be better across the board, starting with me.”

At the top of the list of irritants, were the two fourth quarter touchdowns scored by ISU after the Bears went up 45-9 with 8:04 remaining. Both Bengals’ drives took less than three minutes and provided too little resistance for the tastes on the California sidelines. To the internal critics, it mattered little that the Bears substituted liberally in the final minutes.

“We made a lot of mistakes today, myself included. Really did not have a great game. It’s a team sport, and when you get individual stats, sure it’s cool, but if we were to play better as a unit, they wouldn’t have 23 points. That’s why I’m mad.”

No one was mad at quarterback Chase Garbers or safety Ashtyn Davis for that matter. Garbers delivered an efficient performance with 20 of 25 passing, three touchdowns, two of those to Jordan Duncan in the first half in which Cal built a 28-3 lead. Garbers was sacked just once, and got the vast majority of snaps over Brandon McIlwain, who sat likely due to ISU’s defense crowding the line of scrimmage. Nine different Bears caught passes preventing ISU from keying on anyone in the absence of leading receiver Kanawai Noa, who was a late scratch.

Davis came up with a momentum changing chase down tackle of ISU’s Mitch Guellar after a 63-yard gain that appeared headed for the endzone. Davis’ tackle at the 8-yard line allowed Cal to limit Idaho St. to a field goal in the first half.

But Davis was just getting started, adding a 89-yard kickoff return after the ISU field goal, and an interception after that.

The Bears have a bye this week before starting Pac-12 play at home against Oregon, the first of nine contests in as many weeks. The Bears are likely to benefit from not having any week night contests mandated by the Pac-12 television contracts.