Cal Bears quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) runs before throwing the football against the Oregon Beavers in the second quarter at Cal Memorial Stadium in Berkeley on Sat Oct 7, 2023 (AP News photo)
Saturday, October 7th, 2023
By Troy Ewers
Berkeley, CA – On homecoming night at University of Cal, it’s the Cal Bears against the Oregon State University Beavers and the Bears are coming off a great win against Arizona State University, but the Beavers are coming off an equally great win against a ranked Utah squad. Cal walks into this game with a clear swagger and a win for either team would propel them up the ranks in the Pac-12.
Unfortunately Cal lost at home in a highly offensive game of scoring and fell short to Oregon State 52-40. Cal drops to .500 at 3-3.
Cal starts with the ball to open the game and the drive goes nowhere for the Bears and Oregon State takes over on possession and immediately starts pushing down field. In the red zone the Beavers score with ease as DJ Uiagalelei throws a dime to tight end Jack Velling and after an easy extra point, the Beavers take the early lead 7-0.
Cal’s attempt to even the score began as Cal utilized their lead running back Jaydn Ott, but was still forced to punt when even those attempts were foiled by OSU’s defense. The Beavers start out in their own red zone and being pinned there causes the Beavers to have to pass out of the jam, but to no success as they were forced to punt.
Cal’s next drive was more effective as they got down field with a variety of passes and rushes. The quarter ends with the ball still in Cal’s hands in the red zone with a chance to even out the game.
On the fourth down the Bears decide to settle for the field goal and we start the second quarter 7-3. A major kickoff return for Oregon State goes 59 yards and they start this drive with amazing field position. Again in the red zone, Oregon State had the ball and on four plays Aiden Chiles hit Silas Bolden in the end zone and the Beavers put a gap in the score 14-0, but there was still a lot of ball game left and Cal started their next drive in the red zone after an onside recovery that they took back 26 yards.
Cal gets their first touchdown after Isaiah Ifanse got a nine yard pass from Fernando Mendoza and now it was a 14-10 ball game. On OSU’s drive, they made a big mistake when Cal forced a fumble and recovered it.
This is Cal’s seventh fumble recovery of the season and they are some of the best in the NCAA when it comes to forcing turnovers. Following that big recovery, the Bears offense pushed down the field using Ott and Ifanse and that strategy was effective when Ifanse walked in the end zone for an easy rushing touchdown and after an extra point, Cal had its first lead 17-14 with eight minutes left in the first half.
A trick play by OSU gets them downfield and back in the red zone, but while in the red zone, Cal was fighting in the trenches and forced a fourth and 1 for the Beavers, but a QB run for a yard kept the drive alive.
The Cal defense forced another fourth down attempt for the Beavers, but this time with 3 yards away from the end zone and they converted after Jack Velling caught his second touchdown catch, now the score being 21-17 Beavers up.
In the final minute of the game, Cal’s goal was to go in the locker room with some energy, but were forced to punt before the last eight seconds of the half and OSU took a knee which is how the first half closes.
The second half started with a big return from the Beavers, 50 yards and a chance to take over early in the half. Cal has outscored their opponents this season in the second half, especially the third quarter, but that didn’t matter as Oregon State capitalized on the great field position when DJ Uiagalelei got a touchdown pass to Jesiah Irish and the Beavers made it 28-17.
Cal wasted no time on their following drive just moving the chains in such an efficient fashion that if you blinked you would’ve missed how far they traveled down field. This pursuit down the field was capitalized on as Ifanse powered through the Beavers O-Line and got another touchdown making it 28-24 and at this point Ifanse had all the touchdowns for the Bears.
The Beavers answered right back with a touchdown of their own with another TD catch from Velling making it 35-24 and the Bears had to respond. That response came after a big drive and the exclamation point was a 30 yard TD pass from Mendoza to Jack Endries and when the Bears converted on the two point attempt and the Cal fans went crazy! 35-32! The third quarter ended with OSU in the red zone on third down and the pendulum could swing any way at this moment.
Oregon State got the TD to start the fourth as Damien Martinez powered his way into the endzone and they took the lead again 42-32. Cal started their drive with a force of energy, but fumbled the ball and the Beavers recovered the ball and now a chance to put this game away was in their hands.
The nail in the coffin for Oregon State was when Uiagalelei threw a pass to eligible receiver and DT Isaac Hodgins and now it was 49-32 Oregon State as Cal fans started to beat the traffic and head out the stadium.
The downfall wasn’t over for Cal as Mendoza attempted a throw, but was picked off by Jermod McCoy and at this point the game seemed over even though there were still ten minutes left on the clock. Oregon State even with a decisive lead was still pushing down the field just eating the clock down.
The Beavers walked away with a field goal and with two and a half minutes left, the Bears were fighting for pride as the clock ticked and ticked. Cal scored and executed on the two point conversion, but with a minute left, the game was in the bag.
When the clock hit zero, the Bears fought, but the Beavers fought harder and the game ended with a 52-40 score and Oregon State walked away with a win. Cal shouldn’t be discouraged by this loss, because it showed them as a balanced team who can compete, just need some more elite players to match up against the big dogs.
Cal’s next game will be against Utah at Utah and the hopes for the Bears are a W.
