By Morris Phillips
BERKELEY, CA–Waiting until December 5 to win for the first time proved agonizing for the Cal Bears.
But for coach Justin Wilcox not having his club repeat its litany of mistakes suffered against Stanford was especially satisfying, as the Bears held on to beat No. 23 Oregon 21-17 Saturday night.
“We felt like in the last couple of weeks for much of the game we played well enough to win,” Wilcox said. “Just made too many mistakes. We were not perfect tonight by any means, but really proud of hard the guys played and that’s a result of practice and preparation.”
Nikko Remiglio’s 28-yard touchdown catch ended up as the game’s winning play and the only score of the second half as the Bears prevented the Ducks from grabbing the lead on three possessions in the fourth quarter. Both teams missed opportunities to seize control in the second half as defense took over on both sides after halftime.
Oregon overcame a lackluster first half by striking for a pair of touchdowns in the final 2:08 before the break to wipe out Cal’s 14-3 lead. Oregon quarterback Tyler Shough hooked up with Travis Dye for a 67-yard pass play which set up Cyrus Habibi-Likio’s one-yard touchdown run two plays later to cap Oregon’s rally that took just 90 seconds in game time to complete.
But the second half saw the Bears contain Shough for the most part, followed by a pair of costly turnovers in the game’s final minutes. Cal’s Kuony Deng jarred the ball loose from Oregon’s Johnny Johnson II at Cal’s 38-yard line with 52 seconds remaining to exhaust the Ducks final push.
Oregon coach Mario Cristobal saw his Ducks lose in a similar manner to Oregon State last week as mistakes late cost his club its national and Pac-12 title hopes.
“Self-inflicted issues. And just not generating any type of points in the second half. Stopping ourselves on drives,” Cristobal said. “Just coming up short. Not good enough.”
Chase Garbers finished 20 of 32 passing for 183 yards and a touchdown as the Bears overcame a lack of success running the ball with Oregon holding them under 100 yards rushing. Ironically, the touchdown pass to Remiglio came on play action with Garbers elaborate hiding off the football allowing his receiver to work himself open at the goal line behind the pinching Ducks’ linebackers.
The Bears still have slim postseason hopes with a trip to Pullman up next to face Washington State on Saturday. The Bears would need to win out and find a compatible bowl in a landscape where several have already been canceled due to COVID-19.
“It’s a good thing any time we have some success and then are able to parlay that into more opportunities to play,” Wilcox said.
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