Cal Football Game Summary: Bears Stun No. 23 Oregon

Bears make the big plays to get their first win of the season

Cal got its first win of the season by upsetting No. 23 Oregon 21-17 Saturday evening in Berkeley.

A 28-yard touchdown pass from Chase Garbers to Nikko Remigio was the only scoring in the second half.

Kuony Deng forced an Oregon fumble that Cal recovered at its 36-yard line with 52 seconds left to assure the win.

CAL 21, OREGON 17

RECORDS: CAL (1-3), OREGON (3-2)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Cal wide receiver Nikko Remigio. He had six catches for 81 yards and a touchdown and a key fourth-down conversion, and also had 40 return yards

TURNING POINT: Cal quarterback Chase Garbers completed a 28-yard touchdown pass to Nikko Remigio to give Cal a 21-17 lead with 5:14 remaining in the third quarter.

KEY PLAY: Cal's Braxten Croteau dropped Oregon running back CJ Verdell for a loss of 1 yard on a fourth-and-inches play from the Cal 18-yard line with 12:48 left in the fourth quarter with Cal leading 21-17.

KEY PLAY II: With Cal leading 21-17 and the Ducks on the move, Cal linebacker Kuony Deng tackled Tyler Shough for a loss and forced a fumble that Cameron Goode recovered at the Cal 47-yard line with 8:47 left in the fourth quarter.

KEY PLAY III: Cal linebacker Kuony Deng forced a fumble from Oregon wide receiver Johnny Johnson III that Cal's Muelu Iosefa recovered at the Cal 36-yard line with 52 seconds left.

STAT OF THE GAME:  Oregon committed two turnovers, and Cal had none.

CAL STAT OF THE GAME: Bears outside linebacker Cameron Goode had 3.5 tackles for loss, including 1.5 sacks, and now has 8.0 tackles for loss for the season.

UGLY STAT OF THE GAME I:  Cal starting tailback Christopher Brown Jr. averaged just 1.6 yards per attempt on nine carries.

WHAT IT MEANS:  Cal got its first win and still has a shot at finishing with a winning record, if it wins its last two regular-season games and a bowl game. Oregon could still play in the Pac-12 title game.

CAL’S BOWL BAROMETER: Cal's bowl chances stand at abut 40 percent. Pac-12 teams need at least a .500 record to be eligible for a postseason game, and the Bears can still finish 3-3. However, it's unclear how many bowl games will be available to Pac-12 teams. Several bowl games with Pac-12 tie-ins have already been canceled, although this week the conference added a berth to the Armed Forces Bowl. Besides that game, the Pac-12 has berths to a New Year's Six Bowl, the Alamo Bowl, LA Bowl and Independence Bowl, although there are hints that some of those games will be canceled.

AVAILABILITY: Key Cal players not available for Saturday's game included starting offensive lineman Valentino Daltoso, backup cornerback Collin Gamble and backup nose guard Stanley McKenzie. Inside linebacker Evan Tattersall, who did not play last week, was in uniform against Oregon and played but did not start. Freshman Muelu Iosofa got his second straight start at inside linebacker. Running back Christopher Brown Jr., who missed the game two weeks ago against Oregon State and played sparingly last week against Stanford because of injuries, was back in the starting lineup Saturday. Offensive linemen Jake Curhan and Will Craig, tight end Collin Moore and outside linebacker Braxten Croteau were back after missing the past two games due to virus-related issues.

NEXT GAME: Cal at Washington State, Saturday, December 12. Kickoff: To be announced Sunday. TV: To be announced Sunday. Washington State (1-1) is scheduled to play USC on Sunday, Dec. 6. That will be the Bears' final game on their 2020 schedule, although they will play another game the weekend of Dec. 19 against an undetermined Pac-12 opponent at an undetermined site.

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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