Cal’s Win Over Oregon Shows What Bears Look Like With a Full Team

Cal had nearly every key player available while picking up its first win of the season and keeping its bowl hopes alive

For the first time this season, Cal had virtually all its key players available for a game.

For the first time this season, Cal performed like the team it was expected to be when it was picked to finish second in the Pac-12 North.

It's no coincidence that those two things happened in the same game and resulted in the Bears' 21-17 victory over No. 23 Oregon Saturday night in Berkeley.

Now don't start moaning about Cal's hard luck in personnel matters to this point, because virtually every Pac-12 team has had important players sidelined in this odd 2020 season of COVID-19-related issues. 

However, it is still instructive to see what Cal (1-3) could have been -- and still could be -- in 2020 with its vital parts in place.

"Everybody would say that, and we're no different," Cal coach Justin Wilcox said. "We would like to have our entire team available in every game. It doesn't always work that way, especially in 2020. Anytime were have our entire team out there at practice or out there in the game, we feel that gives us a better opportunity to win."

Offensive linemen Jake Curhan and Will Craig, tight end Collin Moore and outside linebacker Braxten Croteau were all back after missing the past two weeks with virus-contact-tracing issues. 

The first three of those players helped Cal control the ball for long stretches as Cal had the ball for 36 minutes on Saturday compared to Oregon's 24.

And Croteau had one of the key plays of the game, throwing Oregon's standout running back, CJ Verdell, for a loss on a fourth-and-1 play from the Cal 18-yard line in the fourth quarter with Cal clinging to a 21-17 lead.

Cal committed no turnovers for the first time this season and had fewer turnovers than its opponent for the first time.

"Forcing turnovers is how you win games," Bears linebacker Kuony Deng said, who forced both Oregon turnovers.

The Bears put together several long drives and dominated time of possession.

"To take care of the ball like that, and put those drives together, just shows how much we've improved," Wilcox said, "and all of the guys in there feel like we can be better."

Cal had none of the critical special-teams blunders that doomed the Bears in their previous two games. 

Cal came up with the big plays when they were needed most. Especially Deng, who got beat on a long pass play in the final minute of the first half that led to an Oregon touchdown and a 17-14 Ducks lead at intermission. But he forced two Oregon fumbles recovered by the Bears in the fourth quarter, the second one coming with just 52 seconds left after the Ducks had reached the Cal 36-yard line.

Here is the Johnny Johnson III fumble forced by Deng and recovered byMuelu Iosefa to clinch the win:

"Every time I get on here and give an interview, I've been talking about responding," Deng said in the video below. "There's been so much stuff, so many circumstances that have made things tough for us, but I think we understood that we have a really good football team.

"Tough circumstances are going to come, but we can't fall victim to them. We can't complain; we can't make excuses when things don't go our way. We've just got to bounce back. And I think, you talk about the character of this football team, the character of the guys on this team, that's exactly what they did today."

Bears quarterback Chase Garbers was solid, but far from spectacular, and Cal's No. 1 tailback, Christopher Brown Jr., averaged just 1.6 yards on nine carries, yet Cal was still able to knock off the best opponent it has faced this season to get its first win and keep alive its hopes of getting to a bowl.  The Bears would still have to beat Washington State in Pullman, Wash., next Saturday, then get past whichever Pac-12 foe it is matched up against on Dec. 18 or 19 to be bowl-eligible, but that seems possible after Saturday's showing.

Nikko Remigio, who had only four receptions for 9 yards over the first three games, exploded for six catches for 81 yards and the 28-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter that put Cal ahead. 

Here is the only touchdown of the second half:

Play action worked to PERFECTION. That fake was smooth 🎩 pic.twitter.com/5YOVwdVFAT

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) December 6, 2020

"Chase and I had gotten into a rhythm, and when you get into a rhythm it's easy to make plays like that," Remigio said.

But it was really the Cal defense that won the game. The Bears did not allow a second-half point to an Oregon team that entered the game leading the Pac-12 in both total offense and points per game. 

The defense had two major breakdowns in the first half -- allowing Tyler Shough's 39-yard touchdown pass to Johnny Johnson III on a third-and-16 play, and a 67-yard reception by running back Travis Dye that set up the other Ducks touchdown -- but it came up with the big plays in the second half.

Bears outside linebacker Cameron Goode has been doing all season, and again Saturday, collecting 3.5 tackles for loss, including 1.5 sacks, and a fumble recovery.  He nearly had an interceptions as well. He has 8.0 tackles for loss in just four games.

"It was crazy," Goode said of the Bears' postgame locker room in this video.

The celebration in postgame locker room:

TURN ME UP BABYYYYYYYY!!!!! BOOOOOMMMM!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/iQ83UveOHr

— Marshall Cherrington (@MWCherrington) December 6, 2020

Cover photo of Nikko Remigio by Kelley L Cox - USA TODAY Sports

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