Golden Nuggets: Lasco's Career Night Leads Cal To Rare Victory at OSU

Men's Tennis

Several Golden Bears reached the semifinals in doubles and the quarterfinals in singles as the rain-shortened Gael Classic.

Cross Country

Freshman Bethan Knights placed third to lead Cal to a 7th-place finish in the 2014 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships.

Women's Swimming and Diving

Texas barely edges out Cal, 161-139, in a meet that came down to the final event.

Women's Soccer

The Golden Bears blow out Oregon State in Berkelety, 5-0.

Men's Basketball

Volleyball

Despite sophomore Jenelle Jordan's career highs (8 kills, 8 blocks), Cal fell to #12 Oregon in four sets.

Women's Basketball

#15 Cal defeats Vanguard in an exhibition game, 75-42.

Men's Water Polo

Luca Cupido paces #4 Cal past UC Santa Barbara, 20-10

Field Hockey

Cal narrowly misses a season sweep of Pacific in a 1-0 loss Saturday.

Football

Cole Leininger is a Ray Guy Award nominee.

California 45, Oregon State 31

Junior Daniel Lasco led the Golden Bears with a career-high 188 yards and three touchdowns. His 15-yard run with 1:39 remaining in the fourth quarter sealed Cal's fifth victory, with just one more needed for bowl eligibility.

ESPN's Pac-12 Blog sees California rising:

The Golden Bears aren't going bowling yet, but they got a heck of a lot closer with a critical 45-31 road win over Oregon State. Lost in all the Bear Raid stuff is that this is a pretty good running team, and Daniel Lasco is quietly having one of the better seasons from a Pac-12 running back. The proof was his 30-carry, 188-yard, three-touchdown performance Saturday. Cal has to find one more win among USC, Stanford and BYU. This sliver of the Pac-12 blog thinks it will.

The SF Chronicle points out that this win was a turning point, in more ways than one.

After going 1-11 in his first year at Cal, head coach Sonny Dykes is leading a (5-4, 3-4) Cal team that's one win away from bowl eligibility. And for the first time in his young Cal career, sophomore quarterback Jared Goff didn't have to be the standout player for the Bears.

"It was definitely a turning point in our season," Goff said. "It's definitely a big thing for our program right now."

Earlier in the week, Dykes said his team's final four games can prove how far this program has come since he took over two years ago. Saturday's win was more than a step in that direction - it was a leap. Now the Bears have to win just one of their final three games against USC (6-3), Stanford (5-4) or BYU (5-4) to qualify for bowl eligibility.

Not to be forgotten... Sean Mannion had a record setting night. Mannion passed for 320 yards and became the Pac-12's all-time leading passer.

The San Jose Mercury News notes the increased maturity in this years Golden Bears team.

Everything could have screeched to a halt for the Bears after former De La Salle High star Terron Ward scored on a 16-yard run to give the Beavers a 31-27 with 12:02 left.

OSU (4-4, 1-4) had scored TDs on consecutive drives of 65, 50 and 72 yards, and the announced crowd of 42,479 at Reser Stadium sensed a victory for the home team.

The Bears kept their cool.

"When they took the lead there at the end, it didn't really affect us at all," Goff said. "We just did our job. Fortunately, we made some plays and got the win."

Goff's 10-yard TD pass to Chris Harper with 8:42 left capped a 75-yard, 10-play drive and put the Bears back in front 34-31.

Redshirt freshman Caleb Coleman then made the biggest play of his young career, intercepting Sean Mannion after Mustafa Jalil and Jonathan Johnson gave chase to the Beavers' senior quarterback.

"For the defense to have a short memory and for Caleb Coleman to go out and make a play like that, it shows a lot of character," Goff said.