Final Score: Cal 27, Oregon State 31

The California Golden Bears and Oregon State Beavers put forth arguably the Pac-12’s most exciting game of this young season as the Beavers got the best of the Bears, 31-27.

The Bears had enough chances to win this game, but were outdone by a few timely plays from the Beavers offense and defense. It was close until the final whistle but especially close when the Bears had it in the red zone and even had a drive extended on a failed fourth down pass by a defensive penalty.

Cal QB Chase Garbers threw his second interception of the game with just 1:11 left on the clock, allowing the Beavers to run the clock out on the ensuing possession.

The lead changed five times in this one with Cal leading as late as the 4:30 minute of the fourth quarter mark before Oregon State QB Tristan Gebbia punched in the game-winning one-yard touchdown run.

Garbers finished the game throwing 28-42 for 315 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.

As impressive as the final score looks for the Beavers, it took some special moments for Oregon State, including the Corvallis Special that saw WR Tyjon Lindsey throw a touchdown pass to QB Tristan Gebbia in the fourth quarter that gave them the lead, 24-20. They also had a 75-yard touchdown run by RB Jermar Jefferson.

Jefferson led all ball carriers with 196 yards on 18 carries with the long score.

The Bears were paced by Marcel Dancy on the ground with 76 yards on 17 carries. The pass-catchers had a terrific day for Cal as Kekoa Crawford led the game’s receivers with 141 yards on 10 catches and a score.

The game could have been significantly different had it not been for penalties, most notably on special teams.

Wide receiver Nikko Remigio saw two big returns, including one touchdown return, called back due to penalties on special teams. In total, Remigio had 184 return yards called back. The Bears had seven penalties for 59 total yards, but those don’t tell the true nature of just how impactful they were.

The Bears fall to 0-2 and face Stanford, who had their game canceled this week due to Washington State’s COVID-19 concerns and inability to field a full roster.

The 123rd Big Game is scheduled for 1:30 pm on Friday, November 27.