Oregon State Recap

(AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Look, I know that cynics and Cal Bear enthusiasts can find plenty of ways to scoff at celebrating a win over an OSU Beavers squad that was 2-7 headed into Saturday's game. The extreme negabear might also bemoan how low fan expectations have fallen that Bears fans should celebrate becoming bowl eligible.

Well, for today, forget you all. I may join you in shaking verbal pitchforks later, but tonight I am relishing this win.

Just take this in for a moment:

The Bears beat Oregon State for the first time "at home" since 1997, and snapped a four game losing streak to the Beavers after having lost 8 of the last 10.

Also, Cal improves to 6-4 season, ensuring that they play in a bowl this year. And though some might smirk at playing in a lower-tier bowl, getting an additional month of practice time for a young team is absolutely huge.

Finally, the Bears finish their home season 4-1, and send their seniors off with a win on Senior Day.

Seriously, regardless of expectations, if you don't allow yourself to enjoy these nights, why follow a college football team?

Let's break down the win.


Cal's Running Game Continues to Roll
The Bears continued their winning formula in establishing a strong running game along with a tough-nosed defense. Cal took advantage of OSU's porous run defense and rolled a season high 296 yards on the ground.

Facing a young Beavers defensive line, Cal's offensive line owned the day in the trenches, consistently opening up large holes for their rushers.

Isi Sofele was brilliant on the day, having a career game with 190 yards on 23 carries and a touchdown. Sofele showed great burst in hitting the holes and is becoming an increasing threat in the open field. The diminutive junior has also carried the torch by breaking the 1,000 yard mark on the season. I've previously stated that Sofele has gotten better with each game, and he's answered every question in proving himself as a solid and reliable back this season.

CJ Anderson also had his best game of his Cal career, rushing 14 times for 96 yards. He unfortunately had two touchdowns called back on holding penalties which we'll address later. But Anderson continues to display nice balance and leverage on his runs.

Kudos to the entire offensive unit for a dominant performance on the ground. When the Bears can run the ball, they're a markedly different team in that they take the pressure off the passing offense from doing more than they can.

Penalties Were Brutal
The Bears continued a troubling trend on the season and nearly offset a fantastic rushing game with a ridiculous number of penalties. The Bears were flagged 15 times for 130 yards. Three long TD runs were called back on holding calls. Three. That's incredibly disheartening to an offense, but you can bet CJ Anderson is still shaking his head in the locker room right now.

I'll admit that at least two of the holding calls were ticky-tack, or might not have even been there. But the rest of them are atrocious and just can't happen, especially when you know the refs are gunning for you.

The pass interference calls were borderline as well. Usually, I'm a little more forgiving up PI calls on defense, as long as it fits in with the nature of an aggressive and physical defense. On one of the calls though, I had wished Steve Williams had shown a little more effort to lay off the backside of the player in making the play.

The rest of the calls were a mixed bag of head scratchers by the officiating crew and boneheaded penalties by the Bears.

It's just frustrating to see a Cal team play with such recklessness in some regards. It's so antithetical to some of Tedford's best squads, and was the most frustrating aspect of what was otherwise a well executed game by the Bears.

Defense Makes Big Stops in the Red Zone
Despite the Bears' dominance in defending the running game, holding the Beavers to just 27 yards on the ground, the biggest story defensively for the Bears was their ability to get some critical stops in crucial moments.

Cal held the Beavers to just 6 points on the day, thanks in large part to some key turnovers and stops. OSU started their first drive in Cal territory on the Bears 49 yard line, but were held to a field goal. On their ensuing drive, a sack on third down pushed the Beavers out of field goal territory and forced a punt.

The Bears also tipped a would be touchdown pass into a Cal interception. Later, they held the Beavers out of the endzone after they recovered a fumble on a handoff that never got to the OSU back.

Part of these turnovers could certainly be attributed to luck, and there's no denying that the score could have been much closer. But kudos to a heady Cal defense that made plays when it mattered.

Predictable Defensively Otherwise
I tell ya, playing Oregon State is a completely different story when they don't have a running game. In years past, the Bears have been burned by a running threat or even the threat of one. Seriously, I almost went into epileptic shock when the broadcast showed highlights of Jacquizz Rodgers from last year's game.

With Oregon State's running attack sputtering, the game was put on the shoulder of redshirt freshman Sean Mannion who I think has impressed in his first season as a starter. The guy's going to be a real good one and a pain for the Bears in years to come, and had Cal's secondary back on its heels in this game. Mannion was 25/39 for 247 yards, but most critically threw for no TDs and was picked off twice.

You have to like what the Bears were able to do in following their gameplan by taking away any running threat and putting the pressure on the freshmen. And again, they made the big plays when they needed to.

Maynard Has a Quiet Day and That's Fine By Me
Like last week, with a competent rushing attack, Maynard wasn't asked to do much and put up quiet numbers going 13 for 19 on 128 yards, 1 TD and a pick.

While Maynard was up and down on the day, with his interception being poorly underthrown, I thought he was solid overall, and made some nice passes when he needed to. The coaching staff cut back on the number of his rollouts, as OSU had nicely gameplanned to send in a blitzing linebacker off the edge a number of times to cut off Maynard's rolling lane, and Maynard showed a bit more comfort in sitting back in the pocket. His TD strike to Michael Calvin was perfectly thrown, and his post-pattern pass to Keenan Allen was similarly accurate.

While everyone on the coaching staff will tell you that they prefer balance on offense, almost anyone in stands or at home will tell you the team is a heck of a lot more fun if they can be dominant on the ground, while allowing Maynard to let the game just come to him.

His worst performances of the season have come when he and the offense have put themselves in situations where they need to press. But when the running game comes to the Bears like it has the past few weeks, it opens up the playbook so much for Maynard to be utilized more effectively as a passer. I'm ok with the Bears continuing what they're doing. Quite ok.

Special Teams Annoyance
There were actually quite a few positives for the Special Teams. Other than the opening kickoff return, the Bears were pretty stout on their coverage and avoided any huge returns from what had been the top ranked punt return unit in the conference.

Giorgio Tavecchio nailed a nice 32 yard field goal, and Bryan Anger had a nice 54 yard punt as well.

But just once this season, I'd love to have a game where I'm not pulling my hair at something Cal's special teams does, whether it's a careless penalty. Or a huge 44 yard return. Or a missed extra point attempt...for the sixth time this season.

Sigh.

I will say this though. In the third quarter, the Bears sniffed out a fake punt attempt by the Beavers, getting the ball back at midfield. Those are exactly the types of plays the Bears would have given up to the Beavers in years past. It's so quintessential Tedford-Riley. It's nice to have the Bears end up on top in that one.

Moving Forward
Boy that loss to the Bruins stings even worse now doesn't it? The Bears could be looking at a 7-3 record headed into the Big Game.

No matter. The team and scratched and clawed to bowl eligibility this year, and for all the ways things could have turned out disastrously for the Bears this year, going to a bowl should be celebrated.

Now the Bears look forward to the Big Game this week where they'll undoubtedly be underdogs. However, if the Bears can continue to play the way they have, don't be shocked if the Bears steal one of their next two games. Just saying.

Enjoy the night, and enjoy the win. Go Bears.