The Sports Xchange
Nov 4, 2017
California running back Patrick Laird rushed for a career-best 214 yards as the Bears fended off Oregon State 37-23 on Saturday in Berkeley, Calif.
The Golden Bears (5-5, 2-5 Pac-12) controlled the line of scrimmage behind Laird, a redshirt junior who rushed 33 times.
Ross Bowers connected on 24 of 30 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns to help pace California. Vic Wharton III was his biggest beneficiary, with eight catches for 121 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown catch. Bears wide receiver Jordan Veasy and running back Vic Enware had the deciding touchdowns on a 25-yard reception and an 8-yard rush, respectively.
Enware's score came with 10:30 left in the game for a 37-20 lead.
Oregon State (1-8, 0-6 Pac-12) opened the scoring with its first passing touchdown since Week 4 against Washington State -- and it took a trick play to accomplish the feat, as tight end Tuli Wily-Matagi threw 26 yards to tailback Ryan Nall.
Nall also rushed for 41 yards and caught four passes for 54 yards.
Darell Garretson handled the rest of the passing for the Beavers, connecting on 13 of 25 for 164 yards. The senior quarterback's biggest pass went to Trevon Bradford for a 33-yard catch that set up a 5-yard Thomas Tyner touchdown to cut the lead to 23-20 with 2:09 left in the third quarter. Tyner led Oregon State with 41 rushing yards.
Cal senior place kicker Matt Anderson passed Doug Brien as the program's all-time leading scorer with a 45-yard field goal in the second quarter to put the Golden Bears up 17-7. Anderson finished the game with 297 career points.
Oregon State kicker Jordan Choukair hit a career-long 49-yard field goal to cut the Bears' first-half lead to 17-10. The sophomore followed up with another make from 49 yards less than five minutes later.
It was Anderson, however, who also drilled a 49-yard kick as the second quarter expired to send the Bears into the locker room with a 20-13 lead.