Daniel Lasco ran for a game-high 188 yards and three touchdowns as the California Golden Bears took out the Oregon State Beavers, 45-31, in Pac-12 Conference play at Reser Stadium.
Lasco ran the ball 30 times for the Bears (5-4, 3-2 Pac-12) who snapped a three-game slide and won in Corvallis for the first time since 2007. Quarterback Jared Goff converted 24-of-47 for 277 yards and a score, while Stephen Anderson caught nine balls for 117 yards.
The Beavers (4-4, 1-4), losers of three in a row and four of the last five, were paced by Sean Mannion who connected on 30-of-45 for 320 yards and two TDs, as well as one costly interception late. Victor Bolden posted a game-high 11 receptions for 119 yards in the setback.
The only points of the first quarter came courtesy of a 41-yard field goal by Cal kicker James Langford.
OSU finally broke through at the 14:18 mark of the second as Mannion combined with Rahmel Dockery on a three-yard TD pass play, capping a six-play, 75-yard drive that lasted just over two minutes.
Lasco gave the lead back to the Bears when he crossed the goal line from 14 yards out, but the advantage was short lived as Trevor Romaine's 30-yard field goal for the Beavers knotted the score at 10-10.
The hosts then tallied 10 straight points to close out the first half, thanks to a 21-yard TD run by Lasco and a 26-yard Langford field goal.
The Bears extended their advantage to 27-10 at the 8:52 mark of the third on the strength of a 19-yard touchdown run by Vic Enwere.
Mannion again closed the gap for the visitors as he moved the ball 65 yards in just under three minutes, culminating with an eight-yard TD pass to Jordan Villamin.
OSU continued to get after the Bears as Chris Brown and Terron Ward recorded touchdown runs of eight and 17 yards, respectively, giving the Beavers a 31-27 advantage with 12:02 to play in the fourth.
Early in the period Mannion made history as he became the Pac-12's all-time passing leader, surging ahead of USC's Matt Barkley who held the record with 12,327 career yards.
Unfortunately, the record-setting performance and push by the Beavers in the second half was overshadowed by Cal as the visitors ripped off 17 unanswered points to close out the meeting. Chris Harper and Goff combined on a 10-yard TD pass play, Langford converted a 47-yard field goal and Lasco put the game out of reach with a 15-yard TD run with less than two minutes left in regulation.
The Golden Bears generated 546 yards on 94 plays, converting 11-of-19 on third down.
California entered the day ranked fourth in the nation in passing offense (371.5 ypg) and 10th in scoring (41.5 ppg), but also 120th in scoring defense (41.0 ppg).
The pass defense for OSU was 19th in the country, giving up just 191.9 ypg, while the pass efficiency defense rating of 103.68 placed the Beavers 11th nationally.
[SportsNetwork.com]
