A familiar foe: Oregon State football vs. Cal Bears preview

Oregon State Beavers play Cal Golden Bears Open Saturday afternoon at California Memorial Stadium in a matchup featuring former Pac-12 Conference foes.

Both teams enter the game in fear, with the hapless Bears (3-4) on a four-game losing streak and the injury-plagued Beavers (4-3) on a two-game losing streak. The defeats were close; All six matches were decided by a single score and the teams could be lining up for a thrilling finish.

• WRISTWATCH: The game is broadcast live on ESPN 2. Free with Fubo (free trial) or By signing up for Sling (cheapest streaming plans, $25 off your first month). If you already have cable, you can also experience Watch ESPN with your cable or satellite provider’s login information.

This is the Beavers’ second meeting against a former Pac-12 member, coming off a lopsided loss to Oregon in September.

Here’s a preview of this week’s game:

Oregon State (4-3) and California (3-4)

When: Saturday, October 26

Time: 13:00 PT

Where: California Memorial Stadium, Berkeley

Coaches: OSU’s Trent Bray (first season) and Cal’s Justin Wilcox (eighth season)

Last line: UNLV by 9½ percent (FanDuel)

television channel: ESPN2

Transfer: Watch live for FREE with Fubo (free trial) or By signing up for Sling (cheapest streaming plans, $25 off your first month). If you already have cable, you can also watch this match live. Watch ESPN with your cable or satellite provider’s login information.

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A LOOK AT CAL

After opening the season with a three-game winning streak, including an impressive 21-14 win at Auburn, the Bears have been winless since. And their four defeats were brutal, featuring a mix of last-minute daggers, second-half meltdowns and heartbreakers.

The first loss came on September 21, when Cal lost at Florida State by a score of 14-9, and the Bears followed that with strong upsets against Miami, Pittsburgh, and NC State by a combined four points.

The Bears led Miami by 25 points in the second half, but lost 39-38 after Cam Ward’s 5-yard touchdown pass with 26 seconds left. They led NC State with two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter before the Wolf Pack pulled off a 24-23 win last week. Cal’s four defeats totaled nine points.

But other than the loss to Miami in Berkeley, the Bears’ defense was strong. Cal has allowed opponents 15 or fewer points in five of seven games and is averaging just 18.7 points this season, good for 23rd-lowest in the nation. Nohl Williams is one of the best cornerbacks in the country (see below), the Bears have a pair of great receivers (Tedye Buchanan and Cade Uluave), and inside linebacker and linebacker Xavier Carlton rank eighth nationally with eight sacks. Cal has recorded at least one win in 42 of the last 45 games; This includes the last 19 games, the longest active streak in college football.

The offense, on the other hand, has been sporadic for most of the season and inefficient during the Bears’ losing streak. Cal managed only three combined goals and a combined 19 second-half points in defeats against Florida State, Pittsburgh and NC State.

Quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who made his debut against the Beavers last season, has been consistent in his second season at the helm of the Bears. He completed 67% of his passes for 1,731 yards and eight touchdowns and was solid in all four of Cal’s losses; He completed 90 of 137 passes for 1,142 yards and three touchdowns. But without star running back Jaydn Ott for most of the season, the Bears’ running game was anemic during the losing streak, averaging just 90.0 yards per game and 2.7 yards per rush.

COMPETITOR REVIEW | NOHL WILLIAMS

The senior cornerback, who transferred from UNLV two years ago, is one of the best defensive backs in college football. He leads the nation in interceptions (six) this season and ranks fourth in pass deflections (10) and is also the active FBS leader in career interceptions (13). Williams is just three picks away from matching Cal’s single-season record, set by Deltha O’Neal in 1999.

But Williams isn’t just a ballhawk; he’s also exciting with the ball in his hands. This season, he returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown against Miami and returned a kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown against UC Davis, two of the four touchdowns he has scored in his career. He also caught a pair of touchdowns on fumble recoveries last season, rushing for nine yards and 52 yards against Oregon and Washington State, respectively.

RETURN OF THE STAR?

Things are trending in the right direction for Ott to return against the Beavers. Ott suffered an ankle injury in the season opener and has been limited or sidelined since then, missing three games including the last two, limping his way through parts of four games with just 135 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

But Ott returned to practice on Tuesday, and Wilcox told reporters earlier this week when asked about Ott’s playing status, “We’ll see how it goes throughout the week.”

His healthy return would be a boost for the Bears, who are averaging 114.9 yards rushing per game, ranking 107th in the country. Ott threw for 1,315 yards and 12 touchdowns as a sophomore last season when he was named to the Pac-12’s first team.

THEY SAID THIS

“A talented team. They’re playing really well defensively. They have big, physical kids who play hard. They have really good runners offensively. It doesn’t matter who’s running back, they have good running backs. The point guard is talented. So it’s going to be another challenge for us defensively this week.” — OSU coach Trent Bray at Cal.

SERIES HISTORY

This is the 77th meeting between the former Pac-12 rivals, who are playing for the 30th consecutive season. Cal has a narrow 39-37 all-time advantage, but the Beavers have won four of the last five games; That includes last season’s 52-40 win at Berkeley.

THIS AND THAT

• Cal ranks second nationally in interceptions (13) and ranks among the nation’s best in turnover margin (ranked fourth at plus-1.57 per game) and turnovers gained (ranked fourth with 16).

• OSU starting running back Anthony Hankerson has thrown 10 touchdown passes since Sept. 14, ranking as the nation’s third-leading scorer during that stretch. Only Army’s Bryson Daily (17) and Tennessee’s Dylan Sampson (12) had more points. Hankerson has scored 13 goals this season.

• Cal inside linebackers Teddye Buchanan (71) and Cade Uluave (64) combined for 135 tackles this season, ranking sixth among any duo in the country and second in the ACC.

• The Bears outscored their opponents 51-8 in the third quarter of this season and scored eight points in a single game, losing to Miami.

• OSU offensive guard Joshua Gray He played in the 51st match of his career He broke Roy Schuening’s program record (50) in the Beavers’ loss to UNLV last week.

• Oregon State wide receiver Trent Walker completed a career-high nine receptions (88 yards) against UNLV last week and leads the Beavers with 46 receptions this season. Twenty-three strikeouts have come from the last three matches, the third-most in the country during the stretch.

— Joe Freeman covers Oregon State Beavers. Reach him at 503-294-5183 or @BlazerFreeman. Listen Beaver Banter podcast or subscribe Beavers Roundup newsletter.