Bears Cruise To Dominant Win in Corvallis

CORVALLIS, Ore.-Listening to Cal quarterback Nate Longshore, reading complex defensive schemes in a fraction of a second, evading the pass rush and making accurate throws is not too difficult at all.

The hard part is figuring out how to utilize all of the weapons at his disposal.

"I have such great athletes around me," Longshore said. "If I just get them the ball, crazy things will happen. I have the easiest job of anyone out there.

"Everybody wants the ball. There's only one ball, though."

Longshore made it look easy against Oregon State on Saturday at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Ore., spreading the ball around and throwing for 341 yards and four touchdowns in leading a nearly unstoppable Bears offense to 31 first-half points and a 41-13 win.

"Nate did a good job of keeping his eyes down the field," coach Jeff Tedford said. "He's really getting a good feel for the pocket."

The defense was just as impressive. After losing six of its last seven meetings with the Beavers (2-2, 0-1 in the Pac-10) and giving up 194 rushing yards to OSU tailback Yvenson Bernard in last year's 23-20 loss, Cal focused throughout the week on shutting down the running game.

"You have to stop the run," said safety Bernard Hampton, who led the Bears with 10 tackles. "It's a pride thing, really. We prepared for it all week. We came in ready."

Hampton and the rest of the defense routinely gobbled up Bernard at the line of scrimmage. The Beavers only managed eight yards on the ground in the first half and 56 overall.

Linebacker Desmond Bishop ensured that the Bears (4-1, 2-0) would stop the opposition at the onset for the first time this year, forcing a Bernard fumble with OSU attacking at the Bears 15-yard line. Cal had allowed 61 first-half points coming into the contest.

"We were going crazy out there," Hampton said of the fumble recovery. "That first drive has been tough for us."

The Bears offense came through with more of the same after scoring a combined 112 first-half points in the last three games.

Cal scored on all five possessions in the first half, riding the arm of Longshore for most of the way. By the time Andrew Larson booted his first punt of the game midway through the third quarter, the majority of the 39,309 fans in attendance had already left the recently revamped stadium.

They saw all they needed to see in the first half.

Longshore turned to senior Lavelle Hawkins to get the scoring started. After being hit by three defenders, Longshore stayed firm in the pocket and lofted a 39-yard touchdown to Hawkins, who leapt up for the score.

Hawkins led the way with six catches for 128 yards, often finding openings in the slot with the safeties shading toward Jackson over the top.

"His locker is right by mine, so we joke around that I throw touchdowns for his grandma and he catches touchdowns for my dad," Longshore said of Hawkins.

On the very next possession, Longshore found sophomore DeSean Jackson, who broke loose across the middle for a 27-yard score. Jackson made the grab at the 10-yard line, planted his left foot and cut back toward the middle to elude the safety and scamper untouched into the end zone.

"I saw watching film that the safety kind of dove a little bit and got off his feet sometimes to make a tackle, so I just kind of felt like one little move would do it," Jackson said.

It was Jackson's seventh straight game with a touchdown, tying him for the nation's lead.

It was then Lynch's turn to take over.

He ran left and fought through two OSU defenders for a 15-yard touchdown, then sprinted out of the backfield on the first possession in the second quarter and found an opening in the corner of the end zone for 27-yard touchdown reception.

"We have a lot of players who are capable of making big plays," Lynch said. "Nate was throwing some perfect balls. It's always fun to get out there and catch some passes."

The Beavers' only score of the half came on a school-record-tying 58-yard field goal from Alexis Serna with three seconds left in the second quarter.

"There was frustration as soon as they scored 28 points. We were just shocked, it happened quick," Bernard said.

It was Longshore's fourth consecutive stellar performance. Over that stretch, he has thrown for a total of 14 touchdowns and 1,116 passing yards.

"Every week, we get a little bit more confidence," Longshore said. "We came out a little soft in our first road game (at Tennessee), and it was good to come in here and be able to play like we did."

A correction to this article can be found here.

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