The California Golden Bears gave up an early kickoff return to the Oregon St. Beavers when Brandin Cooks streaked down the right sideline for 44 yards. A Markus Wheaton 14 yard gain and a 19 yard connection between Sean Mannion and James Rodgers set up an early Trevor Romaine 32 yard field goal to give OSU an early 3-0 lead.
After some incremental progress on the first drive for Cal, Zach Maynard threw an interception to Lance Mitchell. Oregon State looked as if they were driving again to a second score before Trevor Guyton sacked Mannion and put he Beavers out of field goal range.
With Cal pinned inside at their own nine, Isi Sofele took the opening run of the drive 56 yards after two excellent cutbacks. Zach Maynard then hit Spencer Hagan for a first down and exploited the cover two hole between the safety and the underneath defender to find Michael Calvin for Cal's first points of the game. The Bears lead 7-3 early.
For more on Cal football, go to the California Golden Blogs. For more on Oregon State football, check out Building the Dam.