What to know earlier than the Cal Golden Bears kick off at Oregon State

CAL AT OREGON STATE

2024 data: Cal 6-7 general, 2-6 in ACC; Oregon State 5-7 general, 1-0 in Pac-12

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Reser Stadium, Corvallis, Oregon

TV: ESPN

Radio: 810 AM

Collection historical past: Cal leads 40-37; Cal gained 44-7 at Berkeley final yr

Cal storylines: The Bears face strain to assemble their first profitable season since 2019. Cal performed in bowl video games every of the previous two seasons, however completed 6-7 every time. Chancellor Wealthy Lyons has mentioned {that a} .500 season shouldn’t be acceptable and new normal supervisor Ron Rivera, who’s working with coach Justin Wilcox however reviews on to Lyons, described a profitable season as eight or 9 wins . . . Left-handed freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele makes his debut after beating out Ohio State switch Devin Brown in fall camp. Jared Goff was Cal’s solely earlier freshman QB to start out the season’s first sport, a 44-30 loss at dwelling to Northwestern in 2013 . . . Among the many six offensive line transfers the Bears signed, left guard Jordan Spasojevic-Moko and heart Tyson Ruffins will begin vs. OSU. Three others are listed as second-team gamers.

Oregon State storylines: The Beavers are led by 6-foot-5, 234-pound redshirt junior quarterback Maalik Murphy, a switch from Duke, who handed for two,933 yards and a program-record 26 touchdowns final season. After spending the 2 earlier seasons at Texas, Murphy directed the Blue Devils to a 9-3 document as a starter . . . For the primary time since 2019, OSU returns each its main rusher and receiver. Senior Anthony Hankerson rushed for 1,082 yards and 15 TDs and senior Trent Walker caught 81 passes for 901 yards . . . Second-year head coach Trent Bray, beforehand the workforce’s defensive coordinator, has added these duties to his workload this season.

Stats that matter: The Bears had been among the many nation’s leaders with 22 takeaways final season, however 4 defensive backs who accounted for 12 of their 17 interceptions are gone . . . New Cal working backs Raphael Kendrick, LJ Johnson Jr. and Brandon Excessive Jr.  have rushed for a mixed profession complete of two,223 yards . . . The Beavers are 13-4 in August and September the previous 4 seasons and are 20-5 at dwelling over that very same stretch.

— JEFF FARAUDO