KERRY SAYS: Beavers find a team they can beat in Cal

BY KERRY EGGERS/PORTLAND TRIBUNE/Cal defends better than Oregon State, but OSU has shot to end Pac-12 skid

Is Saturday the day Oregon State ends a Pac-12 winless streak that has reached 12 games, and gives first-year head coach Jonathan Smith his first conference victory?

Maybe.

OSU (1-5 overall, 0-3 Pac-12) plays host to California (3-3,0-3) in a 1 p.m. Reser Stadium matchup that should be competitive, and with an outcome that might just be to the Beavers' liking.

Cal, in its second season with Justin Wilcox as head coach, has lost successive league contests to Oregon, Arizona and UCLA, the latter a 37-7 thumping by a Chip Kelly-coached Bruins team that went into the game 0-5.

Five turnovers helped spell doom in that one for the Bears, who are going with 6-1, 200-pound sophomore Brandon McIlwain at quarterback and boast a veteran running back in 6-foot, 205-pound senior Patrick Laird.

Laird, who rushed for 94 yards and a touchdown in 17 carries against UCLA, was the workhorse in Cal's 37-23 win over Oregon State at Berkeley last season, toting the ball 33 times for 214 yards and a score.

The Beavers lead the Pac-12 in rushing yardage this season, however, with 211.8 yards per game and 17 TDs.

OSU freshman Jermar Jefferson ranks second nationally in rushing yardage (865) and rushing touchdowns (12), and junior Artavis Pierce gives the team a potent 1-2 punch.

OSU's quarterback situation is in flux, with sophomore Conor Blount (shoulder injury) and senior Jake Luton (ankle) both questionable. The guess is that both will be ready for duty, but if not, sophomore Jack Colletto will take the controls.

OSU coaches also are hoping 6-4 sophomore receiver Isaiah Hodgins (hamstring) will return to duty after missing the 56-37 loss to Washington State on Oct. 6.

Cal ranks second in the Pac-12 in pass defense (169.8 yards allowed per game) and fourth in total defense (334.2), so the Bears defend significantly better than do the Beavers, who have yielded 541.3 yards and 47 points per game.

Cal has an all-conference-worthy linebacker in 6-3, 235-pound senior Jordan Kunaszyk. He had 22 tackles against UCLA, the most by a Bear defender in 25 years.

But the Beavers are hungry, and coming off a bye week with two weeks to prepare, and perhaps due for a solid outing on both sides of the football. Cal seems susceptible to an upset.

The Beavers haven't finished on the winning side of a Pac-12 game since throttling Oregon 34-24 at Reser to end the 2016 campaign.

If the Oregon State defense can load up enough to slow down Laird, an upset will happen again Saturday.

THE PICK: Oregon State 38, California 31

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