BERKELEY – Hosting Washington State on Saturday in the final home game of California Memorial Stadium's 100th anniversary season, the Cal football team came away with a 42-39 victory behind a handful of key defensive plays and 181 scrimmage yards from running back Jaydn Ott.

The Golden Bears' defense forced four turnovers for the second time this year and set a season high with six sacks. Outside linebacker David Reese led all players with three sacks and two forced fumbles.

"I'm really proud of how the guys fought and competed. We made enough plays to win the game, and we certainly can learn a lot from plays that weren't quite as good," Travers Family Head Football Coach Justin Wilcox said. "We made it much harder than it needed to be, to be honest. But I commend the guys for continuing to compete and finding a way to win. You have to stay in the moment and do what you need to do to win."

Inside linebacker Cade Uluave recovered two fumbles, the first of which he also forced and took 51 yards to the house on the Cougars' first possession of the game. Uluave finished with a team-high nine tackles to go with a game-ending interception.

The Bears staved off a second-half WSU rally with back-to-back touchdowns early in the fourth quarter. Holding on to a 28-24 lead, Ott carried the ball for all five plays on a 75-yard scoring drive, highlighted by a 52-yard burst through the left side. He capped the possession with a 5-yard scamper into the end zone which saw him become the first Bear since Patrick Laird in 2017 to surpass 1,000 rushing yards in a season.

"Jaydn Ott is spectacular. I've said it many times - he's going to play on Sundays," Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza said. "At the end of the day, whether it's messy or beautiful, a win is a win. I'm grateful to be able to learn from our mistakes today. These are experiences that you learn from. I can't appreciate our defense enough."

Less than two minutes later, Reese blindsided Cougar quarterback Cameron Ward just as he was about to throw. The ball was picked up in the secondary by defensive back Nohl Williams and returned 52 yards to paydirt, giving Cal a commanding 42-24 advantage with 9:26 remaining.

WSU was quick to respond, scoring a pair of touchdowns and converting a two-point conversion to make it a three-point game. After forcing a Cal punt, the Cougars moved the ball into Bear territory with under a minute left but weren't able to connect on a 48-yard potential game-tying field goal. It was their second missed field goal of the fourth quarter.

Washington State had one last chance to steal the game on a Hail Mary pass from 53 yards out, but Uluave came away with his first interception of the season as time ran out.

The Bears finished with three fumble recovery touchdowns in total, as offensive lineman Brian Driscoll fell on one in the end zone in the second quarter.

Mendoza did most of his damage in the first half, when he was 11-of-15 through the air for 129 yards and two touchdowns. The Bears' first offensive possession of the day went 65 yards on 12 plays. Mendoza capped it off on 3rd-and-goal by rolling left in a fake quarterback keeper and finding Endries sneaking out to the corner for a 6-yard score to put Cal up 14-0.

Mendoza later found a wide-open Ott coming across the middle for a 13-yard touchdown to make it 28-14. It was the second time in three weeks the Bears put up 28 points in the first half.

With the win, Cal remains eligible for bowl game competition. The Bears will be on the road for the final two weeks of the regular season. They travel to face Stanford at 3:30 p.m. PT next Saturday in the 2023 edition of the Big Game.

"Winning a bowl game is the goal, and in order to win a bowl game, you have to get to a bowl game," Wilcox said. "It's OK to acknowledge that. The bowl game is a big deal."