Early miscues set the tone for Oregon State University football’s 34-15 loss to the California Golden Bears to open Trent Bray’s second season as head coach in Corvallis. 

The Beavers lost the yardage and turnover battle in front of scattered Labor Day weekend attendance at Reser Stadium Saturday night. 

At first, it looked promising for the Beavers. On the opening drive of the game, the OSU defense forced a three and out against the Cal offense. But a penalty for 12 men on the field gave the Golden Bears a new set of downs, and an opening drive touchdown followed soon after. 

“We start the game three and out. Make them punt. That’s a different game,” Bray said. “That totally changed the whole momentum of the game.” 

Led by transfer quarterback Maalik Murphy in his first start with the team, the Beavers got the ball back and a chance to respond. Instead, a low snap sent the 6’5” passer diving towards the ground, resulting in a four-yard loss. 

The next play was Murphy’s first pass attempt of the game: a contested slant route to receiver David Wells Jr. that was tipped in the air and nearly intercepted. Another incompletion would give the Beavers a three and out on their first set of offensive plays of 2025. 

“I got to be better, just being more comfortable being there for my teammates, creating more plays,” Murphy said after the game. “We left a lot on the table.” 

The Golden Bears would score again on their second possession. Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, a true freshman four-star recruit making his first career start, would toss the second of his three touchdowns on the night on a deep pass that dropped over coverage from OSU freshman cornerback Trey Glasper. 

“That’s the thing about (playing) corner. You know, you’re going to get beat at times,” Bray said. “You’re going to have some games where it’s not great. … You just gotta forget about it. Learn from it.” 

Veteran Beaver defensive back Skyler Thomas praised Glasper after the game: “He’s better than me. That’s all I have to say. He’s a dog.”

Glasper was starting in place of top OSU cornerback Exodus Ayers, who did not appear against the Golden Bears despite being listed as a starter. 

“I’m not going to do that,” Bray said when asked to provide an update on Ayers’ status. 

Sagapolutele completed his opening nine passes of the first quarter, finishing the first 15 minutes with 146 passing yards and two touchdown passes. He finished the night with 235 passing yards, three scores, no interceptions and 25 yards rushing. 

“We just weren’t being combative enough,” Thomas said of the OSU defense. “Towards the end of the game we started to do that more.” 

Down 14-0, Oregon State finally got on the scoreboard with a 53-yard field goal from kicker Caleb Ojeda in his first career FBS field goal attempt. 

Another OSU mistake soon followed. A late second-half drive made it to midfield for Oregon State but ended prematurely after tight end Bryce Caufield fumbled the ball at midfield following his first catch of the year. 

Cal would score again before the half, with kicker Abram Murray making a 49-yarder to send the Golden Bears into the locker room with a 17-3 lead. 

“The biggest part right now is starting fast,” Thomas said of what the Beavers need to work on after the game.

While the Beaver offense failed to score on their first possession of the new half, the Cal offense didn’t cool down after the break. Sagapolutele threw his third touchdown pass of the night to a wide-open Landon Morris, giving the Golden Bears a 24-3 lead. 

Midway through the third quarter, the Beaver offense would finally put together a touchdown drive with Murphy finding some rhythm in the quick passing game. 

It was a scoring drive that almost wasn’t. Murphy floated an intended touchdown pass to wide receiver Trent Walker that was intercepted by Cal defensive back Hezekiah Masses, who turned into an endzone-to-endzone pick six. 

However, a defensive penalty on the play saved the Oregon State offense from disaster. Running back Anthony Hankerson punched the ball in for the team’s first touchdown of the day on the very next play. 

The Beavers failed a two-point conversion attempt after the score, with Cal’s lead remaining 24-9. 

“That’s just analytics,” Bray said of the decision to go for two. “That’s what it was called for.”

When the Beavers got the ball back, Masses finally recorded an interception that counted, returning the ball to the Oregon State two-yard line. 

“That’s bad on my behalf. I gotta see it better,” Murphy said.

“The emotion of being done with it – I’m not very happy with anything,” Bray said regarding the Beavers’ passing game. He said he’d have to look at the film later to correctly grade Murphy’s performance. 

The Golden Bears’ Brandon High Jr. would score a rushing touchdown the play after the turnover, putting Cal up 31-9 after the extra point with 12:02 left in the game. 

OSU fought back. Murphy would give the Beavers their second rushing touchdown of the game on a fourth-and-goal conversion around four minutes later. After another failed two-point conversion, OSU was down 31-15 – two possessions – with 8:16 left in the fourth quarter. 

“We were never out of the game,” Thomas said.  

The Beavers eventually got the ball back but punted from their own territory with just over five minutes left in the game. That would kill any sort of comeback bid, with the Golden Bears running the clock down to 20 seconds and kicking a short field goal to bring their lead to 34-15 – the game’s final score. 

“We did some good things in the last three quarters of the game, but we dug ourselves a hole,” Bray said. “It was hard to dig back out against a good team like Cal.”

The Beavers finished the game with 248 passing yards to Cal’s 234. OSU wide receiver Trent Walker had a nine-catch, 136-yard performance, connecting with Murphy on several successful downfield play-action passes. 

However, Hankerson and the Beavers’ run game combined for just 65 yards on the ground, with the star running back logging 2.8 yards per carry. With wide receiver Darrius Clemons out for the year with injury, Hankerson was also the Beavers’ second-leading pass-catcher with only 22 receiving yards. 

“I think we’re a passing offense,” Murphy said after the game. “I’ll never say we threw more than we wanted to. … We just gotta find ways to connect more.” 

OSU has a chance to find those answers in a week. The Beavers will next take the field Sept. 6 at home at 12:30 p.m. against Fresno State.