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BERKELEY — After scoring just 24 points during the entire month of October, Cal’s football team welcomed November and the return of junior quarterback Devon Modster against Washington State at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night.
Modster threw three touchdown passes and ran for one and the Bears scored a 33-20 win in front of 39,168 fans to snap their four-game losing streak and keep alive their hopes for a bowl game.
Cal (5-4, 2-4 Pac-12) hadn’t won since Sept. 21 at Ole Miss and went dormant offensively after starting quarterback Chase Garbers was injured a week later against Arizona State.
Modster, his backup, missed the Utah game two weeks ago due to injury, but played an efficient, turnover-free game in his return. He was 16 for 24 for 230 yards with TD passes to tight end Gavin Reinwald, running back Christopher Brown Jr. and wide receiver Makai Polk.
The last of those three came with 6:15 left made it 26-14, essentially icing the win. On third-and-9 from the Cal 48, Modster hit Polk with a quick slant and the freshman from Richmond did the rest, making one cut and outracing the WSU defense to the end zone.
Modster scored on a 13-yard keeper on a fourth-and-3 play, pushing the Bears to a season-best point total with 2:26 left.
Cal, which needs one more victory to become bowl eligible, closes its home schedule against USC next week, then visits Stanford and UCLA.
The Cougars (4-5, 1-5), who scored with five seconds left, must win at least two of their three remaining games to become bowl eligible.
WSU quarterback Anthony Gordon, the nation’s leading passer, was 38 of 51 for 333 yards with just one touchdown and one interception.
Cal took advantage of a WSU turnover early in the third quarter to push its lead to 20-11 when Modster threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Brown with 10:14 left in the period. Brown finished with 95 rushing yard and a pair of TDs.
WSU crept within 20-14 when Blake Mazza kicked a 35-yard field goal with 3:27 left in the period.
The Bears had the chance to pad their lead, but Greg Thomas’ 39-yard field goal try was blocked by the head of WSU’s Lamonte McDougle on the second play of the fourth quarter.
Gordon directed the Cougars inside the Cal 20 but was stopped short on a fourth-and-3 scramble try from the Bears’ 14-yard line with 10:31 remaining.
The Bears led 13-11 at the end of an unusual — and long — first half. Cal never trailed, scoring just 45 seconds into the game.
Safety Jaylinn Brown intercepted Gordon on the Cougars’ second play from scrimmage, returning it 18 yards to the WSU 27-yard line.
Brown ran untouched around left end on Cal’s first play for a 6-0 lead. But WSU blocked the PAT try and George Hicks Jr. returned it for a two-point defensive conversion, leaving the Bears’ lead at 6-2.
The Cougars took advantage of a fumble by Cal tight end Gavin Reinwald to get on the board with Mazza’s 30-yard field goal, cutting the margin to 6-5 with 3:34 left in the first quarter.
The teams traded touchdowns in the second quarter, Cal going first on a 9-yard TD pass from Modster to Reinwald for a 13-5 lead on the first play of the period.
The Cougars finally made some headway offensively when Gordon completed nine of 10 passes to drive his team 85 yards. His 17-yard TD pass to Brandon Arconado with 45 seconds left in the half pulled WSU within 13-11. But the Cougars’ try for a two-point conversion pass was stopped short of the goal line.
