Takeaways: Stout Cal defense finally cracks after shutting out Oregon for a half

The Cal football team now gets what it probably needs most: A week off.

The Bears lost 17-7 at No. 13 Oregon on Saturday night and have dropped two in a row since a 4-0 start that lifted them temporarily to No. 15 in the AP Top 25 poll.

Cal (4-2, 1-2 Pac-12) shut out the Ducks (4-1, 2-0) for a half — the first time that’s happened at Eugene in 15 years — but couldn’t muster enough offense to keep up for four quarters.

“There are no moral victories, but their effort and toughness showed,” Cal coach Justin Wilcox said. “We’ve just got to keep getting better and staying with it.”

The Bears get a bye next weekend before returning home to face Oregon State.

Here are the takeaways from this one:

Devon Modster was better, not great

Garbers’ replacement certainly delivered a better performance than he did in the loss to Arizona State a week ago, when he was 5-for-14 passing for 23 yards with an interception in the end zone.

Modster, a junior transfer from UCLA, was 17 for 34 for 190 yards and threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to running back Christopher Brown Jr., giving Cal a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. He also had two interceptions — one of them on a harmless Hail Mary attempt on the final play of the first half, the other on a tipped pass that set up the Ducks’ go-ahead touchdown late in the third quarter.

“I thought he handled himself really well,” Wilcox said. “There’s a couple throws in there he can make, but I thought he was calm. His demeanor was good. I think he’ll keep improving the more he plays. He threw some good balls, did some good things with his feet.”

After the Bears had seven three-and-outs on 14 possessions — including two failed third-and-1 runs — Modster was a tough self-grader. “Lack of execution and it starts with me,” he said.

Certainly the Bears’ offensive issues weren’t all on Modster. Cal had just four total yards and no first downs in the third quarter when the Ducks took charge and they mustered only 89 yards after halftime.

The injuries continue to mount

Cal was always going to be a team whose first unit needed to stay upright. The Bears don’t yet have he depth to beat the big boys with their second-line players.

“Injuries are part of the game,” Wilcox said. Right now, it’s a part of the game hitting the Bears hard.

Starting quarterback Chase Garbers is sidelined indefinitely after suffering an upper-body injury a week ago, and two projected starters on the offensive line are shelved for the season.

Backup running back Marcel Dancy and starting wideout Kekoa Crawford were held out of the Oregon game with undisclosed injuries, and two more O-line starters, center Michael Saffell and guard/tackle Valentino Daltoso both were injured Saturday night.

The defense shows up

The Bears, critical of their defensive play in the loss to Arizona State, held Oregon scoreless in the first half for the first time in 15 years at Eugene. Cal generated three first-quarter turnovers against an Oregon attack that had coughed up the ball only twice all season.

Linebacker Kuony Deng had 12 tackles and a fumble recovery, safety Ashtyn Davis returned an interception 31 yards to set up the Bears’ lone TD  and cornerback Cam Bynum virtually shut down his side of secondary.

Cal held its 13th straight opponent to fewer than 25 points, although that was no doubt a consolation the Bears didn’t celebrate.

Although the Bears gave up some big plays late, it was the kind of defensive performance that should keep them in every game the rest of the season.