Pac-12 football: Jared Goff helps California stay unbeaten

Jared Goff got off to a shaky start and still threw for 390 yards and four touchdowns to lead No. 24 California to a 34-28 victory over Washington State on Saturday in the Golden Bears’ first game as a ranked team in six years.

Goff threw an early interception and was off target on a few throws before finding his groove. He threw two touchdown passes in a span of less than two minutes late in the third quarter surrounding a successful onside kick to erase an eight-point deficit and lead the Bears (5-0, 2-0 Pac-12) to their best start since 2007.

Luke Falk threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score for the Cougars (2-2, 0-1), who have lost 28 of their last 28 games against ranked opponents.

Washington State was in position to reverse that trend after Falk threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Gabe Marks midway through the third quarter and Kenny Lawler lost a fumble on Cal’s ensuing possession.

Stefan McClure then changed the tide on a safety blitz that gave Cal one of its seven sacks on the day. Erik Powell missed a 40-yard field goal wide right and Goff took over from there.

With the Bears trailing 28-20, he drove Cal 77 yards to a score on a 20-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Lawler that made it 28-26.

The Bears then surprised the Cougars with an onside kick recovered by Darius Powe. Four plays later, Maurice Harris took a short pass from Goff and ran 24 yards for the score that gave the Bears their first lead of the game. Goff completed a two-point conversion pass to Bryce Treggs to make it 34-28.

After winning only six games in Coach Sonny Dykes’ first two seasons, Cal has matched its best start since 1950. But the schedule gets much tougher from here with road games against No. 10 Utah and No. 7 UCLA, followed by a home game against No. 17 USC and a trip to Oregon.

Oregon holds off Colorado for win, 41-24

Royce Freeman rushed for 163 yards and scored twice, third-string quarterback Taylor Alie tossed a clinching touchdown pass in the fourth quarter and the Ducks beat Colorado 41-24 on a soggy Saturday night.

Taj Griffin finished with 110 yards rushing and a score, while receiver Bralon Addison threw a TD pass on a trick play to help the Ducks (3-2, 1-1 Pac-12) rebound from a 62-20 home loss to Utah last weekend.

It was Oregon’s fifth straight win over Colorado (3-2, 0-1) since the Buffaloes joined the conference in 2011 — and by far the closest. The Ducks won the previous four meetings by an average of 43.5 points. They entered this game just a touchdown favorite.

There was a moment of silence before kickoff for the people who died in the shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, which is about 70 miles from Eugene.