BERKELEY – A two-week break from game action did little to stunt the forward momentum of a Cal football team still hungry to improve as defensive touchdowns on each of the game's first two drives put the Golden Bears in the driver's seat against visiting Colorado and laid the groundwork for what would end up a 33-21 victory over the Buffaloes on Senior Day at California Memorial Stadium.

When poor air quality caused by deadly wildfires in Northern California forced the postponement of the 121^st Big Game, Cal (7-4, 4-4 Pac-12) found itself pointed towards a Colorado game that was initially scheduled to be the final regular season game of the 2018 campaign.

But, once the Bears did get back to action, it didn't take long for a familiar narrative to reappear. A pass attempt by Colorado's Steven Montez on the third play of the game ended in the first points of the game for Cal as Elijah Hicks anticipated the route, intercepted the pass and raced 34 yards to give the Bears the first lead of the day.

Cal's defense was just getting started. On the third play of Colorado's next drive, Ashytn Davis created his own chance to hit the scoreboard, intercepting Montez and taking it 35 yards for Cal's second defensive touchdown of the day.

"I'm not sure I've been a part of that," Cal head coach Justin Wilcox said. "Two huge plays that were the difference in the game. The takeaways in general, the turnover margin was the difference in the game. That was pretty obvious."

After a three-and-out by Colorado (5-7, 2-7), Cal's offense took its turn and added to the lead. A fumbled punt return by the Buffaloes, forced by Traveon Beck and recovered by Quentin Tartabull, gave Cal the ball back on the Colorado 29-yard line. Given another chance, the Bears capitalized, scoring on a 1-yard pass from Chase Garbers to Patrick Laird to make it 21-0 with 4:41 left in the first quarter.

A touchdown early in the second quarter put Colorado on the board but a few minutes later, the Bears forced another Buffaloes miscue to come up with points of their own. This time, a muffed punt gave the Bears the ball on the Colorado 15 and a 24-yard field goal by Greg Thomas put Cal ahead 24-7.

Davis' second interception helped the Bears finish the half with that score intact while also finishing off a half in which Cal forced a season-high five turnovers, four of which came in Colorado territory.

Colorado's comeback attempt included a 14-3 advantage in the third quarter but Cal responded to begin the fourth. Garbers connected with Moe Ways for a 7-yard touchdown pass, Ways' first career score, with 10:35 remaining and although the 2-point conversion failed, the Bears took a 12-point lead that stood to the end of the game.

"It's not always going to be pretty but we took care of the ball," Wilcox said. "We needed to sustain some drives better. I think we all know that. We have some things that we've got to continue to address and develop the players on our team, help them as much as we possibly can and hold them accountable. But, we took care of the ball and found a way to make some plays that really were the difference. Moe Ways' play in the end zone, the drive at the end of the third and start of the fourth, that drive was big."

As has been the case throughout the 2018 season, linebackers Evan Weaver and Jordan Kunaszyk stood out on the stat sheet. Weaver registered a career-high 19 tackles, one sack and two tackles for loss while Kunaszyk finished with 14 tackles. Garbers completed 14 of 26 passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns to lead Cal offensively while Laird rushed for 45 yards and passed the 2,000-yard mark for his Golden Bear career.

The Big Game takes center stage next week as Stanford comes to Memorial Stadium on Saturday at noon for the latest installment of the teams' rivalry. Tickets from the initially scheduled game on Nov. 17 will be honored and the game will be broadcast live by Pac-12 Network.