BERKELEY – Another stout defensive effort early in the game and a strong performance through the air by quarterback Chase Garbers brought the non-conference portion of the Cal football team's schedule to a close with another win as the Bears took a 25-point halftime lead over visiting Idaho State and cruised to a 45-23 victory at California Memorial Stadium.

Garbers saw the majority of snaps behind center and completed 20 of 25 passes for 224 yards, three touchdowns (all career highs) and one interception. Jordan Duncan was one of the main beneficiaries of Cal's aerial attack, hauling in four passes for 63 yards and two touchdowns. Junior Marcel Dancy carried 11 times for a career-high 80 yards and one touchdown to lead the Bears on the ground.

Cal (3-0) took a few drives to get its motor running on offense but a big play on defense helped set the stage for the Bears to take a 7-0 lead after a quarter. An interception by Ashtyn Davis provided a spark as the junior from Santa Cruz, Calif. stepped in front of a Tanner Gueller pass and gave the Bears the ball on the Bengals' 40.

A 24-yard strike up the seam from Garbers to Ian Bunting put Cal on the Idaho State 5-yard line and it didn't take long for the Bears to hit the scoreboard as Dancy rumbled across the goal line on the next play for his first touchdown as a Golden Bear.

Cal used the next 15 minutes to create separation on the scoreboard. Both Garbers and Duncan showed their agility in teaming up for the Bears' second touchdown as Garbers evaded the rush to his right and lofted a 28-yard pass to the end zone that Duncan jumped for and caught through contact for his first touchdown of the afternoon.

After a field goal by Campbell Sheidow put Idaho State (1-1) on the board, Davis asserted himself again to add to the Bears' lead. This time, Cal's track and field speedster made his mark in the return game, breaking free for an 89-yard touchdown return, his first trip to paydirt as a Bear. Cal's next offensive drive concluded with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Garbers to Duncan and the Bears carried a 28-3 lead into halftime.

"Chase was pretty efficient. 20 of 25 and I thought he put the ball where it needed to be for the most part," Cal head coach Justin Wilcox said. "The (run-pass option) game, in terms of when he was supposed to give it, when he was supposed to pull it, when he was supposed to throw it, he did a nice job of that. He can make some plays with his feet, as you saw. We're going to play bigger and faster and stronger opponents going forward and things will speed up for him but I think his decision-making and all that is getting better and better the more he plays."

Greg Thomas added a career-long 44-yard field goal in the third quarter and the Bears broke the game wide open in the fourth quarter with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Garbers to Jake Ashton and a 4-yard touchdown pass from Brandon McIlwain to Jeremiah Hawkins. Those scores represented career-firsts for Ashton, McIlwain and Hawkins.

Not to be outdone by the offensive fireworks, Cal's defense turned in yet another strong first half to help the Bears build their lead. Junior Evan Weaver led the team in tackles for the third game in a row (tied with Jordan Kunaszyk at BYU) with 13 while Cal held Idaho State to just 121 yards and four first downs in the first half. Davis' interception makes it seven on the season for Cal, which led the nation with six entering the game.

With the win over Idaho State, Cal heads into its bye week with momentum to carry into its Pac-12 opener against Oregon on Sept. 29 at California Memorial Stadium. Game time has not yet been announced. The Bears hit the road to take on Arizona on Oct. 6 before returning to Berkeley for an Oct. 13 game against UCLA.