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Berkeley, CA - A thrilling offensive battle came oh-so-close to a landmark Portland State win at Memorial Stadium. But, the California Golden Bears recovered in time to salvage a Pac-12 win over a Big Sky Conference school, 37-30.

The Golden Bears' quarterback Jared Goff, who threw for 450 yards against Northwestern last week, threw for 485 more against the Vikings. Goff completed 33-51 passes and tossed two touchdowns. He ran for another score.

In all, Cal had 616 yards of total offense, but it was the Vikings' that were the offensive aggressors early in the game. PSU had 434 yards by half and finished with 553 in the game. 

Lightning struck for the Vikings very early. On the second play from scrimmage, Kieran McDonagh froze the defense on a play-action fake then found Kasey Closs over the top for an 81-yard touchdown. PSU led 7-0 less than a minute into the first quarter.

The Golden Bears responded with a seven-play scoring drive to tie it at 7-7. 

DJ Adams completed a pair of 75-yard drives by the Vikings with touchdown runs of 12 and 25 yards. Those scores were sandwiched around a 25-yard Vincenzo D'Amato field goal by Cal. That had PSU up 20-10 early in the second quarter.

A costly error by the Vikings pulled Cal close though. On PSU's next possession, Shaquille Richard fumbled the ball away at midfield. Goff responded with a 50-yard completion to Bryce Treggs, then scored on the next play with a one-yard run. 

Following a three-and-out by the Vikings, Cal mounted the longest drive of the day to take the lead. The Golden Bears used 13 plays for 85 yards. Goff hit Maurice Harris in the back of the endzone on a 10-yard pass. That gave the Golden Bears their first lead of the day, 24-20, with 4:43 left in the half.

After intercepting McDonagh in their own endzone, Cal came back to tack on a late D'Amato field goal and led 27-20. But, the Vikings' Nick Fernandez booted a career-long 46-yarder just before halftime, making it 27-23.

The teams combined for nearly 800 first-half yards. The big stat was two Viking turnovers that led to 10 Golden Bears points.

McDonagh had 258 yards passing in the half while Goff had thrown for 231 yards by intermission.

Portland State finally took advantage of a Cal turnover early in the third period. PSU cornerback Dennis Fite forced a Brendan Bigelow fumble, and the Viks' Sadat Sulleyman recovered it. Then, McDonagh led a seven-play drive on a short field and scored on a one-yard run.

The Bears took the lead back on a 75-yard touchdown pass from Goff to Richard Rodgers. The extra-point put Cal ahead 34-30. D'Amato hit another field goal, this time from 24 yards, and the Bears again led by a touchdown, 37-30, with 3:34 left in the third quarter.

After nearly three quarters of explosive offense, neither team would score again. Cal's defense buckled down in the second half, holding the Vikings to 119 yards.

"(California) made some adjustments but the plays were still out there. We made some plays in the first half, but missed some in the second, offensively. I am proud of the 553 yards though. Holy smokes," said Viking Coach Nigel Burton.

Treggs and Rodgers were Goff's key receiver. Treggs caught eight balls for 121 yards. Rodgers had four receptions for 100 yards and a score. Goff hit 10 different receivers on the day.

"He is going to be a star. That is obvious," said Burton of the California quarterback. "They are going to give him a lot of opportunities to throw the football. He is a big guy and mobile enough to buy some time with his feet which kicked us in the butt a few times on third down. I think he will be a star one day," said Burton.

McDonagh was slowed in the second half, but still threw for a career-high 308 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Closs had five catches for 160 yards. On the ground, McDonagh rushed for 60 yards and a score. Adams had a career-high 21 carries for 139 yards and two endzone trips.

Jaycob Shoemaker, starting at middle linebacker, led the Vikings with 11 tackles. Safety Dean Faddis made a career-best 10 stops. The Vikings had five sacks in the game. Corey Crowder and Junior Alexis had two each.

GAME NOTES: DJ Adams was over 100 yards rushing for the second time in as many games. He has six career 100-yard games… PSU is 2-30 all-time against FBS level programs, 0-12 against members of the Pac-12… the Vikings are 0-2 against Cal…. Portland State returns to JELD-WEN Field next Saturday, hosting a non-conference game with Humboldt State. Kickoff is 1:05 p.m.