The Bears were led by second-year head coach Sonny Dykes and played their home games at Memorial Stadium.

The Bears lost on a Hail Mary to Arizona 49–45, but beat Colorado 59–56 in double overtime in their next game.

[4] The following week, Dykes faced his former Air Raid mentor Mike Leach and the Washington State Cougars.

California allowed an FBS record 734 passing yards to Cougars' senior quarterback Connor Halliday, but still won 60–59 when WSU missed a 19-yard field goal with 15 seconds to play.

1st quarter scoring: UCLA – Paul Perkins 16-yard pass from Brett Hundley (Ka’imi Fairbairn kick) 2nd quarter scoring: Cal – Daniel Lasco 3-yard run (James Langford kick); UCLA – Fairbairn 38-yard field goal; Cal – Chris Harper 7-yard pass from Luke Rubenzer (Langford kick); UCLA – Jordan James 11-yard run (Fairbairn kick); UCLA – Perkins 49-yard pass from Hundley (Fairbairn kick) 3rd quarter scoring: Cal – Lasco 2-yard run (James Langford kick); UCLA – Fairbairn 24-yard field goal; Cal – Trevor Davis 24-yard pass from Jared Goff (Langford kick); UCLA – Hundley 15-yard run (Hundley pass fail) 4th quarter scoring: Cal – Kenny Lawler 23-yard pass from Goff (Goff run fail); UCLA – Fairbairn 26-yard field goal