Cal would have obviously preferred a victory Saturday at No. 12 Ohio State, but if nothing else the Bears proved they can play with a top team on the road during their 35-28 loss in Columbus, Ohio.

In many ways, Cal outplayed Ohio State. But the Buckeyes were able to break a 28-28 tie with just over three minutes left to pull out the victory.

It was an electrifying game for sophomore tailback Brendan Bigelow, who had touchdown runs of 81 and 59 yards. His incredible 81-yarder was one of the top plays on ESPN's SportsCenter on Saturday night.

Also around the athletic department last week:

• The women's soccer team keeps on rolling. The Bears beat Penn at home, 1-0, to improve to 6-2. After splitting their first four matches, Cal has now won four in a row. Betsy Hassett, who played on New Zealand's Olympic team last month in London, scored the goal for the Bears. Hassett has four goals and 12 points to lead Cal this season.
  
• The men's soccer squad registered a win and a tie during the week. The Bears hammered Houston Baptist 5-0, with five different players scoring goals. Then Cal played USF to a 0-0 tie in double overtime. The Bears are now 3-2-1.
• The women's volleyball team split a pair of matches against Bay Area rivals. The Bears beat Saint Mary's on four sets on Friday night, with Adrienne Gehan getting 18 kills and Mary McKennon registering a career-high 24 digs. Cal then lost at USF in three sets, the second time the Bears have lost to the Dons this season.
• The rugby team opened the fall 7s season with a dominant run to the championship of the Buckeye Sevens Invitational. Cal went 4-0 during the tournament, outscoring Notre Dame, Navy (twice) and Ohio State by a combined score of 113-15.
• The men's water polo team went 2-2 at the prestigious NorCal Invitational at Stanford. The Bears beat Air Force 19-2 and No. 6 UC Irvine 14-7 on Saturday. Then Cal lost a pair of heartbreakers to highly ranked teams on Sunday - 11-10 in overtime to No. 2 UCLA and 9-8 to No. 4 Stanford.
• The field hockey team went on the road for the first time this season and split a pair of games in the midwest. The Bears lost to Indiana 2-1 in overtime then came back to defeat Missouri State 5-2. Jordan O'Reilly scored two goals in the win.