BERKELEY – From the very outset of what would assuredly be a late night in Memorial Stadium, the Cal football team knew its best chance to beat No. 11/16-ranked Texas lied in its ability to take a punch and keep firing back.

After spending the entire night proving how stout their collective chin is, the Bears got their chance and landed the knockout blow they needed to take down one of the nation's hottest teams. 

A 12-yard touchdown pass from Davis Webb to Chad Hansen provided the game-winning points in a game filled with offensive highlights as Cal pulled ahead late to beat the Longhorns 50-43. 

The win is Cal's first over a team ranked No. 11 or higher since the Bears beat No. 11 Oregon in 2007. The last time Cal beat a ranked team was a victory over No. 25 UCLA in 2012. And, it is Cal's second-straight win over Texas in a home and home series that began last year. 

Webb's prolific introduction to Cal football fans continued in his first home game as the fifth-year senior completed 27 of 40 passes for 397 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. Hansen maintained his standing as one of the nation's premier pass catchers, grabbing 12 receptions for a career-high 196 yards and two scores. Vic Enwere also scored twice on the ground and rushed for 110 yards.

All the impressive individual statistics compiled by both teams added up to even more staggering team numbers. Cal amassed 507 yards of total offense while Texas finished with 568. The teams combined for 170 offensive plays.

Cal (2-1) marched down the field to take the final lead of the night with 3:41 left to play. A 7-play, 65-yard drive ended with Webb finding Hansen between two defenders and the junior strolled right into the end zone, giving the Bears a 50-43 lead.

Needing a stop to keep the Longhorns on the ropes, Cal's defense responded in a big way. The Bears forced a three-and-out on Texas' next possession, and a sack by Marloshawn Franklin Jr. forced a punt with just under two minutes to play. Enwere nearly sealed the deal when he broke free for what appeared to be a 55-yard touchdown, but he dropped the ball just short of the goal line. The Bears retained possession at the Texas 1, and Webb kneeled out the clock to finish the win

"They did a great job executing their game plan but all week we wanted to be the tougher team and give more effort. I think we did that tonight," Webb said. "They did a great job scheming us up. They really stopped us in the third quarter and all the credit in the world goes to them but we did a great job executing our game plan. The offensive line played their butts off. We ran the ball better than we have all year tonight against a top-15 team. It's a good thing to pick up on and we'll keep it moving forward."

Texas (2-1) pulled ahead with its first offensive play of the fourth quarter. A 47-yard touchdown run by D'Onta Foreman gave the Longhorns the lead after Cal held the advantage throughout the entire third quarter, putting Texas ahead 40-35.

It didn't take the Bears long to re-assert themselves. A 76-yard drive culminated in a 1-yard plunge by Webb, and a reverse by Hansen provided the 2-point conversion to put Cal ahead 43-40. A 35-yard field goal by Trent Domingue with 5:29 left tied the game again and set the stage for a thrilling final few minutes.

The fourth-quarter theatrics were preceded by a third quarter notable more for its lack of points scored than anything else. The teams came out of the locker room with Cal leading by two and that's where the score stayed for the next 12 minutes as neither team found the end zone in the quarter. It marked the first time in 2016 the Bears didn't score in a quarter and snapped a streak of 42 straight quarters with a score.

A wild first half ended with plenty of offense, but a key defensive play proved pivotal in Cal taking a 35-33 lead into the locker room. Luke Rubenzer gave the Bears the ball with an interception that brought the crowd to full roar, grabbing Shane Buechele's pass and bolting 45 yards to the Texas 24. Two plays later, Webb found Hansen for a 23-yard touchdown that gave the Bears their first lead since the early moments of the first quarter.

Up until that point, both the Bears and Longhorns looked intent on leaving the game's outcome to who had the ball last. Texas built a 10-point lead on three separate occasions but each time Cal came back to narrow the gap. The Longhorns survived a stretch in which Buechele left the game to be evaluated for an injury and Cal kept close thanks to a tremendous passing half of its own. Webb connected with Jordan Veasy for a 29-yard touchdown, Melquise Stovall for another 29-yard score and Hansen's 23-yard trip to paydirt completed the half.

"We'll play these kinds of teams week in and week out. We did what we needed to do to win, and I think that gives you confidence," Cal head coach Sonny Dykes said. "To get those stops defensively like we did in the second half, to make some plays down the stretch, to be able to run the ball at the end of the game and run the clock out, to get that critical stop – all those things we'll draw a tremendous amount of confidence from, and hopefully we'll build off that."

Cal heads back on the road next week for a 7 p.m. game at Arizona State that will be televised by ESPN2. The Bears return to Berkeley on Oct. 1 to take on Utah in the first of two October home games.