BERKELEY – National Tight End Day came a day early in Berkeley.

The "holiday" that was originally concocted by the San Francisco 49ers a few years ago took place last Sunday, but Cal's football team got the party started prematurely when tight ends Keleki Latu and Gavin Reinwald caught touchdown passes in the Bears' 26-3 win over Colorado on Saturday.

"We really are utilizing the tight end position the most productively since I've been here," said Reinwald, a fifth-year senior who has caught touchdown passes in back-to-back games. "Defenses can't really account for the different personnel that we bring in, and each one is bringing something unique to the table. We're just a bunch of guys who do whatever it takes to get on the field and be successful."

Saturday continued a recent trend of tight end productivity for the Bears, whose last four touchdowns have come from the position. Cal tight ends have caught 13 passes over the past two games.

"I think it's the personnel that we have in versus the scheme that we are going against – the past two weeks we knew that we were going to be pretty tight end-heavy in certain situations," Cal quarterback Chase Garbers said. "We knew that in certain matchups when the time came, we had to throw it the tight ends' way. They've done a great job so far this season."

Garbers threw touchdown passes to Reinwald and Jake Tonges during the Bears' 24-17 loss at No. 9 Oregon on Oct. 15 then followed up with scoring tosses to Reinwald and Latu during the win over Colorado. It was the first career catch for Latu.

The Bears have a deep corps of tight ends this season, with six different players at the position catching passes.

"We're thankful to have them," Cal offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave said. "It's a blast to game plan with the tight ends that we have. Each of them has his dominant traits, and it's really exciting to play to those traits. We can devise things for each individual tight end because each of them brings a lot to the table in his own way."

Tonges leads the tight end group with 15 catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns. Cal has five touchdowns from its tight end corps overall this season.

The Bears' depth at the position has also allowed Musgrave to diversity formations and play calling, with oftentimes Cal showing three tight ends on the field at the same time.

"It really opens up the offense," Garbers said. "When you bring tight ends into the game, certain teams think you are going to run the ball. But we can throw the ball with three tight ends on the field. That ultimately will create mismatches for us in other areas, and puts our play calling in our favor."

Cal's tight end corps calls itself "The Dawgs," a nod to their predecessors that played under previous head coach Sonny Dykes, whose offensive schemes didn't utilize the tight end. Tonges, Reinwald and Collin Moore played with some of those former Bears when they arrived on campus in 2017.

"When I first got here, the underclassmen originally came here with Sonny Dykes so there wasn't really much of a role for them," Tonges said. "They tried to find ways to make the best of it and all the while just kind of grit it out in practice and on the scout team. They started this tradition of working hard regardless of the production on the field. We've kind of taken that mentality and kept the tradition going. The older guys who were here in 2017 and 2018 kind of instilled that, and we're trying to carry it on."

They are doing just that, and now with the on-field production included.