BERKELEY — Cal made it look easy in the first quarter of its season opener on Saturday night.

The rest of the night was a different story, as the Bears lost 22-17 to Nevada in front of 35,117 at Memorial Stadium, their first home game with fans in 658 days.

The Bears led 14-0 after a first quarter in which they ran 24 plays to 3 for Nevada and outgained the Wolf Pack 135 yards to 6.

But Cal managed just a field goal the rest of the night, and twice in the fourth quarter squandered chances that could have helped change the outcome.

The Bears had a first down at the Nevada 11-yard line early in the fourth quarter but settled for a 24-yard Dario Longhetto field goal.

An interception by Cal safety Miles Williams at the Nevada 1-yard line set up a march that gave the Bears a first down at the Wolf Pack 13. But Chase Garbers was sacked on third down and Longhetto missed a 40-yard field goal with 7:11 to play.

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On Cal’s next possession, Garbers threw deep to sophomore Jeremiah Hunter but was picked off by Isaiah Essissima at midfield.

Garbers finished 25 for 38 for 177 yards while Damien Moore rushed 15 times for 79 yards.

Carson Strong, the Vacaville native who is regarded as a potential NFL first-round draft pick, was 22 for 39 for 312 yards with two TDs as Nevada beat Cal for the third straight time since 2019.

It all looked so promising early for Cal, hoping to put last year’s 1-3 record in the rear-view mirror. Moore scored on a 1-yard run to cap a 15-play, 63-yard drive that opened the game. Then, after forcing a three-out-out by Nevada, the Bears went 72 yards on nine plays, with Garbers firing a quick 2-yard touchdown pass to Nikko Remigio with 3 seconds left in the quarter.

But as dominant as Cal was over the first 15 minutes, Nevada returned the favor in the second quarter while creeping within 14-13 by halftime. The Wolf Pack outgained the Bears 142-23, packaging field goals of 43 and 35 yards by Brandon Talton around an impressive 43-yard touchdown strike from Strong to Romeo Doubs.

Nevada took the lead for the first time when Strong threw a 16-yard TD pass to Elijah Cooks on the first series of the third quarter. The two-point try failed but the Wolf Pack was up 19-14.

Talton’s 50-yard field goal with 6:26 left in the quarter made it 22-14. To that point, Nevada had scored 22 unanswered points.