BERKELEY, Calif. -- California's defense, which is one of the worst in the nation statistically, came up with a big goal-line stand in the closing seconds to beat No. 18 Utah 28-23 Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

The Bears (3-2, 1-1) stopped the Utes (4-1, 1-1) six times inside the 10-yard line (seven if you include Cal's pass interference penalty on a Utah incompletion), and had a stop from the 1-yard line on the final play of the game, to preserve the win.

"These guys have taken a lot of criticism," Cal coach Sonny Dykes said of his defense, "and the good thing is they didn't listen to it. Six plays inside the 10. Just shows the character of those kids."

Cal is now 2-0 at home, with both wins coming over ranked teams, the other home win coming against Texas.

Utah trailed 28-23 when it had a first-and-goal at the Cal 9-yard line as the clock ticked to the two-minute mark. To that point, the Utes had amassed 443 yards of offense, and ended up with 42:01 in time of possession compared with 17:59 for Cal. The Bears entered the weekend ranked 118th of 128 FBS teams in total offense and were yielding 5.66 yards per rushing attempt, third-worst in the country.

After Zack Moss rushed for 2 yards on first down and Armand Shyne was stopped for no gain, Devante Downs and Cameron Saffle combined to sack Utah quarterback Troy Williams for a 4-yard loss back to the 11-yard line to bring up fourth down before Utah called timeout with 20 seconds left.

Williams threw an incompletion on fourth down, but an interference call on Cal cornerback Marloshawn Franklin Jr. in the end zone gave Utah a first down at the 2-yard line with 14 seconds left.

"I didn't think it was pass interference," said Dykes, "but they didn't ask me."

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said he didn't want a timeout at that point, but one was issued anyway.

Moss was stopped for 1 yard on first down from the 2 with seven seconds left, and when Williams threw an incompletion to Evan Moeal the clock was down to three seconds.

On the final play of the game from the 1-yard line, Utah put the ball in the hands of Moss instead of Shyne, who is from nearby Oakland and was the team's leading rusher Saturday with 99 yards in 25 carries and scored two touchdowns.

"(Assistant head coach) Dennis (Erickson) felt that Zack was the freshest and the most ready to go, and that's who we went with," Whittingham said. "Zack is a good runner too, and he's a physical runner."

Moss was stopped a yard short of the goal line by James Looney as the game ended and Cal celebrated.

"At the end of the day defense is going to win for you," Looney said. "Our defense played phenomenal. On that last play, I had a chance to make a play and I made it."

Cal quarterback Davis Webb was 22 of 35 for 306 yards, four touchdowns and one interception, while Williams was 24 of 43 for 206 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions.

Webb threw touchdown passes of 39 and 56 yards to Demetris Robertson and 40 and 24 yards to Chad Hansen.

Utah cornerback Brian Allen had an interception for the only turnover of the game, but he had to watch from the sidelines as the Utes' offense failed to score.

"We fell one play short," he said. "Give all the credit to Cal. Those guys sure are fighters, and I give them all the respect over there."

The Utes took their first lead of the game with 4:05 left in the third quarter when Shyne scored on a 1-yard run. That completed a 13-play, 59-yard drive that took 6:23 and put the Utes ahead 17-14.

Cal regained the lead, 21-17, on Webb's 24-yard touchdown pass to Hansen, which ended a 74-yard drive.

Loney and Tony Mekari combined to stop Utah's Zack Moss for a 1-yard loss on a fourth-and-1 play from the Cal 10-yard line to keep the Bears ahead.

The Bears turned that into points when Webb hit Robertson with a 56-yard scoring pass to give the Bears a 28-17 advantage.

The Utes trimmed the deficit to 28-23 on Moss' 1-yard run with 6:41 to go, but Williams' pass on a two-point conversion attempt was incomplete.

Utah got the ball back with 4:20 left after a Cal penalty and Utah's first sack of the day ended the Bears' ensuing possession with a three-and-out. Utah took over at the Cal 49 thanks to a personal foul penalty on Cal on the punt.

Utes seemed to be driving for the winning score until the final goal-line stand.

The Bears controlled the first 11 minutes of the game and Utah enjoyed the better of play for the remainder of the first half, which ended with Cal holding a 14-10 lead.

Cal scored just 1:20 into the contest on a 40-yard touchdown pass from Webb to Hansen, which completed a five-play, 75-yard drive. The Bears increased their lead to 14-0 on Webb's 39-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Robertson with 4:08 left in the first quarter.

Utah closed the gap to 14-3 on Andy Phillips' 40-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter.

The Utes made it a 14-10 game with a methodical 21-play, 95-yard scoring march that ate up 9:08 on the clock. Shyne carried the final 4 yards for the touchdown with 2 minutes left in the half.

The Utes were assisted by a Cal penalty during the drive. Williams threw an incompletion on a third-and-8 from the Cal 11-yard line, but after the play, Bears defensive end Cameron Saffle was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that gave Utah a first down at the 5.

An interception by cornerback Allen put Utah in position for another score, but Phillips missed a 48-yard field goal with 34 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

NOTES: Utah DT Lowell Lotulelei, a preseason all-conference pick by multiple media outlets, suffered a shoulder injury last week against USC and did not play Saturday. ... Cal played without two defensive starters who ruled out just before kickoff: S Evan Rambo (knee) and CB Darius Allensworth (quadriceps). Cal RB Khalfani Muhammad also sat out with a quadriceps injury. ... Saturday's game marked the first time Utah played at Cal's Memorial Stadium since the Utes joined the conference in 2011. Utah had a road game against Cal in 2011, but the Bears were using AT&T Park in San Francisco as their home venue that season. ... Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham came into Saturday's game with 99 head coaching wins. ... Cal WR Chad Hansen entered the game leading the nation in receptions per game (12.5) and was second in receiving yardage per game (164.0). Cal QB Davis Webb began the weekend leading the nation in passing years per game (459.3).