Cal Bears pull off a thriller in defeat of Arizona State

October 31, 9:32 PMCal Bears ExaminerRob Calonge

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California place kicker Giorgio Tavecchio
celebrates his game-winning field goal with 21
seconds left in the fourth quarter to defeat
Arizona State in an NCAA college football
game Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009, in Tempe, Ariz.
California won 23-21. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

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Giorgio Tavecchio had no idea he'd be getting a shot to redeem himself after missing a 34-yard field goal early in the second quarter. He may have even worried that the miss might come back to haunt him later in the game.

In the fourth quarter, his field goal miss with 5:46 remaining and Cal (6-2, 3-2 Pac-10) down by one, definitely brought those thoughts to his mind.

Thanks to a late 11 play, 74 yard drive, Tavecchio's number was called with only 24-seconds on the clock with a chance to win a game for the Golden Bears that they almost let slip away. This time, his 24 yard attempt was through the uprights, giving Cal a much needed Pac-10 victory over the Arizona State Sun Devils (4-4, 2-3 Pac-10) 23-21.

The Golden Bears jumped out to a quick lead in the first quarter, first on an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jahvid Best, and secondly a 12-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Jones to go up 14-0. At the time, it looked as though Cal was on their way to another rout, but the Sun Devils had other ideas.

Arizona State's first sustained drive of the game came early in the second quarter. They started from their own 38 and drove down field to the Cal six yard line. Before they were able to score, Josh Hill, filling in for the suspended Darian Hagan, stripped running back Ryan Bass near the goal line. The fumble was recovered by Brett Johnson at the Cal two.

Before the Bears could make the Sun Devils pay, Guy Lawrence broke past Justin Cheadle sacking Riley and forcing a fumble. Sun Devils' linebacker Vontaze Burfict recovered at the Cal three. The Sun Devils would punch it in on the next play with a  pass from backup quarterback Samson Szakacsy to tight end Jovon Williams to bring the score to 14-7.

That was the jump start that the Sun Devils needed. On Cal's next possession, Tavecchio missed his field goal attempt and the Sun Devils needed only one play to tie the game. From their 20 yard line, first string quarterback Danny Sullivan threw a deep bomb to an uncovered Kyle Williams, who finished off the 80-yard play for the tying touchdown score. Marcus Ezeff, who had been relegated to the second team for this game looked to be the player beat on the play.

Late in the first half, Cal was able to give Tavecchio another opportunity for three. With 1:53 remaining in the half, after an interception by Syd'Quan Thompson, Riley led the Bears from ASU's 38 to their eight yard line. With a minute to go, Tavecchio drilled a 25-yarder to put Cal up 17-14 before the half.

In the third quarter, a quarter in which the Sun Devils have owned their opponents 64-17 on the year, the Golden Bears were able to add another Tavecchio field goal while preventing ASU from scoring.

On Arizona State's first drive of the fourth quarter, they made up for their third-quarter drought by driving 61 yards on seven plays and capping the drive with a Cameron Marshall six-yard run for the go-ahead touchdown. On the drive, Sullivan was 3-4 for 41 yards passing.

Not to be outdone, Kevin Riley led Cal on a nine play, 47-yard drive of his own. Riley, who had fumbled three times in the first half and lost two, was 4-6 for 54 yards on the drive. For the day, Riley threw for 351 yards on 27-44 passing with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Unfortunately, the drive ended with Tavecchio missing from 39 yards out.

With only 3:16 remaining in the game, Riley would get one more opportunity from his own 19. In return for that opportunity, he led the Bears by throwing for 85 yards on 5-6 passing while sustaining the drive after a face mask penalty called on Marvin Jones during the drive. The penalty put the Bears on their own 40 with a first and 25 play, but Riley hit Jones for a 26-yard pass on the very next play. This time, the drive ended with Tavecchio's game winning field goal.

FINAL 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T #24 California  14 3 3 3 23 Arizona State 0 14 0 7 21 Sun Devil Stadium - Tempe

Team Statistics   California Arizona State First Downs 22 14 Rushing 2 4 Passing 18 9 Penalty 2 1 3rd-Down efficiency 5-15-33% 4-12-33% 4th-Down efficiency 0-0--% 0-1-0% Total net yards 426 317 Total plays 76 58 Average gain 5.6 5.5 Net yards rushing 73 70 Rushes 29 27 Average per rush 2.5 2.6 Net yards passing 353 247 Completed-attempted 27-45 17-29 Yards per pass 7.5 8.0 Sacked-yards lost 2-10 2-18 Had intercepted 0 2 Return Yardage 176 130 Punts-returns 3-70 2-20 Kickoffs-returns 4-68 5-110 Interceptions-returns 2-38 0-0 Penalties-yards 12-123 10-108 Fumbles-lost 4-2 1-1

1st Quarter   TD 10:18 Jahvid Best 11 yard TD pass from Kevin Riley (Giorgio Tavecchio Extra Point)   TD 4:11 Marvin Jones 12 yard TD pass from Kevin Riley (Giorgio Tavecchio Extra Point) 2nd Quarter   TD 10:21 Jovon Williams 3 yard TD pass from Samson Szakacsy (Thomas Weber Extra Point)   TD 7:12 Kyle Williams 80 yard TD pass from Danny Sullivan (Thomas Weber Extra Point)   FG 1:00 Giorgio Tavecchio 25 yard field goal 3rd Quarter   FG 7:11 Giorgio Tavecchio 51 yard field goal 4th Quarter   TD 10:21 Cameron Marshall 6 yard TD run (Thomas Weber Extra Point)   FG 0:21 Giorgio Tavecchio 24 yard field goal