#20 California Golden Bears upended by Oregon State Beavers

November 8, 3:58 AMCal Bears ExaminerRob Calonge

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Cal Bears Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

(AP Photo/Ben Margot)

---

Recent Articles

• Jahvid Best injured on TD run
• Cal basketball ranked by Examiner.com
• Cal's next focus on Rodgers brothers
• Cal women pick up from last year

A magical touchdown run turned into a horrific nightmare in one of the scariest incidents in Cal football history.

Down 14-0, the Golden Bears had driven from their own 19 down to the Oregon State seven yard line, and taken 14 plays to do it. The series of plays had taken the steam out of the Beavers' quick start, and justifiably had swung the momentum back into Cal's favor. It was the type of drive that all coaches hope to have a few of in every game.

That's when the perfect ending to a great back-breaking drive turned into another obstacle for the Golden Bears to overcome. Heisman candidate and team leader, Jahvid Best, took a direct snap, ran around the left tackle to the end zone. Before he could reach paydirt, he would have to get past the final OSU defender to do so, but rather than going left or right, Best took the unthinkable path--he went over. Best hurdled one OSU defender at the one yard line and continued to soar upward where another defender hit him farther in the air, reaching nearly 10 feet. The hurdle turned into a somersault, causing the star tailback to land on his shoulder after hitting his head, leaving Best on his back motionless.

Before the team and the fans at Berkeley could cheer the touchdown too long, a pall of silence spread throughout the stadium as everyone noticed that Best was seriously injured. Emergency medical technicians were rushed to his aid and the game was stopped for what seemed like an eternity.

Oregon State defenders, just beaten on the play, circled in the end zone for a group prayer while their teammates on the sidelines all took a knee. Cal players stood in a line extending from their sideline to midfield, some covering their head, others looking on in the hope of seeing their fallen comrade move an extremity.

Many in the stadium never saw it, but some did see him move his legs and his arm before being taken off the field, tied down to a stretcher, and breathing through an oxygen mask. Fortunately, Best suffered a severe concussion and tests came back negative.

"Thankfully, the tests came back negative. When he came off the field, he had full movement. It looks like it was just a pretty serious concussion," said head coach Jeff Tedford, who made sure to relay that information to his team before the game continued.

Several players said after the game that from that point on, they were playing the game for Best. "The team was in a mindset once they knew he was OK, they regrouped and play again," said Tedford. Unfortunately, they weren't able to use that motivation to overcome a stingy Beavers defense and a clicking Oregon State offense as the Bears fell 31-14.

Coming into the game, the focus was on making sure that Jacquizz Rodgers didn't run all over the Bears' defense. The focus payed off as Cal held Oregon State to only 94 yards on 39 attempts for a meager 2.41 yards per carry. The problem was stopping the passing game.

Beavers' quarterback Sean Canfield threw for 342 yards and two touchdowns by completing 29 of 39 attempts with one interception. The interception, thrown at the goal line to Sean Cattouse, was under-thrown and would have surely been a touchdown had he put two more yards on the pass.

The Rodgers brothers were able to combine for 15 receptions (Jacquizz 9, James 6) for 110 yards and a touchdown (Jacquizz 30 yds, James 80 yds-TD). They had help from tight end Joe Halahuni (6 recpts, 128 yds), and Damola Adeniji (5 recpts, 87 yds).

No. 20 Cal's offense struggled all night. On the ground, Cal ran for 37 yards on 24 carries for 1.54 yards per carry. Through the air, Cal quarterback Kevin Riley was hassled all night and sacked twice. Riley finished the game with 200 yards and a touchdown on 19 completions on 34 attempts and one interception.

With the victory, Oregon State (6-3, 4-2 Pac-10) remains in the hunt for a Pac-10 title. With some help and victories over both Washington schools and in-state rival Oregon, a 7-2 conference record could be good enough for a Rose Bowl berth. Without the help they need, by winning out the rest of the way, they can finish no less than tied for second.

Cal (6-3, 3-3 Pac-10), who lost their third conference game, now sits alone in sixth place and would need much more help and great play of their own to earn a bid better than the Emerald or Las Vegas Bowl. Next week, Cal will face No. 18 Arizona (6-2, 4-1 Pac-10) for their final home game of the season before traveling to Stanford (6-3, 5-2 Pac-10) for The Big Game and then finishing in Seattle for a contest with Washington (3-6, 2-4 Pac-10).

Postgame Quotes about the Jahvid Best injury

Shane Vereen - It's nothing short of devastating. It crushed me to see him--I mean, I saw him get up and I was excited for the touchdown, but then I knew when he was coming down, it wasn't going to be good. You know, I'm just thankful that he's okay. Thankful that I'm going to be able to see him again and everything like that, but it took a lot out of me.

Verran Tucker - When we were taking a knee, we seen him move his hands a little bit, but I didn't expect him not to get up. We've all seen Jahvid make plays like that, throwing his body up there, giving it all he's got for six points, and when he wasn't moving it hurt. But he's okay. He's going to be alright.

Sean Cattouse - I think it was just a huge motivation for us. We just, all around, we were just saying, 'One of our brothers is down.' Coach Simmons actually always says something...not to be rude or harsh or anything, but 'We love Jahvid, but when one man goes down, it's the next man up.' You know, we gotta' keep moving. So that was the mood. It was a hard moment for us to see Jahvid down like that--anybody, but we had to keep going and we tried to rebound and just keep pushing.

Brian Holley - I saw him dive into the end zone. He got up pretty high in the air. I've never seen anybody that high in the air on the football field. It's kinda' slow motion of when I saw him fall. The way he fell, I knew immediately he had to be hurt and I went over to him and saw his face, and nobody was there. You know, he had a blank stare, his arms were stiff, he wasn't moving, so yeah, I called the trainer and I didn't see him move or talk at all when I was in front of it.

Syd'Quan Thompson - I felt like the team just really went out and played for Jahvid. If Jahvid could talk to the team, he would tell us to go out there and play hard and he'd be alright. We really didn't know what the situation was and Coach Tedford came over and told us he would be alright and I think that was a relief for the team that we at least knew that he would be alright. Everybody just got fired up and just wanted to go out there and play for him.

Mike Mohamed - It's a harsh reminder that on any given play, this game can be taken away from you. But I think he's going to be okay. It's definitely a reality check and you hate to see that happen to one of your brothers out there.

Kevin Riley - I was right there and I saw it. I looked at Jahvid's face and it was like a blank stare it looked like he was shaking a little bit. In high school, I saw someone on my football team get paralyzed so that's kinda' what I thought at first, but then I seen him move and everything was cool. When anybody goes down like that it's not a good situation and you know, when it's Jahvid, the best player on our team and great person, it was tough. It wasn't something you like to see, that's for sure.

Jeff Tedford - It's very sobering when that happens, but the team was in the mindset, once they knew that he was okay and he was moving around, to regroup and play again. So that was the mindset.

NOTES:

• As part of a prostate cancer awareness campaign, Pac-10 officials were wearing blue forearm sleeve covers on one arm. The campaign is in partnership with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the message is: If you’re a man over age 40, ask your doctor about annual screening for prostate cancer. This advice is in keeping with guidelines issued by the American Cancer Society.
• The game was not only televised on FSN and CSN Bay Area, the Armed Forces Network also picked up the game. The game was televised to 175 countries where U.S. armed forces are stationed.
• Tony Larussa was at the game receiving a check for the Tony Larussa Animal Rescue Foundation.
• On Cal's first scoring drive that ended with the injury to Jahvid Best, the touchdown was the culmination of the longest drive, in terms of plays, of the season for the Golden Bears. The drive lasted 15 plays and 81 yards.
• Cal has now lost nine of the last 11 games played against Oregon State. They've now lost three straight, two coming in Berkeley. They now have a five-game winning streak in Berkeley. Cal still holds the all-time series lead with a slight 33-29 advantage.
• Verran Tucker's six receptions were a career high. The receptions led to 74 receiving yards and a touchdown.
• Tyson Alualu had nine tackles on the game--a career high. Sean Cattouse also had a career high in tackles with eight.
• Cattouse's interception was his first of the season and fourth of his career at Cal.
• Only Oregon State (2-6) and USC (1-7) are Pac-10 teams with winning records against Jeff Tedford's teams at Cal.
• Best's concussion is his second in eight days. Coach Tedford said that before the star tailback returns, they will take that into consideration. Best will undergo extensive testing prior to his return.
• There were no details on whether Best would spend the night in the hospital. Tedford said that he had planned on visiting, but that he didn't think anyone else would be allowed to do the same. Shane Vereen said that he planned on calling Best's parents to see if he could visit.

Boxscore

FINAL 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T 33 Oregon State  7 14 3 7 31 23 California 0 7 0 7 14 Memorial Stadium - Berkeley

Team Statistics   Oregon State California First Downs 23 15 Rushing 7 3 Passing 16 11 Penalty 0 1 3rd-Down efficiency 11-18-61% 4-13-31% 4th-Down efficiency 1-1-100% 0-0--% Total net yards 435 241 Total plays 78 58 Average gain 5.6 4.2 Net yards rushing 93 40 Rushes 39 24 Average per rush 2.4 1.7 Net yards passing 342 201 Completed-attempted 30-39 19-34 Yards per pass 8.8 5.9 Sacked-yards lost 0-0 0-0 Had intercepted 1 1 Return Yardage 64 105 Punts-returns 2-12 0-0 Kickoffs-returns 2-34 6-105 Interceptions-returns 1-18 1-0 Penalties-yards 6-35 5-33 Fumbles-lost 2-0 1-0

1st Quarter TD 3:48 Sean Canfield 1 yard TD run (Justin Kahut Extra Point) 2nd Quarter TD 13:46 James Rodgers 15 yard TD pass from Sean Canfield (Justin Kahut Extra Point) TD 6:07 Jahvid Best 7 yard TD run (Giorgio Tavecchio Extra Point) TD 1:56 Jordan Bishop 3 yard TD pass from Sean Canfield (Justin Kahut Extra Point) 3rd Quarter FG 10:29 Justin Kahut 24 yard field goal 4th Quarter TD 2:08 Jacquizz Rodgers 24 yard TD run (Justin Kahut Extra Point) TD 1:01 Verran Tucker 2 yard TD pass from Kevin Riley (Giorgio Tavecchio Extra