In a game of young, touted quarterbacks, Sean Canfield came out on top.
In fact, the winner of the QB battle wasn't decided until the final play. It came down to a matter of who made the least mistakes. And Cal QB, former Beaverton HS standout Kevin Riley made one too many on Saturday night. His one mistake sent the Cal fans into shock, although they should be very pleased with his overall performance. Minus the last 0:14 seconds of the game.
Down by three. Ball on the 12. A touchdown wins it, a field goal ties it an sends it into OT. You're on your home field. Do you gamble with 0:14 seconds left and take a shot at a score? Or do you play conservative and take the field goal with some spare time left on the clock?
Jeff Tedford took a shot at the win, a gamble that could of had Cal sitting as the #1 team in the nation this week.
Nobody was open, but Kevin Riley wanted to be the hero. Or did he? Was he thinking at all? Sure, he's more mobile than Longshore. But 99 times out of 100, you gotta throw this ball away:
So much emphasis has been put on the final minute of this game, that the other 59 have faded from most people's memories; especially the Cal fans.
Sean Canfield was practically flawless. Yvenson rushed for 110, and earned another 53 in the air. We were a perfect 2-2 on fourth downs. No interceptions, and only one fumble. We talked about the turnover battle all week, and Oregon State won it. Cal coughed it up three times, the Beavers once.
It's a great week for a bye. The Beavers have Stanford, USC, Washington, Washington State, and Oregon left on the slate. It's up to the Beavs to decide what kind of team they're going to be for the rest of the season. As user "olezke" said in a comment thread below, "The proof will be in the pudding."
I couldn't agree more.
What kind of team do you want to be?
GO BEAVERS.
--JB--