That door closed pretty fast.

 

However, for just a moment, Cal QB Kevin Riley must have seen himself running through that sliver of daylight for a game-winning TD, bringing a thrilling last-second victory and, more importantly, the nation's top ranking to his team.  With a treasure like that waiting just 12 yards away, it's pretty easy to see how a redshirt freshman making his first collegiate start might have forgotten exactly how much time was left on the clock (0:14), how few timeouts (none) his team had to stop it, and that a chip-shot field goal would have given the Bears a shot at overtime.

 

So, last Saturday in a big conference home game against Oregon State, Riley ran toward that opening and the promise of making history in front of 70,000 roaring fans when OSU LB Joey LaRocque promptly slammed the door shut at the 9-yard line, bringing Riley and Cal's tantalizingly close #1 ranking crashing down to the turf.  With no timeouts left, the Bears' chances for a game-tying field goal attempt methodically withered away.  It was like trying to grab sand flowing through an hour glass - it simply went through their fingers on the way to 0:00.

 

And no one in the suddenly silent stadium felt worse about it than Kevin Riley.  While Oregon State players and coaches celebrated their stunning 31-28 win, there seemed a sense of disbelief on the Cal sideline.  It was as if the #2-ranked Bears weren't quite convinced that time had actually run out and that the game had really ended in the way that it had.  

 

  

If it were at all possible to turn back the game clock, Riley would have been the first one to do so.  However, one would only have to trace the clock back a little over two minutes to see that the Bears wouldn't have been in a position to win the game without the gutsy play of their freshman QB in the first place.  In the final two minutes of the game, save that final ill-fated play, Riley was downright heroic.

 

Down 31-21, Cal needed a quick score to give themselves any sort of chance at a comeback, and the Oregon State defense knew that.  They also knew that their pass rush was dangerous and that inexperienced QB's tend to wilt under pressure.  So, with everyone in the stadium expecting a pass, Cal's young QB calmly stepped up in the pocket and made the throw of his life.  It was a perfect strike to WR Lavelle Hawkins deep down the sideline.  Hawkins caught the pass in stride and blazed into the end zone.

 

With Cal desperate for a score, Riley had delivered it to them, a 64-yard bolt that closed the gap to three, 31-28.  And Riley and the rest of his teammates knew precisely what was at stake.  Earlier in the day, top-ranked LSU had been beaten by Kentucky and had dropped from the ranks of the undefeated.  Now, Cal, with its 5-0 record and #2 ranking, was the next in line to take its place atop all of college football.  The school hadn't had that kind of penthouse view in over 50 years.  And now it was just over two minutes and four points away.

 

A failed on-side kick required a defensive stop, and the price for that stop was over a minute of time drained off the clock and the team's remaining time outs.

 

So, after an OSU punt pinned the Bears back at their own 6, Cal had a sizeable distance to go to try to get within field goal range and 1:31 in which to do it.  Riley, who had thrown all of three passes all season long before he got the call for the start, had gotten into a rhythm.  After a shaky first half, he had settled in and found a favorite target.  While the Oregon State defense had taken away Cal's all-everything WR DeSean Jackson, they couldn't similarly account for Lavelle Hawkins.  Hawkins, who would finish the game with 9 catches for an eye-popping 192 yards and two scores, quickly became the guy Riley looked to first to make a play.  

 

  

All the while, Cal's regular starting QB, Nate Longshore, had to watch helplessly from the sideline.  His injured ankle was barking loudly enough that the game-time decision about his status ultimately went thumbs-down.  And few things are more frustrating to an athlete than not being able to help his team when the chips are down.  Longshore, who had been having a terrific season before the injury (64% completion rate, 1,137 passing yards, 7 TD's with only 2 interceptions), could only watch as his team started one of the biggest drives in school history.

 

On the very first play of the drive, Riley dropped back into his own end zone, and an OSU defender broke free on the pass rush and steamed towards the pocket.  A safety would have ended the game, and, for a moment, it looked like a sure thing.  Somehow, Riley was able to absorb the hit and broke free.  Though his subsequent pass went incomplete, he'd given Cal another chance.  On the next play, Riley hit Hawkins for 18 yards and moved the team out of the shadow of its own end zone.

 

Two incompletions and a sack later, the Bears were in a dire 4th-and-17 - the game, their shot at a #1 ranking, their very season on line.  Again, the freshman QB and his favorite WR made a play.  Riley hit Hawkins short of the first down marker, but Hawkins turned upfield quickly and made a brilliant move to angle past the mark.  The play went for 19 yards, a fresh set of downs, and untold momentum.

 

Everything seemed to be happening at double-speed now.  The crowd noise was deafening, players were dashing on and off the field, and the clock kept flashing down.  How it was that a woefully inexperienced QB wasn't completely overwhelmed by the blur that the game had become might have been the most remarkable thing to happen on a day full of remarkable things.  

 

  

Whatever it was that kept the ice water pumping through Kevin Riley's veins seemed to allow him to keep making plays.  And one of the biggest was a beautifully thrown 37-yard pass to WR Robert Jordan to the OSU 27.  The Bears were solidly in field goal range now, but still had enough time (0:25) to think about not just tying the game but actually pulling off a last-second win.  The offense was red-hot now, and the greenhorn QB was transforming into a confident hero right before everyone's eyes.

 

A 15-yard pass interference penalty on OSU put the ball that much closer to the doorstep.  Take at least one more shot at the win?  Just try to stop it. 

 

The crowd believed, Cal's sideline believed, the 11 guys in blue-and-yellow on the field believed, and the confidence swirling around the stadium almost seemed palpable.

 

And then it happened.  If it is at all possible to stop the momentum of 70,011 people moving in full force in one direction, Joey LaRocque did that when he brought Riley down on that ill-fated scramble.  Fever pitch to pitch black with a single thud on the turf.

 

Now, there are those who would blast Riley for making a crucial mistake.  And there's some validity in that.  He did the one thing that he absolutely couldn't do - get tackled in bounds short of the end zone or a first down.

 

However, he also gave Cal so much more than anyone really had a right to expect from such an inexperienced player.  He made throws that no one, the opposing defense included, thought he could make.  He took in the frenetic energy of the crowd without fear.  And he played with as much heart as anyone could have ever hoped for.

 

With Nate Longshore still questionable for Cal's game against UCLA tomorrow, Riley stands some chance of making his second collegiate start.  And that wouldn't be a bad thing for the Bears.  After all, for 59:46 of one of the biggest games in school history, he'd played a nearly perfect game, bringing his team right to the doorstep of college football's most pretigious doorway. 

 

If only that door had stayed open just a moment or two longer.

 

Stats:

http://sportsline.com/collegefootball/gamecenter/recap/NCAAF_20071013_ORST@CA

http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/teamStats?categoryId=86090

http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/teamStats?categoryId=86089

 

Other:

http://sportsline.com/collegefootball/gamecenter/playbyplay/NCAAF_20071013_ORST@CA

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=272860025

http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/teamReport?categoryId=86089&type=InsideSlant