Cal squanders its shot to be No. 1

BERKELEY -- Playing with its No. 2 quarterback, California squandered a chance to grab the No. 1 ranking.

Yvenson Bernard leaped into the end zone on fourth down from the one with 8 minutes 30 seconds left and Oregon State delivered the latest shocker in an upset-filled season, beating the second-ranked Golden Bears and backup quarterback Kevin Riley, 31-28, on Saturday.

The win wasn’t secured until Riley tried to scramble from the 12 with 14 seconds left and no timeouts. He was tackled after a two-yard gain, and the clock ran out before the field goal unit could get on the field. Riley had orchestrated a near-perfect drive up to that point from Cal’s five with 1:27 left. But his inexperience showed at the end.

“I saw the field and I thought I could get around that guy,” Riley said. “It just didn’t happen.”

Coach Jeff Tedford said he didn’t consider kicking a field goal on the play because the Bears had time to take a shot at the end zone. He didn’t blame Riley for how the game ended.

“It’s not his fault,” Tedford said. “He played his heart out at the end to get us in that situation. We didn’t lose the game because of that play.”

Cal (5-1, 2-1 Pacific 10 Conference) looked poised to move into the top spot for the first time in 56 years after No. 1 Louisiana State’s triple-overtime loss at Kentucky earlier. But the Bears became the 10th team ranked in the top 10 to lose to an unranked team this season.

The day got off to a bad start for Cal when quarterback Nate Longshore was unable to start because of a sprained right ankle. Riley was inconsistent in his first start, throwing an intercepted pass and failing to get star receiver DeSean Jackson involved in the offense. Jackson had four catches for five yards.

But the Bears still were in position to win after Justin Forsett’s seven-yard run gave them a 21-20 lead in the first minute of the fourth quarter. Forsett finished with 150 yards against the nation’s top-ranked defense, but Cal’s offense was unable to generate much else until the final minutes under Riley, who finished 20 for 34 for 294 yards and two touchdowns.

Bernard leaped over the pile for the go-ahead score on fourth-and-goal from the one to give the Beavers the lead for good.