Top 10 - Oregon State Football Games Since 2000: #2 - Beavers Shock #2 Cal in Berkeley
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Jeff Tedford had a very good football team in October of 2007. His Golden Bears were fresh off a road win over Oregon, and came into this matchup against the Beavers ranked #2 in the nation.
The Beavers, on the other hand, had been clobbered by UCLA in Corvallis just two weeks prior, and were considered heavy underdogs going into Berkeley on October 13th. But after they had rebounded with a convincing win over Arizona the week prior, quarterback Sean Canfield and the Oregon State offense had a new-found confidence that they were ready to put on display.
First Quarter
Future NFL starting running back Justin Forsett took a carry 45 yards on the very first play from scrimmage, getting Cal down inside the Beaver 35-yard line right away. However, the Oregon State defense muscled up. They stuffed another Forsett handoff on the next play, before forcing an incompletion. Defensive end Dorian Smith sacked quarterback Kevin Riley on third and nine, forcing the Golden Bears into a long field goal try. Jordan Kay's 50-yard attempt was wide, and the Beavers had come away with a stop of the game's opening possession.
The visitors quickly turned this defensive stop into offensive momentum, with Sean Canfield finding wideout Darrell Catchings for a 26-yard gain. A couple of Yvenson Bernard carries later, and the Beavers were down to the California 31 yard line. But much like the Bears' opening possession, what looked to be a promising drive came crumbling down. Catchings made another first-down reception inside the Bears' 20, but the ball was knocked loose by DB Brandon Hampton, and recovered by the defense. Despite moving the ball well, neither team had come away with any points.
The following seven minutes were filled with the two sides trading punts, before the Beavers cashed in off a turnover. Justin Forsett had the football stripped away by linebacker Alan Darlin, setting the Beavers up at the Cal 16. The following series was an adventure, as the second-ranked Bears stood their ground when OSU got inside the five. Finally, fullback Andy Stewart punched it in from a power-formation handoff on fourth and goal, giving the upset-minded Beavers a lead. It was 7-0 late in the first quarter.
Second Quarter
The Cal offense came to life after falling behind. They orchestrated a seven-play, 77-yard drive where Kevin Riley went 4-4 through the air and completed a TD pass to Lavelle Hawkins to tie things up. The Beavers responded with a field goal, but Justin Forsett ran all over the OSU defense on the ensuing possession, giving second-ranked Cal their first lead of the game at 14-10 with just 40 seconds to play in the first half.
Mike Riley was not content to simply let the game go into the break. Following a very poor kickoff from the Bears, Canfield found Brandon Powers on a post route that got OSU down to Cal's 41 yard line. 30 seconds remained in the half. After an ineligible receiver penalty on the Beavers, Canfield hooked up with Yvenson Bernard. The Beaver halfback scampered for eleven yards before Mike Riley called timeout, and sent out Alexis Serna. Cal tried to ice the reigning Lou Grouza award winner with a timeout of their own, but to no avail. Serna knocked it through from 52 yards out, giving the Beavers a momentum boost heading into the locker room.
Third Quarter
The Beavers converted on third and long at the start of the second half, with Canfield finding James Rodgers for a big gain to move the sticks. From there on, it was the Yvenson Bernard show. Oregon State's star running back got the ball on six straight plays, a combination of handoffs and HB screens. Once they got inside the ten, Bernard had a seven-yard rush on first and goal, and then scored on the next play. It was 20-14 OSU, early in the third quarter.
Then, Cal started moving the ball. A third and short conversion to future Eagles star Desean Jackson got the drive going, before Kevin Riley hit Craig Stevens for a 23-yard gain to set up first and goal. Then, a pass interference call on the Beavers set the Golden Bears up at the OSU two yard line, with a full set of downs to work with.
Riley handed it off to Forsett, who went forward one yard. They gave it to him again up the middle, but this time he was stuffed for no gain. So they tried it once more on third down, but Forsett was met hard by safety Al Afalava just about a foot in front of the goal line, and was stopped. Frustrated but undeterred, Cal head coach Jeff Tedford didn't hesitate to leave his offense out on the field.
By this point, everyone in the crowd had gotten to their feet. The Bears were operating directly in front of the visiting section behind the south end zone. Despite playing in their home stadium, it was loud on fourth down and goal. Riley turned and gave it to Forsett, who quickly cut to the left side after realizing there was no space up the middle. He was easily caught fro behind, getting smothered by a host of white jersies at the one yard line. The OSU section behind the end zone erupted, and the Beaver defense stormed to the sideline to celebrate. Against a top-three team on the road, they had just pulled off one of the most remarkable goal-line stands in Pac-10 history.
OSU's victory was short-lived, however. Pinned against their own goal line, the Beavers went three-and-out, and needed to punt. A shanked kick made matters even worse, as Cal took over inside the OSU 30. After a big completion to Lavelle Hawkins, Justin Forsett gave Cal the lead with a seven-yard rush. It was 21-20 Golden Bears with a minute gone by in the fourth quarter.
Fourth Quarter
Gerard Lawson took Andrew Larson's kickoff at the six yard line and returned it 39 yards to the Oregon State 45, giving the Beaver offense fantastic field position. Canfield completed a huge third down pass to wide receiver Anthony Brown, and the Beavers continued with a couple more first downs to get themselves inside the Cal ten-yard line.
The series turned into an adventure after this. Yvenson Bernard busted out a seven-yard rush on first down, but Cal then stuffed the run twice in a row, bringing up fourth and goal. Despite trailing by only a point, Mike Riley decided to gamble with under nine minutes left. They gave it to Bernard once more and, despite a strong push from the Cal defensive front, the Beaver tailback was able to leap over the pile and break the plane of the goal line. It was a huge relief for everyone in the stadium wearing orange, as the Beavers had regained the lead. They still didn't take their offense off the field, however, electing to go for two to try and make it a seven-point game. The conversion attempt was successful, giving Oregon State a 28-21 lead over #2 Cal with 8:30 to play in the fourth quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, future first-rounder Jahvid Best put together a great return. But he was hit up at the 39 yard line, and lost the football. It was instantly covered up by OSU's Keith Pankey. It was a disaster for the Golden Bears, who were now in desperate need of a stop to keep it a one-score game. Things got even better for the underdogs after a late-hit penalty on Cal to start the drive, getting the Beavers down to the 23-yard line. The Bears' defense came up with a stop on third and seven, but Alexis Serna calmly knocked it through from 32 yards out. It was a two-score game at 31-21 with six minutes left to play. Oregon State was able to kill even more time off the clock after forcing a three-and-out. Despite not getting anywhere, the Beavers were able to use up a couple of minutes. They punted it to Cal with 3:26 remaining.
A Chaotic Final Three Minutes
Cal got the football back at their own 21-yard line needing a comeback win to keep their national championship hopes alive. After a first-down rush from Forsett, Riley hit Lavelle Hawkins on a long slant near midfield. The Oregon State secondary was completely beaten, and Hawkins had nothing but green in front of him as he raced 64 yards to the end zone. It was now just a three-point game, and the Bears had a couple of timeouts to work with. Despite recovering an onside kick, Oregon State's run game was stopped, forcing them into a punting situation. The Beavers ran the clock down as much as they could to 1:27, and Serna got off a great punt that downed the Bears at their own six yard line.
But Cal seemed to be up for the task, quickly picking up a first down. Despite taking a huge sack, Kevin Riley converted on fourth-and-17, finding Lavelle Hawkins to keep the game alive. After this, he connected with Robert Jordan for 37 yards, a huge back-breaker for the OSU defense. Then, a pass-interference call moved the ball all the way down to the OSU 12, where the Golden Bears were in short field goal range. But with fourteen seconds remaining, Cal understandably felt that they had time to go for the win.
With no timeouts remaining, any play from Cal needed to go either to the end zone or the sideline to get out of bounds. This is not what ended up happening, and it cost Tedford's team the game.
Riley took the snap, and began scrambling around in the pocket. He stepped up to evade pressure and, instead of throwing the ball away, decided to tuck the ball and take off. If Riley thought that he had a path to the end zone, he was mistaken, as two OSU linebackers quickly caught up and dropped him at the nine yard line with just seven seconds to go. The clock continued to run.
It was a colossal mental blunder, as the Golden Bears had no way to stop the clock. Cal tried to race their field goal unit onto the field, but it was too late. Jeff Tedford spiked his headset onto the ground, as he watched the final seconds tick away. Oregon State's players took off their helmets and ran to the south end zone to celebrate with the visiting fans, probably still in disbelief about what had just happened. Oregon State had beaten #2 Cal by a final score of 31-28, and they had survived thanks largely to an unthinkable unforced error. It was the Beavers' first road victory over a top-five opponent since 1967.
Top 10 Oregon State Football Games Since 2000
#10 - 2013 OT Win At Utah
#9 - 2021 Beavs Outgun USC in Los Angeles
#8 - 2014 Beavers Stun #6 ASU
#7 - 2008 Thriller in the Desert
#6 - Beavs' Comeback in the 2006 Sun Bowl
#5 - James Rodgers' Fly Sweep Downs Ducks
#4 - Beavers Hold Off #3 USC in 2006
#3 - 2022's Historic Comeback Against Nix's Ducks
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Ben Pahl is a sportswriter and broadcaster based in Portland, Oregon. His work covering college and professional sports has been featured by the Orange Media Network at Oregon State University as well as KBVR.fm. His other career stops in sports include the Portland Pickles baseball club and the NBA G-League's Rip City Remix.