Down by three, 11 seconds left and no timeouts, what do you do? Go for the win and by no means get caught in bounds and if you do, SPIKE THE BALL! Kevin Riley erased Cal's hope of becoming #1 in the country today when he scrambled out of the pocket, was tackled and then ran off the field. Kevin, 6 seconds isn't enough time to get the field goal kicker in place.
To Riley's credit, the true freshman led the Golden Bears down the field after Deshaun Jackson allowed a punt to be downed on Cal's own 5. It's my opinion that Tedford allowed this game to play out like a Ravens/Jaguars contest. Play it tight and hope you win it with your defense down the stretch. But if your strength is your receiving corps, isn't that a bad decision?
Oregon State's front seven were masterful and Bernard was able to control the game on the ground for the Beavers. Asking Riley to win the game with a few minutes left is a lot more difficult than giving him 60 minutes to do the same task. If you're not going to give your QB a chance to win the game in the first quarter, don't expect him to do it in the last one.
Also, is it just me or did Nate Longshore look like he could have played? I don't want to second guess the coach's decision, but if you can stand for three hours and walk around on the sidelines, just how bad is your ankle injury? The Bears could have used Longshore in this game, even if he was only 75-80%. It doesn't matter all that much if he's full-go next week now does it?
To Riley's credit, the true freshman led the Golden Bears down the field after Deshaun Jackson allowed a punt to be downed on Cal's own 5. It's my opinion that Tedford allowed this game to play out like a Ravens/Jaguars contest. Play it tight and hope you win it with your defense down the stretch. But if your strength is your receiving corps, isn't that a bad decision?
Oregon State's front seven were masterful and Bernard was able to control the game on the ground for the Beavers. Asking Riley to win the game with a few minutes left is a lot more difficult than giving him 60 minutes to do the same task. If you're not going to give your QB a chance to win the game in the first quarter, don't expect him to do it in the last one.
Also, is it just me or did Nate Longshore look like he could have played? I don't want to second guess the coach's decision, but if you can stand for three hours and walk around on the sidelines, just how bad is your ankle injury? The Bears could have used Longshore in this game, even if he was only 75-80%. It doesn't matter all that much if he's full-go next week now does it?
View Comments (13)
