On Friday, I mentioned that my wife and I had a big decision to make - go see the A's battle the Angels on Saturday (in turn missing the Cal game), or stay home and watch Cal take on Oregon on TV. We stayed home, and it turned out to be a great decision, as Cal won out a barn-burner against the Ducks by a 31-24 margin, and the A's continue to lose, falling 3-2 near the end of their miserable season.Cal, going into the day ranked #6 overall, flew to Oregon, ranked #11, and in front of a national television audience on ABC/ESPN, the team battled and battled, falling behind early, and never giving up. Despite being down 10-3 at the half, they forced four turnovers, eventually winning after the Ducks fumbled the ball on the 1 yard line in the closing seconds of regulation, as it went into the end zone and out of bounds for a touchback, returning the ball to the hands of the Bears, who knelt down and took the win. (See: Excuse Me For My Voice for one rundown)
While we gnashed our teeth and feared the worst among other Cal fans at The Band Is Out on the Field, Cal's stars came through in the second half, with DeSean Jackson scoring two touchdowns and amassing more than 150 yards receiving, Justin Forsett ran for more than 100 yards, and the Bears are now among the nation's elite teams, sporting an unblemished 5-0 record, while the #3, #4, #5, #7, #11, and #13 teams all went down to defeat. This sets up a near-guaranteed rise for Cal in the polls, quite possibly as high as #3 overall when the new rankings appear over the weekend.
As for the A's, who we neglected today? Even though they appear to have given up on the last few games of the season, we'll head their way after church tomorrow to say goodbye for the last time this year. Hopefully, they can wrap up the home schedule with something new and different - a win.