Cal puts forth Best effort at UCLA
Long bus ride, two big plays help reunited Bears prevail
PASADENA, Calif. – Jahvid Best’s asthma was acting up, and he couldn’t find space to move against a UCLA defense that had been nearly as stifling as the Rose Bowl’s 100-degree heat.
Then the California tailback took a deep breath and took off on a 93-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. With a bunch of big plays just like that, the bus-riding Golden Bears got back on the road to success — and to Berkeley.
Best also caught a 51-yard scoring pass, and Kevin Riley threw two of his three touchdown passes to Marvin Jones during a dynamic first half in Cal’s 45-26 victory over UCLA on Saturday.
Shane Vereen rushed for 154 yards and a score, and Riley passed for 205 yards without an interception for the Bears (4-2, 1-2 Pac-10), who had been embarrassed before last week’s bye in back-to-back losses to Oregon (42-3) and Southern California (30-3), all but ending their Pac-10 title hopes.
“Thank God we had the bye week and got everything squared away,” said Best, who managed just 102 yards rushing on 18 attempts. “We’re a lot tighter as a team now. We’re more of a family. In the locker room now, there’s music going, and everybody is happy. It’s great.”
Long freeway trips sometimes have that effect on a family. Instead of flying to Pasadena, the Bears took buses from Berkeley on Thursday to save an estimated $100,000 for the troubled UC school system, of which UCLA also is a member.
“We had some meeting time on the bus,” said Cal coach Jeff Tedford, who also watched two movies with his players. “Everybody was loose and relaxed. … The only way we could get away from the last two weeks was to get some space.”
The extra travel time clearly didn’t bother the Bears, who went up 35-20 by halftime. Best was late coming out for the second half because of what he thinks was dehydration, but his two big plays were enough when both teams struggled after halftime.
Tedford, who grew up in nearby Downey, Calif., won in the Los Angeles area for the first time in his eight seasons in charge of the Bears. Cal had gone 0-7 during his tenure at the Rose Bowl and the Coliseum – a big deal for Vereen, Jones and the other Bears who grew up down here.
While Cal got back in form despite playing the second half without top defensive back Syd’Quan Thompson, who had an undisclosed injury, UCLA (3-3, 0-3) lost its third straight.