Confidence in Riley pays off for California
BERKELEY, Calif. – California quarterback Kevin Riley has become adept at ignoring criticism about the way he plays. Even as an increasingly frustrated fan base has called for coach Jeff Tedford to make a change, Riley has remained resolute.
It paid off Saturday.
Riley passed for 240 yards and two touchdowns, Shane Vereen scored twice as the Golden Bears bounced back from their most lopsided loss of the season to beat Arizona State 50-17 on Saturday.
“I’ve grown pretty strong over the past few years just ignoring everything, good or bad,” Riley said. “But Coach told us last night that there’s Cal alumni, Cal people, questioning our heart. That’s the biggest criticism you can have. We just wanted to go out and play and show everybody that we do.”
Vereen rushed for 91 yards and scored his 12th and 13th touchdowns this season while Chris Conte scored on a 17-yard blocked-punt return for Cal.
Arizona State scored its only touchdowns on a blocked-punt return by Oliver Aaron and a 25-yard fumble return by Clint Floyd. The Sun Devils, who were coming off a bye, lost starting quarterback Steven Threet to a concussion in the first half.
California 50, Arizona St. 17
| Arizona St. | 3 | 0 | 7 | 7 | — | 17 |
| California | 10 | 16 | 14 | 10 | — | 50 |
ASU—FG Weber 28, 12:14.
Cal—FG Tavecchio 40, 9:32.
Cal—Vereen 8 run (Tavecchio kick), 2:05.
Cal—Allen 4 pass from Riley (kick blocked), 11:46.
Cal—Jones 52 pass from Riley (Tavecchio kick), 8:28.
Cal—FG Tavecchio 23, :00.
Cal—Vereen 5 run (Tavecchio kick), 12:14.
Cal—Conte 17 blocked punt return (Tavecchio kick), 9:56.
ASU—Aaron 1 blocked punt return (Weber kick), 4:40.
Cal—FG Tavecchio 26, 14:53.
Cal—Ross 19 run (Tavecchio kick), 13:13.
ASU—Floyd 25 fumble return (Weber kick), 4:28.
A—51,599.
| ASU | Cal | |
| First downs | 11 | 21 |
| Rushes-yards | 27-57 | 43-131 |
| Passing | 177 | 240 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 16-33-3 | 19-29-0 |
| Return Yards | 34 | 112 |
| Punts-Avg. | 9-41.2 | 6-39.8 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 2-0 | 1-1 |
| Penalties-Yards | 9-72 | 2-20 |
| Time of Possession | 24:42 | 35:18 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Arizona St., Marshall 10-29, D.Lewis 8-23, Morrison 1-6, Middlebrooks 2-0, Threet 3-0, Szakacsy 3-(minus 1). California, Vereen 19-91, Sofele 9-37, Ross 1-19, Mansion 1-8, DeBoskie-Johnson 6-4, Allen 1-0, Team 2-(minus 2), Riley 4-(minus 26).
PASSING—Arizona St., Szakacsy 8-17-1-52, Threet 8-16-2-125. California, Riley 19-28-0-240, Mansion 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING—Arizona St., Simpson 5-87, K.Taylor 3-24, Willie 2-17, Middlebrooks 2-11, Pflugrad 1-17, Marshall 1-12, G.Robinson 1-6, D.Lewis 1-3. California, Allen 6-40, Jones 4-110, Ross 3-44, Miller 2-19, Vereen 2-8, Calvin 1-11, Sofele 1-8.
| Oregon | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Arizona | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| Stanford | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| Oregon St. | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Southern Cal | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| California | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| Washington | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Arizona St. | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| UCLA | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Washington St. | 0 | 5 | 1 | 7 |