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There aren't many superlatives that accurately describe the kind of day California running back Jahvid Best had Saturday. If he wasn't already considered one of the top running backs in the country, he must be now.Cal needed this game against Minnesota. The Oct. 3 showdown with USC wouldn't mean as much if Cal already had a loss. The Gophers were looking to make a serious statement, playing for just the second time in sparkling new TCF Bank Stadium. Thanks to Best, the Gophers were left wondering what might have been.
The Heisman Trophy candidate had a major breakout game Saturday. Best ran for 131 yards and scored five touchdowns as the eighth-ranked Golden Bears were able to beat Minnesota, 35-21.
Last year, Cal started a game at Maryland sluggishly, and their late rally fell short. This year, there was no such slow start, except to the second half.
Best made sure that the Golden Bears would get out to a lead, as he ripped off two touchdown runs, including a 68-yarder, in the first eight minutes of the game. Cal took leads of 14-0 and 21-7, but the win didn't come without a few bumps along the way.
The Gophers rallied from their disastrous start, thanks largely to the hands and left arm of wide receiver Eric Decker. It was Decker's outstanding 26-yard score that got the Gophers on the board in the first quarter, then his seven-yard touchdown pass to backup quarterback MarQueis Gray on a trick play tied the score for Minnesota. Decker caught eight passes for 119 yards and two scores, along with his touchdown pass. With his performance Saturday, Decker is now Minnesota's all-time leading pass-catcher.
However, starting quarterback Adam Weber had trouble with his accuracy, and the Gophers struggled mightily to run the football against the Cal defense. Weber threw three interceptions, including a killer in the fourth quarter as the Gophers were trying to rally from a seven-point deficit. On the ensuing drive, Best scored his fifth touchdown of the game to ice it.
The Gophers were held to 37 yards rushing, just a 1.8-yard average.
Cal quarterback Kevin Riley threw for 252 yards and avoided any turnovers. The Golden Bears move to 3-0, while Minnesota falls to 2-1.
This isn't a good thing for the Big Ten, but Minnesota can take solace in the fact that they were competitive against a team ranked in the top ten. For a Gopher team still in the building stages at a few positions, it's something to build on.
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