Bears hold off Cougs' late rallies, 20-17

BERKELEY, Calif. — In a game with fourth-quarter fireworks, the Cougars exploded too late.

California beat Washington State 20-17 in a Pac-10 Conference game Saturday night with the deciding touchdown on a 44-yard gallop by running back Justin Forsett with 2:42 left, producing a 20-9 lead.

"It was their defense against our defense," said WSU defensive tackle A'i Ahmu. "It was fun to play, but at the end we let up and they took advantage."

The Cougars answered Forsett's TD with a 18-yard touchdown on a pass from Alex Brink to Charles Dillon with 19 seconds to play and a two-point conversion pass to Jed Collins.

Cal then recovered the onside kick to preserve the win and snap a three-game losing streak, improving to 6-3 overall and 3-3 in Pac-10 play. The Cougars dropped to 3-6, 1-5.

Brandon Gibson led the Cougars' comeback with catches of 55 and 60 yards in the final quarter. His 55-yarder led to the third and final Cougar field goal of the night, a 35-yarder by Romeen Abdollmohammadi with 5:58 to play. His 60-yarder led to the Cougars' only touchdown.

Gibson finished with four catches for 136 yards.

The big decision for the Cougars was whether to kick the field goal or go for a touchdown when they had fourth-and-12 on the Cal 17 and were trailing 13-6.

Coach Bill Doba said, "I asked if they wanted to go for it and they said, 'Kick it.' That way we're down four. On the road, we talked about it, and if we scored late, we'd probably go for two and take our chances and try to come out of here with a win. But I thought if we cut it to at least four, then all we have to do is score."

The Cougars were 14-½-point underdogs but found no joy in coming close.

Quarterback Brink said, "We stuck there until the end but at this point of the season there are no moral victories, and Cal made plays when we didn't. That was frustrating."

On the third field-goal drive, Brink hit Michael Bumpus for a 13-yard gain; the catch tied Bumpus for the career reception record held by Hugh Campbell (1960-62) with 176.

Brink completed 22 of 45 passes for 306 yards with one TD and one interception. California quarterback Nate Longshore completed 26 of 39 for 213 yards and was intercepted once.

The Cougars were without running back Dwight Tardy. His replacement, Kevin McCall, gained 53 yards on 16 carries. McCall, a fifth-year senior getting his first start, said, "I played every play like it was my last."

Forsett gained 132 yards on 32 carries. The Cougars didn't have a single sack and were 4 for 16 on third downs.

Cal could have built a margin earlier, as it was on the threshold of scoring early in the fourth quarter, but Forsett fumbled at the Cougar 4 and linebacker Cory Evans recovered with 10:36 to play.

The Cougars were held scoreless in the first half and their streak of scoring in 269 consecutive games, second longest in the nation behind Michigan's 293, was in jeopardy until Abdollmohammadi hit a career-best 42-yard field goal in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 10-3.

The Cougars got possession when linebacker Andy Mattingly fell on a botched center-quarterback exchange. The Cougars almost had a touchdown on the drive but Dillon dropped a 37-yard pass from Brink in the end zone.

Cal answered with a field goal of its own: a 33-yarder by Jordan Kay to restore the 10-point margin at 13-3.

The Cougars had fourth-and-one on their own 45 with just over four minutes left in the third quarter but punted to the Cal 10.

They got the ball back and marched down for another field goal, a 29-yarder, with 19 seconds left in the period; the third quarter ended with Cal ahead 13-6. Tight end Devin Frischknecht had catches for 12 and 14 yards on the drive.

At halftime, Cal led 10-0 after it scored a touchdown in the first quarter and a field goal in the second with their two longest drives of the year.

The Bears scored a touchdown on their opening possession with a 17-play drive that ate up 7:56 and required four third-down conversions.

The TD came when Forsett took a pitch to the left side after Longshore was stopped on second-and-goal at the 1-yard line.

Cal went even farther for fewer points in the second quarter. The Bears went 91 yards on 20 plays that consumed 10:23 and completed the drive with a 24-yard field goal by Jordan Kay.

Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com