“We’ve got some injuries there but the good thing is we have depth”, California coach Sonny Dykes said. ESPN article claimed that Dykes ignored Tony Franklin’s plea to move down the field more at the end, but it worked. On a third-and-four play from the ASU 34, Goff made a attractive throw down the field to Bryce Treggs for a 13-yard pickup.
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And so it unfolded at Memorial Stadium, with ASU doing just enough to lose, watching California kicker Matt Anderson kicking a 26-yard field goal in the final seconds, lifting the Golden Bears to a 48-46 win that snapped a two-game losing streak. “Coach Graham always tells me he wants me to be a coach, but I haven’t really decided on anything right now”, Simone said. “Give Matt Anderson credit, he nailed it”. On the second drive of the game, receiver Rodney Hudson dropped a potential touchdown pass from Goff, and an offensive pass interference derailed the drive completely, forcing Cal to settle for a long field goal.
The Bears, who already were eligible for their first bowl game since 2012, were almost lifeless at times while falling behind by 20 in the first half. “He’s played his best two games of the year the last two weeks”. “This will be the one I remember for the rest of my life, for sure”.
Mike Bercovici threw four touchdown passes and Zane Gonzalez set a school record with six field goals – four in the second half – but Arizona State gave up five touchdowns in the second half in a 48-46 loss to California on Saturday night.
Over his 36 career starts, Goff has participated in a number of thrilling wins.
After Anderson’s kick split the uprights, California’s players raced out from the sidelines and mobbed the young kicker near midfield.
“I didn’t even really see the kick go through”, Anderson said.
The Bears are heading into Bowl season with a lot of momentum from this comeback win, and are in search of their first eight-win season since 2009, and first Bowl win since 2008. Jared Goff led the Bears down the field with a 69 yard drive in 2:29 minutes to get this signature win to potentially cap his career in Berkeley, capping a comeback from being 21 points down. With Cal down 17 points after punting on its first possession of the second half, Goff engineered five straight touchdown drives.
Three plays later Bercovici found wide receiver Devin Lucien on a crossing pattern for the first of three touchdowns by the Sun Devils’ duo.
California (6-5, 3-5 Pac-12) is sputtering after opening the season 5-0 and hasn’t defeated a team with a winning record since tripping up Washington State on October 3.
“We always say he’s the most un-athletic dude on the team”, said Treggs, who finished with a career-high 147 yards on five catches.
Cal came right back, junior Jared Goff hitting Darius Powe with a 59-yard touchdown pass. Throw in the 2-point conversion and the Golden Bears led 45-39 with 6 minutes, 5 seconds to play.
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The back and forth continued, with Goff lofting a pass into one-on-one coverage that Harris pulled down for a 9-yard touchdown pass to make it 33-31 ASU with 1:31 left in the third quarter. “We knew that if we do what we’re supposed to do that they wouldn’t be able to stop us”.
