Oregon State
California
No. 14 Beavers Capture Four In A Row Against Cal, 38-32
November 04, 2000 | Football
Nov. 4, 2000
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) -
As it turned out, Oregon State didn't need Ken Simonton to stay on top of California.Simonton, bothered by a tight hamstring and groin, ran for 125 yards and three touchdowns against the Bears, then sat out most of the second half.
Backup Patrick McCall picked up where Simonton left off, running for two additional scores as the No. 14 Beavers beat the Bears 38-32 on Saturday for their first 8-1 start ever.
"He pulled himself out, I guess he didn't feel he could run," Beavers coach Dennis Erickson said. "He's been tight the last few weeks. But I assume he'll be back."
Simonton said he wasn't injured - but admitted to a lingering groin problem. Instead, he said he told coaches he wanted to rotate with McCall.
"It's always going to be a problem until football season's over," Simonton said.
The nation's fifth-ranked rusher going into the game, Simonton ran 64 yards on his first carry to move to sixth on the Pacific-10 Conference's career rushing list.
The Beavers (8-1, 5-1) extended their best start since their last visit to the Rose Bowl in 1964. The Beavers' best previous start was 7-1-1 in 1939.
"They have the talent to be the Pac-10 champions," Cal coach Tom Holmoe said.
California (3-6, 2-4) rushed for just 27 yards, instead focusing on its passing game. Kyle Boller made 17-of-44 passes for a career-best 349 yards and three touchdowns. He was intercepted twice.
The Bears made it a game midway through the final quarter on Derek Swafford's 81-yard scoring catch, the second-longest TD reception in Cal history, to close to 31-29.
But McCall, who finished with 116 yards on 17 carries, ran for a 27-yard TD, his second score of the game, with 6:06 left. Cal's Mark-Christian Jensen added a 40-yard field goal for the final margin.
Cal closed to 31-22 on Jensen's 39-yard field goal in the third quarter, before Ryan Cesca missed a 45-yard attempt for the Beavers.
OSU's Jonathan Smith was 11-of-28 for 317 yards, after going 6-of-14 for 200 yards in the first half alone. The Beavers had 524 yards of total offense as they continued their quest for a Rose Bowl berth.
"We're still in the race for something special and we know that," Smith said. "Every Saturday is another opportunity for us to do something great."
After Simonton's 64-yard run to 2, he punched it in the end zone for a 7-0 lead.
Simonton, who had already earned a Pac-10 record with at least 1,000 rushing yards in his freshman, sophomore and junior years, passed Gaston Green of UCLA with 3,802 career rushing yards.
Simonton added a 4-yard TD run on the Beavers' second series.
California made it 14-9 before the close of the quarter on Boller's 10-yard pass to a diving Chad Heydorff in the end zone, and a safety from a bad long snap on an OSU punt.
Jensen kicked a 23-yard field goal to narrow the gap to 14-12 for the Bears. But Simonton scored his third touchdown, on a 6-yard run, midway through the quarter.
McCall ran a yard for another score, and Cesca kicked a 32-yard field goal to give the Beavers a 31-12 lead.
With 10 seconds left in the first half, Boller hit Chase Lyman with a 30-yard scoring pass.
"We played well at times. We felt confident we could win when we pulled to 31-29," Holmoe said. "The ball bounces funny sometimes."
The Bears have lost nine straight during the month of November, and two straight to the Bears
But Nick Harris, Cal's punter, earned the NCAA record for most career yards, surpassing Cameron Young of TCU. Harris now has 13,161 yards over his career, besting Young's 12,947 from 1976-79.
And defensive end Andre Carter had his 28th career sack, to tie Regan Upshaw for the best in Cal history.
By ANNE M. PETERSON
AP Sports Writer
