ESPN College Football

Taking a look back at some of the best and worst moments from the Pac-12's bowl season.

Best overall performance (team): We're a field goal away from flipping a coin between Stanford and Oregon. But the Ducks won, and to the victor go the spoils. Say what you want about Wisconsin being overrated; Oregon beat a very good team with one of the most productive college running backs in history, and the Ducks did it on a major stage.

Best offensive performance (individual): Keith Price outdueled Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III, passing for 438 yards and four touchdowns and rushing for three more scores. And the Huskies lost! Someone on the Washington defense better be carrying his books around campus until the start of next season.

Best offensive performance (team): As good as Washington's offensive show was against Baylor, Oregon did it against a tougher opponent and under a brighter spotlight. LaMichael James and De'Anthony Thomas both went for more than 100 yards, Lavasier Tuinei turned in season highs in catches (eight) and yards (158) to go with two touchdowns and the offensive line had its way with Wisconsin.

Best defensive performance (individual): In the conference's five losses, teams gave up an average of 41 points. Still, Cal first-team all-conference linebacker Mychal Kendricks did all he could to limit Texas to 21, notching nine solo tackles (10 total) and 1.5 tackles for a loss.

Best defensive performance (team): Pass.

Best offensive performance in a losing effort: Andrew Luck's one interception was the lone stain on an otherwise fantastic performance, in which he completed 27 of 31 passes for 347 yards and two touchdowns. He was 15-of-15 on all of Stanford's scoring drives and 4-for-4 on the final drive that set up the almost-game-winning field goal.

Worst offensive performance: Both Cal and UCLA faced fairly tough defenses in Texas and Illinois, respectively, and their 24 points combined reflected that. (For the record, Washington had 35 by halftime and Oregon had 28 at the half.) But the nod goes to Cal for 7 rushing yards on 36 attempts. That's 0.2 yards per carry. ASU was actually worse with minus-11 rushing yards, but at least it put up 24 points (well, 17 if you take away Rashad Ross' 98-yard kick return).

Worst defensive performance: As a conference, Pac-12 teams gave up an average of 455 yards in their bowl games. Washington was the worst offender with 777 yards yielded.

Best bang for buck: Oregon's De'Anthony Thomas. Two carries, two touchdowns, 155 yards and a 77.5 yards-per-carry average.

Best supporting cast: While Price was fantastic, lest we forget that Chris Polk ran for 147 yards, Jermaine Kearse caught five balls for 198 yards and a score and Devin Aguilar added two receiving touchdowns.

Best holiday spirit: Cal certainly got into the season, giving the ball away five times to Texas.

Best "Oh jeez" moment: Stanford running back Jeremy Stewart taking out teammate Ty Montgomery after he tried to run a kickoff out of the end zone. Stewart, a fifth-year senior, stopped the true freshman right at the line and dropped him, much to the chagrin of 69,927 at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Worst "Oh jeez" moment: Watching Dennis Erickson try to call a timeout when ASU had fourth-and-goal at the Boise 1-yard line. Then watching his face as Jamar Taylor picked off Brock Osweiler and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown.

With the exception of Oregon and Utah, the bowl season was not a pleasant one for the Pac-12, which went 2-5 overall in its seven bowl games.

Let's take a looksee, shall we?

• Arizona State, crushed.
• Cal, fumbling it all away.
• Washington, 67 points! Yikes.
• UCLA, spark-less.
• Stanford, coulda, woulda, shoulda.

The good news for the conference is that Oregon finally won the big one. After building a reputation as a team that couldn't get it done out of conference and after conference, the Ducks came out smelling like roses while the majority of the conference smelled, well, ya know.

Oregon's victory paves the way for future success in BCS bowl games -- because the Ducks aren't done -- and with USC back in the postseason mix next season, it's likely the Trojans will bolster conference numbers. Consider that USC would have gone to one of the higher-rated bowl games, thus dropping each team down one peg.

But it wasn't all doom and gloom. Aside from the fantastic Oregon win, Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck got a chance to shine one last time in the spotlight and put together one of his greatest gems in an overtime loss to Oklahoma State. As underrated underdogs, it was pretty clear to anyone who watched knows Stanford probably came away looking better from that game than Oklahoma State did. And Washington quarterback Keith Price showed the rest of the world what we have been watching for the past few months. And let's not forget a pretty gutty comeback win for Utah.

Despite how things ended, the conference appears to be trending up. Oregon and USC will be preseason top-10 teams -- and Stanford probably checks in as a top-15/20 squad. Conference recruiting appears to be going well with some big-name players committing to several programs in the past few weeks and four new coaches add an air of mystery and excitement to the futures of Arizona, Washington State, Arizona State and UCLA.

But it's still tough to rinse that sour taste after watching ASU give up the opening kickoff for a touchdown to Boise -- which rolled and never stopped rolling in a 32-point victory. Or watching Cal cough up the ball five times to Texas. Or watching Baylor churn out 777 yards of offense. Or watching Illinois use UCLA to snap a six-game losing streak. Or watching a dead-center field goal hook to the left as the University of Phoenix Stadium scoreboard read 0:00.

Next year will be better. With a new television deal/network, an infusion of big-name coaches and some of the top players in the country coming back, it has to get better. Because after all ... oh wait, hold on, Baylor just scored again...

1. LSU safety Eric Reid, the defensive hero of the victory over Alabama on Nov. 5, said Wednesday, “We see mistakes that we made in the game that we can (correct and) score more points and also not allow them to score as much as they did.” Mistakes? The Tigers allowed but two field goals in an overtime game. “As a defense you don’t want anybody to ever score on you,” Reid said. “If you go out with that mentality, then you get upset when anybody scores on you.” Championship standards are different, aren’t they?

2. The Pac-12 released its 2012 schedule Wednesday, and welcome to the league, Rich Rodriguez! Among Arizona’s first six opponents are Oklahoma State, Stanford and Oregon, Nos. 3-4-5 in your current rankings. Washington can top that: at No. 1 LSU, Stanford and at Oregon in its first five games. The Cal Bears have consecutive road games in September at Ohio State and at USC. Returning to remodeled Memorial Stadium will feel very good.

3. College football may be more successful and popular than it’s ever been. But the empty seats at the Sugar Bowl on Tuesday night and the vast swatches of unfilled real estate at the Orange Bowl on Wednesday night -- a friend texted me to ask if that was Clemson-West Virginia or a Marlins game -- indicate that the BCS has work to do. If I ran the Orange Bowl, I would suggest that ACC champion move to at-large status in the next BCS contract so that I could pick both sides of my matchup.

STANFORD, Calif. -- Five things that we learned about the Cardinal in their 31-28 win over Cal in the 114th Big Game.

1. Ryan Hewitt is a monster: Well, we already knew this one, but the fullback/tight end/wideout/everything-hybrid was all over the field Saturday night for Stanford. He caught seven passes for 64 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown pass. He carried twice for 7 yards, both coming on third-and-1 scenarios on the same drive in the fourth quarter. He converted one for 3 yards and another for 4.
2. A win is a win: And this team needed one. It doesn’t matter how. Rarely are football games beauty contests. And this one was far from a looker. But coming off of the Oregon debacle, it was the kind of game the Cardinal needed. They trailed early, but didn’t panic. They were pressured late and didn’t crack. It was a nice reminder for the team that even when Stanford falls behind, it can still catch up -- a lesson it seemed to forget against the Ducks.
3. All hope is not gone: What a weird 24 hours in college football. A lot of crazy things have to happen -- like, say, four of the eight teams ranked ahead of the Cardinal all lose in one weekend. Oh wait, that happened. We’ll see what the BCS picture looks like later today when the new BCS standings are released. Remember, Stanford still has a major disadvantage in the computer rankings, so don’t get your hopes up too much. But it should be interesting to see how human voters make their peace with the USC-Oregon-Stanford triangle.
4. Andrew Luck rebounds nicely: Either he was amped up for this game or he miscalculated his receivers’ speed because of the rain. Early on he was over-throwing everything. But he settled down and turned in a nice performance. Not over-the-top great. Not horrific. The pick wasn’t his fault (which you can say about five of them this season) and there was one dropped touchdown. Not on him. It was a good, steady performance while some other Heisman hopefuls wilted. No one seems to be able to run away with it. But if Luck can have another steady performance next week, the Trophy will likely be his.
5. The tight ends are back: There you guys are. We missed you last week. Speaking with Coby Fleener after the game, the big man expressed his personal frustration over the performance of the unit last week. Fleener caught four balls for 64 yards and Levine Toilolo had three catches for 50 yards and a touchdown. The 6-foot-8 Toilolo had a drop, but made up for it a couple of plays later, using his height advantage on a 4-yard touchdown jump ball. With the injured Zach Ertz questionable for next week, the duo got the job done. But they are so much better as a trio.

STANFORD, Calif. -- David Shaw was having flashbacks. In seconds, the Stanford head coach and former Cardinal wide receiver was re-running every funky play and freaky scenario and wacky finish that have been historic staples of the Big Game.

Here’s the scene on a rainy Saturday night at Stanford Stadium: Cal scores a touchdown with 14 seconds left to cut Stanford’s lead to 31-28. Here comes the onside kick. Anything can happen, right? A Cal recovery and Hail Mary? The ball bounces off of seven Stanford players and Cal converts a 65-yard field goal? It’s the Big Game. Seems plausible. At least at the time.

“I got The Play going through my head. I got the 1990 crazy game with the onside kicks going through my head,” Shaw said. “We just supported our defense. Even if they went down and scored, we made them take so much time off the clock. We knew if we got the onside kick the game was over.”

And it was. The onside kick went right to tight end Coby Fleener, who caught the ball on the one hop, cradled and dropped. No crazy bounces. No students or trombones appeared on the field until the clock read 0:00. Game over. Stanford wins the 114th Big Game. The Axe stays in Palo Alto for at least another year.

“There is still with 14 seconds – you’re thinking about The Play – you never know what can happen – ‘The band is on the field,’” said defensive end Ben Gardner, recalling Joe Starkey’s famous call from the 1982 game. “Luckily, the band stayed in their seats and Coby was able to recover the onside kick. He saved us.”

Aside from the late-game Cal heroics, it was standard Stanford. A slow start on offense before the Cardinal picked it up in the second half and – seemingly— pulled away behind two touchdown passes from Andrew Luck.

The Cardinal were coming off their first loss of the season – a 53-30 schooling by the Oregon Ducks – that dashed (maybe?) their national title hopes. Luck in particular didn’t have that great of a game. Like his teammates, he was anxious to get back on the field.

“The best medicine, I guess is football when you’ve lost a game,” said Luck, who finished 20-of-30 for 257 yards, an interception (which came when Ty Montgomery slipped and fell on his route) and two touchdowns. “It was good to get out and play a quality opponent in a rivalry game.”

And despite the rain and the cold, the rivalry game proved to be as advertised. The Cardinal struck first. Following a Cal fumble, Montgomery scored on a 34-yard end-around. But after a Giorgio Tavecchio field goal and Luck’s interception – his fifth in four games – Cal took a 10-7 lead.

“It was tough sledding,” Shaw said. “We didn’t make some plays early in the game that I thought we should have and they took advantage of it and came storming back … It wasn’t pretty. But doggone it we fought to the end and got the win.”

The Cardinal returned to their ground game in the second quarter, rushing for 85 yards, which included a 6-yard Tyler Gaffney touchdown run.

Then Luck took off in the third quarter, completing 8 of 10 passes for 135 yards and tossing touchdowns to Levine Toilolo and Ryan Hewitt.

But Cal quarterback Zach Maynard wouldn’t let the Axe go that easily. He orchestrated a touchdown drive early in the fourth and the final-minute dramatics that ended with the onside kick.

Safety Delano Howell called it a character victory for the Cardinal.

“We understood that how we responded to the loss last week was a challenge to our character,” said Howell, who finished with seven tackles and a fumble recovery. “Grown men, they respond in a positive way. They don’t reflect on the past or use that in a negative manner or in an adverse way. In order to prove who we were as a team, we had to come out and make a statement tonight.”

And there were, of course, the standard missed tackles in the open field. Wouldn’t be a Stanford game without them. But it’s a win – and that’s exactly what this team needed in the wake of last week’s crippling loss to the Ducks.

“I think we were looser as a team,” Gardner said. “The nature of last week’s game, the national implications. Now we’re playing like a team with nothing to lose, because we don’t. We’re a team fighting for a BCS bowl and we know that. But we knew we had to come out and play looser than we did last week because we made too many mistakes last week and that’s partly because we were tight. At the same time, it’s Cal. We knew they’d try to punch us in the mouth. We had to play our game. It wasn’t always pretty. But we got the win and the Axe is staying here.”

For Luck, it caps a conference career that ends with back-to-back wins over Stanford’s oldest rival.

“It means a lot,” he said. “It will mean more once the season is over when you get to reminisce. But I feel very grateful and blessed to have won two games in a row against them and retain the Axe for at least another year.”

STANFORD, Calif. – The Cardinal overcame a sluggish first half to top Cal 31-28 in the 114th Big Game. And, per usual for this gathering, it came down to the final minute.

Cal made a game of it in the fourth quarter, cutting a 28-13 deficit to 28-21 with 10:53 remaining. Zach Maynard connected with Spencer Hagan for a 3-yard touchdown pass, then converted the 2-point conversion to Marvin Jones.

But the Cardinal went on a 14-play drive, eating up 57 yards and 7 minutes, 40 seconds that ended in a 35-yard Jordan Williamson field goal – making it a two-possession game with three minutes remaining.

The Bears drove to the Stanford 1-yard line with 18 seconds left and C.J. Anderson scored to cut Stanford’s lead to 31-28. But the Bears were unable to recover the onside kick. It went right to Cardinal tight end Coby Fleener, who made the catch in the air and then fell to the ground to secure the win.

Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck shook off a bumpy first half to finish 20-of-30 for 257 yards and two second-half touchdowns. He also threw an interception for the fourth consecutive game – though it came when his receiver slipped on the wet grass.

Tyler Gaffney and Ty Montgomery each had rushing touchdowns and fullback Ryan Hewitt and tight end Levine Toilolo had touchdown receptions.

Maynard finished 20-of-29 with 279 yards and two touchdowns.

Cal running back Isi Sofele rushed for 85 yards on 22 carries.

STANFORD, Calif. -- Observations from the first half of the Big Game.

Turning point: Stanford finally got its running game going in the second quarter. After rushing for just 27 yards in the first quarter (they average 64.3 in the first for the season), Tyler Gaffney plowed ahead for a 6-yard touchdown run to help the Cardinal regain the lead at 14-13. The Cardinal rushed for 85 yards in the second quarter and have 112 in the first half. Stanford is now averaging 7.5 yards per rush attempt.

Stat of the half: 58-of-59. Stanford kicker Jordan Williamson missed a 33-yard field goal in the closing minute of the first half -- marking the first time this season Stanford has failed to score in the red zone.

Best player in the half: Cal wide receiver Keenan Allen has sucked up everything thrown his way. He has six catches for 97 yards and a touchdown. Stanford hasn’t been able to slow him down.

STANFORD, Calif. -- Turnovers have been the name of the game in the first 15 minutes.

With a steady rain coming down, Stanford capitalized on a wayward pitch by Cal quarterback Zach Maynard on the second play of the game. Ben Gardner recovered the fumble and a couple of plays later, freshman wide receiver Ty Montgomery scored on a 34-yard end around.

With a 7-3 lead, Andrew Luck was intercepted -- by Cal's Steve Williams after Montgomery slipped and fell during his route. It was returned for a touchdown. Luck has thrown an interception in four straight games.

Penalties on the return negated the touchdown, but only temporarily. Three plays later Maynard connected with Keenan Allen on a 17-yard touchdown pass to put the Bears up 10-7.

The rain also seems to be having an impact on the field. Aside from the Montgomery slip, other players have been slipping and sliding throughout the first 15 minutes.

Luck is 4-of-9 for 36 yards and an interception.

Allen has six catches for 97 yards and a touchdown.

We’re about to kickoff at Stanford Stadium in the 114th Big Game. A few things to keep an eye on.

1. While Cal gets a lot of publicity for its talented wide receivers, Keenan Allen and Marvin Jones, running back Isi Sofele's production has been a significant determining factor in the outcome of games. When he rushes at least 18 times, Cal is 6-0. When he doesn’t hit that number, the Bears are 0-4. Coincidence?
2. Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck has thrown an interception in three straight games -- the longest streak of his career. However, it’s not his worst “block” of interceptions. That came last season when he had back-to-back games with two interceptions against Notre Dame and Oregon.
3. Stanford running back Stepfan Taylor is 10 yards away from his second consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season. Taylor only has four 100-yard rushing games this season. But the past three games Taylor has rushed for 99, 95 and 99 yards.

STANFORD, Calif. -- All week long, Stanford players have been talking about wanting to get back on the field so they can redeem themselves following their performance last week against Oregon.

In about an hour, they’ll get their chance. And against Cal, their biggest rivals, no less.

A big win in the Big Game would be a great way to go about re-establishing their confidence heading into next week’s regular season finale against Notre Dame and whatever bowl game is in the future.

We saw last week how nervous energy worked against the Cardinal. Will be interesting to see what sort of energy they come out with tonight. There is the natural thrill of playing in the Big Game -- and that’s a new feeling for a lot of significant contributors for Stanford who are either true freshmen or were redshirts last year.

Head coach David Shaw said he was making it a priority this week to make sure his players matched the intensity fitting a rivalry game of this caliber, but he also said his players have to be controlled and not let that emotion get them out of their game plan.

This was a pretty simple assignment. My editor asked for approximately 600 words on what the Big Game means to Stanford. But only one is needed: Everything.

In the interest of filling the other 599, though, here are some thoughts from Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck.

"They are a good team and I think they respect us as well," said Luck. "But that doesn't mean we have to like each other, per se."

That's about as close to smack-talking as you'll ever hear from Luck. And for him to stretch his personal limits of political correctness must mean this game is pretty special. And it is.

There is more at stake to the Cardinal than just their 57th win over Cal in the 114th Big Game. The Cardinal are still looking to advance to a BCS bowl game -- with all signs pointing to the Fiesta Bowl if they should close out the season with wins over Cal and Notre Dame.

But the big picture doesn't matter to Stanford players right now. Only the Big Game.

"It means everything," said Stanford safety Michael Thomas. "It means so much to our community and the people who played in it in the past. You realize you are part of something special.

"It's something that's been taught to you since your freshman seminar. And then you get that experience and play in a Big Game. You think you understand, but once you get in the game and see their fans and our fans, you didn't understand. My first Big Game was a loss. That's when I can truly say I truly understood what that rivalry was. I hated it. It was a horrible feeling. For a Stanford player, it means everything to us."

And this game means something to Stanford head coach David Shaw -- who played in the Big Game during his time as a Cardinal wide receiver in the 90s. His career numbers against Cal are five catches for 90 yards -- but it's career win No. 1 as head coach that he's looking for.

"The emotions are still going to be there for me," Shaw said. "I've had an introduction to this game, really since my junior year in high school. Every single year this game comes up, even when I was coaching in the NFL, I always found a way to watch it. I always found a way to talk to somebody before the game. Even I had little bets with [former Cal quarterback] Kyle Boller. The loser of the game had to wear the other guy's hat or jersey for one day in practice. It's an emotional game and it will be like that this week."

Running back Stepfan Taylor, who comes from Texas, said he wanted to go to a school that had a big rivalry game on its schedule.

"It's one of the first things I learned about when I got to Stanford," Taylor said. "In my first writing class, they were talking about the Big Game. Everyone on campus is excited ... it's always fun to have a rivalry game. There is going to be a great buzz. This is what college football is all about. "

While veterans like Luck, Taylor and Thomas have experienced the Big Game emotions before, it's the younger players -- the redshirts and true freshman who will be playing for the first time -- that Shaw is excited for.

"Some of the freshman who are playing in this game from different states and different cities, they are not going to understand it until that ball is kicked off," Shaw said. "When that ball is kicked off in the Big Game, it doesn't matter where you are from. It doesn't matter if you understand what's going on. You know this game is different."

Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck has known the taste of losing six times in his career as a starter. That's compared to 29 wins. Pretty good ratio. Over the past two seasons he's 21-2. Even better ratio.

Since it had been so long -- 17 games prior to this past Saturday night -- since the Cardinal had suffered a loss, it's worth going back and looking at how Luck has done in his career following defeats.

"It's very impressive. Very impressive, as with most things he does," said Stanford head coach David Shaw. "The guy bounced back. He's got a pep in his step. [Monday] night he was pushing the guys. Sunday was hard, as it was on all of us. But at the same time, we have a lot of football to be played."

Luck has only dropped back-to-back games once in his career, and it came in 2009 during his first season as the starter.

"I think we have a six-hour rule," Luck said. "Six hours to celebrate or mull over it and then flush it. It's important to realize we still have one conference game and a big game against Notre Dame. There is no time feel sorry for yourself or lack motivation. I don't think anybody will lack motivation against Cal. You get up for that one."

Most guys need 24 hours. But whatever works.

If the Cardinal are able to rebound, history says Luck will be able to also. Here's a look at his passing performances in bounce-back games throughout his career.

2009

• Following a loss to Wake Forest, Luck was 9-of-12 for 170 yards with a touchdown and interception in a win over San Jose State.
• Following a loss to Oregon State, Luck was 21-of-35 for 423 yards with three touchdowns and an interception in a loss to Arizona -- the only time the Cardinal have dropped consecutive games on Luck's watch.
• Following the loss to Arizona, he was 17-of-28 for 236 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions in a win over Arizona State.
• Following a loss to Cal, he was 14-of-20 for 198 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions in a win over Notre Dame. (He did not finish the game after breaking his right index finger in the fourth quarter.)

2010

• Following the loss to Oregon, he was 20-of-24 for 285 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions in a win over USC.

For his career, Luck is 4-1 coming off a loss and is 81-of-119 passing (68 percent), an average of 262.4 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions.

Pretty solid.

"Anytime you lose a game you want to get back out there and redeem yourself," Luck said. "We have an opportunity to play a great team like Cal and it's a great rivalry for the Bay Area. I'm very excited for it."

Shaw often touts Luck's ability to shake off mistakes and get back to work. His teammates have seen that from him this week as well.

"Afterwards, for a couple of hours, you're down like everybody else in the locker room," said offensive tackle Jonathan Martin. "He's just like everybody else. He's down. But he's good at putting things behind him and moving on to the next task at hand and that's how he's been so far this week."

And this week the Cardinal find themselves still in contention for a BCS bowl game -- which would be their second in as many years. If you look at Luck in his career, he actually has a lower completion percentage against Cal than any other Pac-10/12 school he's faced. Over his career, Luck has completed an average of 64 percent of his passes against the rest of the conference to 52 percent in two games against Cal. Of course, most of that has to do with his first career start against the Bears in 2009, when he went 10-of-30 for 157 yards with a touchdown and a pick in the loss.

He rebounded the following year with a beauty of a performance, 16-of-20 for 235 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

"We have an opportunity to truly put our mark back on this season in these last two regular-season games," Shaw said, "and he's shown every indication that that's what he's setting out to do."

What did we learn from week 11 of Pac-10 action?

1. The Pac-10 won't get two BCS bowl berths. Again: While a strong argument can be made that the Pac-10 is the nation's deepest conference, that and two bucks will get you a venti drip at Starbucks. USC had the only legitimate shot of playing its way into an at-large berth but Stanford poleaxed that notion. Hey, who needs an extra $4.5 million? Money isn't everything! It's much better to play a nine-game round robin schedule and hope people appreciate your specialness.

2. The Trojan colossus has fallen: While no one outside of the Pac-10 has managed to beat USC, the Pac-10 has delivered a knockout blow to college football's premier program. It's one thing for USC to lose on the road. It's another thing for USC to lose badly on the road. But to deliver a beatdown like Stanford did in the Coliseum? Golly. The most reasonable scenario has USC going to the Sun Bowl. The Sun Bowl! (Good for the Sun Bowl, if it happens, nicest folks in the bowl business). Maybe some of those ADs in other BCS conferences who have been hiding behind their desks when USC called for a game will suddenly become braver. Naaaa. That won't happen.

3. Oregon State's Sean Canfield will be the All-Pac-10 quarterback: Canfield -- Mr. 70 percent -- completed 21 of 29 passes for 185 yards in the Beavers 48-21 win over Washington, and four of those completions went for touchdowns. He leads the Pac-10 in passing yards per game and is tied for the lead with 17 touchdowns passes. Just one of his five interceptions this season came in the past five games.

4. Seeeeee! Cal doesn't stink! Told you! For those of us who touted California in the preseason as a potential Pac-10 champion -- and then looked ridiculous when the Bears threw up on themselves -- please allow us a moment to feel like the team that beat Arizona was the one we expected to see in 2009, particularly on defense. Know what would make the season in Berkeley, though? Wiping the huge smile off of Stanford's face in the Big Game on Saturday.

5. Arizona and Nick Foles take a step back: Foles and the Wildcats offense have been rolling up big numbers with admirable efficiency. It looked like they would have a big day against Cal's struggling pass defense, which ranks near the bottom of the Pac-10 in yards surrendered and efficiency. Didn't happen, and now Arizona has lost its margin for error if it hopes to play in its first Rose Bowl. Foles and Arizona can redeem themselves with a win over the Ducks, but the performance at Cal casts into doubt whether they are up to the challenge.

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

While California running back Jahvid Best, who was knocked out and suffered a concussion in the Bears loss to Oregon State, was released from the hospital Sunday, he has not yet returned to classes and is presently recovering at home.

That casts doubt onto whether he will play again anytime soon -- if at all -- this season.

"I don't even know and that's really the last thing on my mind is him playing again," Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. "The No. 1 thing, 100 percent, is that he comes back with a full recovery. If that means never playing again this season, then so be it. That's totally the last thing on our minds. The first and foremost thing is his welfare and his health. We're haven't even thought about when he may return... It hasn't even been discussed."

Best, who hails from Vallejo, which is in the Bay Area, was at one point a leading Heisman Trophy candidate. He's presently fourth in the Pac-10 with 867 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns.

Best was hurt on a short touchdown run when he tried to leap over a defender and ended up landing on the back of his head. His helmet flew off on landing, and he was motionless after impact, stunning players on both teams and the crowd at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley. His jersey was removed and he left the field on a gurney while wearing an oxygen mask. He immediately was taken to the emergency room, but it was soon reported that he had movement in all of his extremities, and CT scans and X-rays showed no permanent damage.

Best had suffered a minor concussion the week before, however, which made the situation more serious and likely will make doctors more cautious.

"It was a very serious incident," Tedford said. "He's at home with mom and dad, recovering. So it's a day-to-day thing... I'm not sure when he will back in school. It's going to be completely on when he feels able to do it. There's no rushing him through this at all in any way, shape or form, in the classroom or anything like that. We want to make sure that he has time to completely heal."

Cal plays host to Arizona on Saturday. Backup Shane Vereen will replace Best in the starting lineup.