For a moment, it looked like Kevin Riley might have his shot not just at redemption, but at exact revenge.

With the Cal football team trailing Oregon State, 27-21, and 42 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Riley and the Bears started a drive from their six-yard line. It was the exact spot from which Cal began its fateful final drive against the Beavers in 2007, and it appeared to give Riley the slim chance to complete what he couldn't in 2007.

Instead, the sophomore quarterback's second pass was intercepted by OSU cornerback Keenan Lewis and returned 25 yards for a touchdown.

And rather than becoming a season-changing moment, the Bears' final play from scrimmage was a meaningless Hail Mary that was batted down in traffic, as the Beavers (7-3, 6-1 in the Pac-10) kept their Rose Bowl dreams intact with a 34-21 win Saturday at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Ore.

Meanwhile, Cal (6-4, 4-3) saw its outside shot at a Pac-10 title erased completely, leaving next weekend's Big Game as a must-win in order to prevent another second-half slide.

"It was about us not making enough plays," Riley said. "We had chances, the whole entire game. I miss a throw, we get a penalty, dropped ball. Throughout the game we just messed up too many times."

The Bears' offense struggled to get anything going for the second week in a row, gaining just 232 total yards and 11 first downs. Throughout the game, they were plagued by long-yardage situations on second and third down, often as a result of negative rushing plays and penalties. Cal converted just two of its 13 third-down attempts, while Riley went 11-for-25 with a touchdown and the interception. He was also sacked five times.

"It's hard to get in the flow when we're in so many long-yardage situations," coach Jeff Tedford said. "First down, we weren't making any progress on first down and really struggled protecting the passer today. When you end up in that many long-yardage situations, it's a very difficult day playing against a team like that."

It was a sharp decline from the first quarter, when the offense actually came out firing. Tailback Jahvid Best--returning kickoffs for the first time since dislocating his elbow against Colorado State--took the opening kick 51 yards to the Beavers' 41-yard line. Four plays later, Riley found wideout Verran Tucker on a jump ball in the corner of the end zone to give the Bears an early 7-0 lead.

But that momentum was sapped immediately, as Oregon State's James Rodgers found a seam on the ensuing kickoff and returned it 86 yards for a touchdown.

That was just the beginning of Cal's special teams woes. Later in the first quarter, Beavers wideout Sammie Stroughter returned a Bryan Anger punt to the Bears' two-yard line to set up a touchdown. And with the kickoff team struggling and Anger displaying some uncharacteristic inconsistency, Oregon State's average starting field position for the game was its own 45-yard line.

"Kicking game didn't really get too much going, so it kind of hurt us a little bit, put our backs up against the wall," cornerback Darian Hagan said. "But I think we managed to keep them out of the end zone as much as they were down there."

By most accounts following the game, the Cal defense allowed just 13 points on Saturday--discounting the two-yard touchdown run following Stroughter's punt return--and held the Beavers' dangerous tailback Jacquizz Rodgers in check for most of the first half.

But "Quizz" broke out for over 100 yards in the second half, finishing with 144 net yards and a touchdown on 27 carries.

"It's hard to hold him down," Tedford said. "He's a great back and he made a couple guys miss in the hole and you've got to give him a lot of credit.

"He wasn't making huge runs, but he was getting eight yards a crack down the stretch and leaving them in second and short, and that ended up setting the tone."

With quarterback Lyle Moevao possibly still feeling the effects of a strained shoulder that held him out of practice until the middle of last week, OSU relied heavily on the run, mixing handoffs to the shifty Jacquizz Rodgers with sweep plays to Rodgers's brother, James, and Stroughter. One fly sweep led to an 18-yard touchdown run by James Rodgers that put the Beavers up 27-14 with eight minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Best answered right back with an explosive 65-yard touchdown run down the sideline to bring Cal back within six, but that was the last time that the Bears would sniff the end zone. The touchdown was one bright spot for a rushing game that, despite Best's 116-yard day, netted just 85 yards.

Asked about the offensive struggles, Tedford had a simple reason.

"It wasn't anything scheme-wise," he said. "They just played better than we did."

Tags: JAHVID BEST, DARIAN HAGAN, KEVIN RILEY, JEFF TEDFORD, CAL FOOTBALL