By Jay Heater
EUGENE, Ore. - They call it the ``Mayday'' play, which made sense given that Cal's season was swirling out of control on a wet, cold and windy day at Autzen Stadium. In this case, 59 minutes and 50 seconds of stumbling and bumbling had left the Bears needing a 53-yard field goal by Tom Schneider to break a tie with No. 15 Oregon. Schneider sprinted onto the field, crushed the ball perfectly and watched as his kick headed straight down the middle, then rode the wind wide to the left. The Bears eventually lost in overtime, 27-20, pushing their season wide to the left as well. The loss was typical for No. 23 Cal: It squandered opportunity after opportunity, then expected a white knight to ride to the rescue. After Schneider's miss, though, Oregon's James Finley caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Brady Leaf on the first series of overtime. Then it was the Bears' turn. A 2-yard run by Marshawn Lynch was followed by two incomplete passes by Joe Ayoob, who was nearing the end of another rocky outing. Ayoob's day was about to get worse. Facing fourth-and-eight from the 23, Coach Jeff Tedford called a perfect play, confusing the Oregon defense and allowing tight end David Gray to work his way free in the middle of the field at the 12. With nothing between Gray and himself, Ayoob threw a pass that landed closer to the goal posts than to Gray. ``You're facing a top-20 team at their home and it's already hard enough to win,'' Tedford said. ``You've got to make those plays.'' Thirty minutes after the game, Ayoob blamed himself for the loss. ``We could still be playing out there if I could complete a 10-yard pass.'' Ayoob finished 10 of 26 passing for 88 yards, with three interceptions, but it was not all on him. His afternoon would have looked better if his receivers had held onto the ball; DeSean Jackson alone dropped three passes. ``We couldn't make a play in our passing game,'' Tedford said. ``And we took turns . . . dropped balls . . . missed receivers . . . bad protection.'' The failure of Cal (6-3, 3-3 Pacific-10) to take advantage of opportunities wiped out some good individual efforts. Lynch ran for a career-high 189 yards, including a 52-yard touchdown with 49 seconds remaining in the third quarter that tied the score at 20. It appeared Cal was about to take control when Tim Mixon returned a punt 46 yards to the Oregon 45 early in the fourth quarter. Two plays later, though, Ayoob's pass to Jackson was deflected as Jackson jumped to catch a ball that was waist-high. ``I tried to cradle it,'' the receiver said. Instead, the ball was intercepted by linebacker Blair Phillips.
Cal's defense stopped Oregon (8-1, 5-1) again and the Bears offense got one more chance, taking over at its 13-yard line with two minutes left. Lynch ran 31 yards on a draw to put the Bears in good position, and a pass-interference call on Oregon cornerback Justin Phinisee set them up with a first down at the Ducks' 33. But then Lynch was stuffed for a 7-yard loss on first down, and a second-down shovel pass to Lynch lost another 4. Ayoob scrambled for 7 yards on third down before Schneider raced on the field and missed his kick. ``I thought we were calling very safe plays,'' Tedford said. ``But on the first one, we didn't get the edge bent and they stuffed us back. The next play went inside and they didn't rush. They were standing at the line of scrimmage. You just don't want to go backward at that time. But you have to give them credit, they got all the movement up front. They were in our backfield.'' Oregon quarterbacks Dennis Dixon and Brady Leaf combined to complete 24 of 39 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns. And it was Leaf whose pass was on target to Finley for the overtime touchdown. Cal, in contrast, could not hit when the time came. Early in the fourth quarter, Jackson broke free down the middle on a play it appeared might result in a 71-yard touchdown. But Ayoob's pass sailed long. ``It was a great call,'' Jackson said. ``But when I looked up, I didn't see a ball. It's just been one of those years for us. We have to fix things up and get on the right path.''
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