Friday, November 06, 2009

SF Examiner: Bears' Riley gets chance to vanquish a ghost

Ron Kroichick

Kevin Riley remembers the highlight airing time after relentless time. He would glance at the television and see himself scrambling out of the pocket, going down, hopping to his feet and hurriedly tossing the ball at the referee as Cal's field-goal unit rushed onto the field.  Then the clock ran out with the Bears on the short end of the score, and coach Jeff Tedford angrily slammed his play card and headphones to the ground. Riley, with friends when the highlight appeared, recalled the room growing silent as they stared at the familiar images. He tried to lighten the tension by announcing, "Hey, everyone, I'm on TV!" More than two years later, Oregon State returns to Berkeley on Saturday for the first time since Riley's memorable mistake in his inaugural college start. Safe to say, he's at a different stage of his career - as the established starting quarterback, on an unmistakable roll as he tries to guide the Bears (6-2) into a top-tier bowl game.


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