The California Golden Bears fell just short, losing 35-28, in their upset bid on the road at Ohio State Saturday. A frantic fourth quarter, which saw four total touchdowns, was capped by a 72-yard touchdown pass from Ohio State's Braxton Miller to Devin Smith with 3:26 to play. The touchdown proved to be the decisive, as Cal turned the ball over on their final drive.
Ohio State led 20-7 at the half, as Cal had struggled to combat an onslaught of penalites, including one that brought back a touchdown that would have made the score 20-14 in the second quarter.
The Bears fought back in the second half, closing to 20-14 on an excellent 81-yard touchdown run by Brendan Bigelow. They would go on to take the lead at 21-20 lead after an 8-play, 46-yard drive ended with a 1-yard run by quarterback Zach Maynard.
The fourth quarter became hectic from there. Ohio State immediately answered with a 11-play, 75-yard drive capped by 3-yard touchdown pass from Miller to Jake Stoneburner. A two-point conversion put OSU up 28-21 with 8:31 to play.
It took two plays and 21 second for the Bears to tie the game. Bigelow got loose on another long touchdown run, this time for 59 yards, and the game was tied at 28-28.
Cal was given a golden opportunity to take the lead when Miller threw an interception on the next drive. Head coach Jeff Tedford faced a decision at 4th-and-1 from the Ohio State 25, and chose to kick a field goal. Vincenzo D'Amato missed his third try of the game and the score remained tied with just over four minutes to play.
That proved to be Cal's last chance at a lead, as the Buckeyes went on top less than a minute later to secure the victory.