Then, with the miss of a Texas extra point, the Golden Bears were trotting off the field with a wild 45-44 win Saturday night.
Texas
had stormed back from a 21-point deficit behind an electric performance
from Longhorns freshman quarterback Jerrod Heard, who set a school
record with 527 total yards of offense. His third rushing touchdown, a
45-yard burst up the middle of the California defense, brought Texas
within a point with 1:11 left.
But then Texas senior kicker Nick
Rose, who booted an 80-yard practice field goal in a video that was
posted online over the summer, shanked the extra point, sending it wide
right.
Rose left the field with his hands on his helmet. Heard stood on the sideline with his hands on his hips in disbelief.
California's
Darius White, who rushed the kick from the outside, insisted he got a
piece of the ball even though the box score didn't credit him with a
block.
"We saw on the edges they were kind of weak," White said.
"We knew if we went really hard, really fast, everything was gonna work
out."
Texas coach Charlie Strong was stunned by the loss.
"This
one hurts," he said. "An extra point is automatic. I didn't even look
... (Then) I saw one of their players running down the field and said
'Oh my God."
Goff, considered a potential top NFL draft pick in
2016, passed for 268 yards and three touchdowns for the Pac-12's last
undefeated team. Heard, who was making just his second career start,
nearly upstaged him.
Heard passed for 364 yards and ran for 163
and three touchdowns, becoming the first Texas quarterback to pass for
300 and run for 100 in a game since Colt McCoy in 2009. He also nearly
had his helmet ripped off late in the third quarter when a rushing
defensive lineman grabbed his facemask, but Texas (1-2) rallied from
that point, trailing 45-24.
Khalfani Muhammad ran for 164 yards for California (3-0), including a 74-yard touchdown.
California
seemed in complete control when Muhammad burst through the middle of
the Texas defense, breaking tackles and outracing several tacklers to
the end zone. The touchdown capped 31 straight points by California.
Texas
stormed back behind Heard. The home crowd got into the game when
California's James Looney grabbed Heard's facemask and turned his head
backward. Heard stayed on the ground for a few minutes, but got up and
Texas finished the drive with Heard's zig-zagging, sideline-to-sideline
13-yard touchdown run.
California didn't score in the fourth
quarter and Texas kept grinding out yards and touchdowns. D'Onta
Foreman's 27-yard run cut California's lead to 45-38 before Texas
started its final drive from its 19. Heard's long run for the end zone
had the game likely headed for overtime before Rose missed the kick.
Rose
had to stay on the field to attempt an onside kick, which skipped
across the field and out of bounds. Goff then took a knee to run out the
clock.
"It was a big win to go on the road and beat a power five conference. A huge win,"
Both
teams rolled up and down the field mostly at will. California had 548
yards total offense and Texas had 650. Goff threw two touchdown passes
to Kenny Lawler.
"We just assumed after they scored we were going
to overtime," California coach Sonny Dykes said. "I'm still in a little
bit of shock."
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