By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–Lose the Big Game in embarrassing fashion, fire the coach.

For the Cal Bears, the beginning of the week wasn’t the best, and their future remains cloudy.

But on a cool Saturday evening, hundreds roared on to the turf at Memorial Stadium to celebrate an unlikely win that materialized in a dramatic finish. That’s progress the entire university desperately needed.

“It’s a tremendous credit to these kids for staying together and doing it for the right reasons,” interim coach Nick Rolovich said after Cal’s 38-35 win over visiting SMU. “The staff, I mean, that’s hard on the staff, too, when you go through this.

“And for them to stay together and understand, we can go out and play this game for the seniors, and to win it like that in the fourth quarter, that’s something that none of us will forget. We’re very appreciative of the opportunity. Just an awesome, awesome deal for Cal football.”

Without the disposed Justin Wilcox, and Rolovich in his place, the Bears produced a spirited effort that gave them 24-7 and 31-14 leads as they took advantage of a Mustangs’ offense that uncharacteristically sputtered.

But when SMU mounted a response–three unanswered fourth quarter touchdowns–the Bears came up with a game-winnibg drive culminating with Kendrick Raphael’s two-yard run with 43 seconds remaining. A brief review confirmed that like Raphael’s body, the football also crossed the goal line.

SMU’s final push of six plays for 40 yards yielded a 52-yard, potential game-tying field goal attempt for Sam Keltner put it sailed right.