Gophers-Bears: Jahvid Best, Late Picks Cost Gophers, Cal Defeats Minnesota 35-21

Glen Mason handed the Gophers an opportunity this past week that he had put in motion way back in 2002 when he still coached the maroon and gold of Minnesota. And until the beginning of the fourth quarter, it almost seemed like the Gophers would capitalize on it.

Unfortunately for the maroon and gold, the Golden Bears of Cal capitalized on their broken opportunities and put their fate in the hands of their best player, Jahvid Best, who finished the game with 131 yards and five touchdowns—two of them beyond 25 yards and the other three being two yards or less.

Not to take away from Best's game, he obviously proved he was one of the best in the country, but his five scores are NOT the reason for that (maybe the first two scores, but not the other three). He had his first game under 200 yards, ending a six-game streak dating back to last season.

But no matter, the Gophers had their chance as their best player, Eric Decker proved to be the player that kept them in the game. Decker caught six passes for 119 yards, two scores and even threw a seven-yard pass to freshmen quarterback MarQueis Gray for a touchdown. It seemed after that score, the Gophers had a significant chance being tied 21-21 at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

What made the game so interesting is that Brewster prepared those boys to go in with nothing to lose. The Gophers had played high-risk football, relying on an air game to Decker versus trying to stick to their running-game, especially when they were trailing in the third quarter.

It also helped that the Gopher defense had figured out Jahvid Best in the second half.

Until his final scores, he had barely scraped 10 yards together in the second half. With that, the Gophers can take away a little credit for holding one of the higher-powered offenses in the country at bay in the second half...at least until their breakdown midway through the fourth quarter.

Adam Weber had a decent game going 'til the fourth quarter. He had been throwing almost everything to Decker and was coming up big. Overall Weber went 21-for-25 for 252 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. One must look past the fact that two of those interceptions cost the Gophers late in the game, making their defense have the fate of the game against Best and rest of the Cal offense.

In the end, two late picks transmitted to two Jahvid Best touchdowns and ultimately a Cal win. Many would call this a whoopin', but I think people that say that just looked at the box score and were like... "Oh, Best had five touchdowns and Weber threw three picks...no wonder Cal beat Minnesota."

What no one will see or understand is just how close of a game this really was. The Gophers opted to play risky ball in order to hang with big No. 8 Cal and they paid for it in the end...however, that's not to say that Minnesota won't have their chances against other top ranked teams this year.

After three games against middle of the road Big Ten teams (@Northwestern, Wisconisn and Purdue) the Gophers travel to No. 5 Penn State and then to No. 13 Ohio State. It will be a tough couple weeks, but if the Gophers play anything like this past week, they just might just give the likes of Nittany Lions or Buckeyes more then they can chew.