Cal's electric tailback Jahvid Best, once a Heisman Trophy candidate was diagnosed with a concussion after taking a serious spill against Oregon State Saturday night. Midway through the second quarter, Best rose high into the air to hurdle Oregon State safety Cameron Collins on the way to a touchdown, but fell onto his back and neck and was left immobile from the play.Best's helmet flew off from the impact with the ground and his arms immediately went stiff.
The running back was carted off the field on a stretcher and transported to a local emergency room for observation. According to Cal spokesman Herb Benenson, Best had feeling in all his extremities but suffered a concussion.
Best suffered what the team called a "mild concussion" last week against Arizona.
But coach Jeff Tedford said all other tests were negative.
"He's in good shape," Tedford told the media.
Video of the play after the jump.
For at least one Saturday, college football's prime time doesn't carry the headliner. Instead, it's the mid-day shift featuring games between LSU and Alabama and Ohio State and Penn State. Wouldn't you know, those overlap with our weekly FanHouse Saturday chat.
In the middle of a troubled economic climate, most Americans aren't seeing green but the college football world definitely is after Oregon's complete destruction of once mighty USC Saturday night. Our daytime chat missed the wreckage but we're welcoming everyone back for a discussion of that seismic event this Thursday, starting at 2 PM Eastern. There's also this little matter of determining whether LSU is a legitimate stumbling block for suddenly shaky Alabama.
There's no other way to put it. Oregon's football program unequivocally demolished longtime Pac-10 overlord USC 47 to 20 on Saturday, effectively putting the brakes on two major, likely never to be repeated feats the Trojans had accomplished.
Its the last major conference hurdle for two championship contenders -- USC and Texas. The Trojans are headlining with the Halloween frightfest at Autzen against resurgent Oregon. Texas must face Oklahoma State, the perennial challenger that has had Texas' number at times but failed to seal the deal in recent years. Something may just give and shake up the championship race.
College football has just slipped past its midpoint and finds itself with uncertain championship and Heisman Trophy races. With a scary slate of games scheduled for Halloween night it begs us to ask, is this a trick or a treat? Like that creaky floorboard and a rustling just outside your door, some of us perhaps cower at what might be around the corner -- Alabama's first Heisman? Texas and its impotent run game in the BCS Championship? Nooo, nooooo! we tremble.
So its week eight, and you've seen the initial BCS standings. If you're an SEC honk, its good times. If you're undefeated Iowa you're wondering why one loss USC is breathing down your neck. If you're USC, well, Pete Carroll's already had his say. But what about the rest of us? And does it matter since the only time it really matters is in the final standings once the entire regular season has played out?
Red. River. Rivalry. USC against Notre Dame. National title implications and plain old rivalry are at work in this great weekend for college football. Four of the game's biggest lightning rods headline the first two shifts. Oklahoma limps in but has a chance to regain its form in the face of recent losses to Texas and scuttle the Longhorns' championship dreams. Notre Dame's just looking for a big win, any big win, and what better trophy than rival USC which broke their heart in 2005 with the Bush Push?
Rivalry weekend doesn't usually happen until late November, but certain rivalries can clear that hurdle and give us a midseason treat. That time is now, with the annual Red River Rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma and the greatest intersectional (and lately, the only one) of them all, USC at Notre Dame just in time for the boys from California to avoid that wintery weather stuff most of the country suffers through.
If you can't enjoy this weekend, you can't enjoy college football. And that's a weekend without either USC or Notre Dame. Florida's trip to LSU and its dreaded night games in Death Valley is the clear headliner -- will he or won't he? - but there's much more to enjoy. Iowa and Michigan meet in a classic measuring stick game, same with Wisconsin and Ohio State. Georgia and Tennessee will likely engage in a slugfest. The Pac-10's 'muddled middle' sees Stanford facing Oregon State and Oregon facing UCLA. Lots to enjoy.
