Cal running back Shane Vereen, despite his 193 yards and three touchdowns, was not named the winner for offense. That honor went to Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, who threw for 284 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for three other scores in the Ducks’ 44-41 double-overtime win over Arizona.

COACH JEFF TEDFORD

On the final few minutes:

It was very exciting. It was a great college football environment. The fans were into it. It was awesome. The place was rocking. I can’t tell you how proud I am of our kids.

On Cal’s defense

The defense played unbelievable. That’s a potent offense. We shut the run down and did a great job. I can’t be prouder of those guys.

On the missed extra point near the end of the game

It just goes to show you all the details. … an extra point is very important. My blood pressure went way up.

On whether he considered taking a knee even though Arizona had two timeouts left

We couldn’t. They had two timeouts left. We had to run. We had to make a first down.

On Arizona’s run defense

You have to give Arizona a lot of credit. Shane ran hard. He broke a lot of tackles. He played extremely hard today. Shane was a workhorse today, no question.

On conservative play-calling down the stretch

We were going to stay safe. We were going to run the football. Actually, we were going to try to get the football in the center of the field right there but the play broke outside. You can’t tell a guy to fall down in that case. He might score on that. We hadn’t played very smart. We threw two balls down by the end zone for interceptions. We weren’t going to take a chance.

On Giorgio Tavecchio’s saving tackle

Great tackle. We practice that every week. He’s maybe the worst guy at it. He did a nice job. Practice pays off.

On Kevin Riley’s interceptions

He was trying to force it. The first one, we never throw to that guy in that route progression. He saw a guy running wide open but didn’t have his feet set and underthrew the ball. The next one, they brought a blitz off the edge and he was trying to throw the ball away. The middle of the field was open, but he threw it too high and let the safety peel back in. He was trying to throw it away all the way.

On Jahvid Best being an honorary captain

I had a meeting with him yesterday and asked him to go out to be an honorary captain because I thought it would be great for the fans to see him and kind of give their appreciation to him for our last home game. I thought it was very important for the fans to see he was doing well. He was up for that.

On playing for a field goal instead of a touchdown

There was no way we wanted to come away from there without points and go ahead. Anything can happen when you get down there. We weren’t going to take that chance. We were going to run some plays where we felt like we could possibly break it and get into the end zone or make a first down. But we were setting ourselves up to go ahead right there.

On the importance of the victory

It’s really important. You hate to walk around all week long with a knot in your stomach. I don’t think the players walk around with a knot in their stomach, but I sure do. But I think it’s great for the players to be able to go into the Big Game, as well as Stanford is playing, to go in with a win and a win that was like that. That win wasn’t easy. That win was hard fought. It’s going to be a battle next week.

QUARTERBACK KEVIN RILEY

On his interceptions

Those two interceptions were bad. The first one was actually worse. Second one, I was just throwing it over his head for a throwaway. Their safety did a good job of coming off his man right away. The smart play was to just throw it out of bounds. I didn’t think there was going to be anybody there. The guy did a good job of peeling off his man and recognizing early. I definitely have to play smarter.

On having Jahvid Best on the sideline

It definitely means a lot. It was great seeing him out there. He was supporting everybody. He’s part of this team. It’s just good to have him back. It was good to see him out there.

On the reaction to the missed extra point near the end of the game

Everybody is celebrating on the sideline, and I’m like, ‘Guys, we’re only up by eight.’ Our defense stepped up today. People had confidence that our defense was going to do the job.

On his block during a 9-yard run by Shane Vereen

That was probably the best play of the day for me. Originally, I was standing there waving my arms, saying, ‘Shane, throw me the ball.’ I saw him come back. The guy didn’t even see me, so it was an easy shot.

On the significance of the win

It’s huge. Arizona is a good team. Coach Tedford read us some quotes where they were kind of looking past us. It was great to step up and show them who we are.

On Nick Foles’ illegal forward pass

I’m glad that quarterback didn’t know you could throw it twice. I learned that last year. Last year, I caught a pass against Stanford. I didn’t know.

On the implications of his mistakes

Third quarter we had opportunities and I just took us out of them. It’s just something you can’t do, take your team out of a scoring situation. I have to be smarter when I’m throwing the ball away. That’s uncharacteristic of me. When it happens, you just have to forget about it and move on.

LINEBACKER MIKE MOHAMED

On Nick Foles’ illegal forward pass

I didn’t really know the rule, but I just had that feeling that you can do that. I didn’t know for sure. I saw Tyson (Alualu) hit it and he caught it. I thought he was going to run and he pulled up and threw it. Something didn’t feel right.

On the defense’s performance

As a defense, we had a lot of fun doing it. We were being really vocal out there. Everybody was jumping around. We were one unit out there. We felt unstoppable. We were getting a lot of three and outs. Everything was just clicking. That is something we want to continue for the rest of the year.

On defensive problems in recent weeks

We just felt like we weren’t performing to our ability. It was big to get a performance like that. It really brought a lot of confidence that is going to help us next week.

SAFETY SEAN CATTOUSE

On the defense’s performance

I think we had an excellent game plan going in. We have a lot of belief in our coaches. We kind of had a different game plan that was special for them. I think it worked amazing.

On how the game plan was different for Arizona

Just knowing their personnel, the routes they run, their concepts, their formations – we had a lot of things to match that.

On defending the deep pass

That was definitely an emphasis this past week within the secondary. That’s just something we worked on with a lot of DB drills. We put in the work and it just really worked out. We stepped it up.

On Arizona’s final drive

We just had to do what we were doing all game. We were up so that took a little bit of the pressure off. There’s always a chance. They had a long way to go. We were just confident and fired up. We were ready for whatever and got it done.

On Nick Foles’ illegal forward pass

I didn’t know if it was illegal. I thought it might be when I saw him do that. We just tried to keep playing. That was huge for us. It worked out well for us.

On the defense being on the field a lot during the second half

Guys were huffing and puffing a little bit. It’s like, ‘hey, suck it up.’ We have to go. We have to get three-and-out. We can be off the field in three plays. That’s kind of the mood we had when we went out there. We had to step it up, and we did every time.

On having Jahvid Best on the sidelines

It was nice. We actually haven’t seen too much of Jahvid this past week. It was real nice having him out there. I actually didn’t know he would be out there. I was shaking hands and I turned and Jahvid was there. That’s cool. It was nice just to have him on the sidelines. Jahvid is a fighter. He’s going to be with us whether he’s with us or not.

On the mood of the defense after taking an 18-16 lead

As a defense, as soon as we went up 18-16, we just said it’s over. They’re not scoring again. We just had confidence as a defense.

DEFENSIVE END CAMERON JORDAN

On the mood of the defense on Arizona’s final drive

The defense’s mentality is if the game is close for a last two-minute drive, we want to be on the field. We like to know that it’s on us. We came out and performed well.

COACH JEFF TEDFORD:

On the loss

We got outcoached today. We got outplayed in every phase of the game. Give credit to Oregon State. They played great and we didn’t.

On Cal’s problems offensively

We couldn’t run the football. It seemed like we were in long-yardage situations a lot. First half, we had poor field position. We couldn’t make plays in the passing game. We just didn’t execute. It’s plain and simple.

On re-evaluating goals for the rest of the season

Win next week. That’s the goal. The focus was one at a time all the way through. That doesn’t change. We’re 6-3 now and we have a very good Arizona team coming in here next week. We need to regroup and make sure that we are ready. It’s our last home game and our seniors last time down that tunnel, so obviously there is a lot to play for. We need to learn from our mistakes, make sure we identify what they are and I have all the confidence in the world that we come back and have good preparation next week.

LINEBACKER MIKE MOHAMED:

On Jahvid Best’s injury

It’s a harsh reminder that on any given play this game can be taken away from you. It was definitely a reality check. You hate to see that happen to one of your brothers out there.

On the mood as the team watched medical personnel attend to Best

It was just kind of silent. I know a lot of people were saying prayers out there for him, hoping for the best. Once we found out that he was going to be OK, everybody started to get motivated and talking about finishing it for Jahvid.

On playing for Best

We went out there and ready to put it all out on the line for him. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out the way we wanted it to. It was really tough seeing one of your brothers go down like that.

On how Best’s injury affected the team’s performance

I thought it gave us a little extra boost. It didn’t work out that way. I don’t think we were down. Jahvid would have wanted us to go out there and finish hard. He wouldn’t want us to be down worrying about him. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work out.

On re-evaluating goals for the rest of the season

Now we’re going to try to go 6-1. It all starts next week against Arizona. You can’t overlook anybody. We want to finish out the homestand with a win and just take it form there. We want to close out the Pac-10 with another three wins.

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR GREGORY:

On OSU’s success in the passing game

A couple of (Cal players) got out of position a little bit. We didn’t make tackles and they do a nice job after the catch. I thought we were out of position a couple plays. I think also we were in position a couple times but I don’t think we tackled great all the time.

On whether the defense got enough pressure on Sean Canfield

At times, I thought we got some pressure on them. At times, he escaped. We did a lot of different things, three-man, four-man, five-man, seven-man. They do a nice job and he gets rid of the ball pretty quick.

FULLBACK BRIAN HOLLEY:

On Best’s injury

I’ve never seen anybody that high in the air on the football field. It was kind of like slow motion when I saw him fall. The way he fell, I knew immediately he had to be hurt. I went over to him and saw his face and nobody was there. I saw a blank stare. His arms were stiff. He wasn’t moving. I called the trainer. I didn’t’ see him move or talk at all.

On his reaction to the Best injury

That’s my tailback. I saw my tailback got hurt, I feel hurt, too. He’s one of our teammates. We’re a real close knit family, the whole program is.

On his reaction when he found out Best was moving his arms and legs

That was a relief. The way he fell, it looked like he could have broke his neck or something.

On being motivated to play for Best

We all felt inspired to play for Jahvid. We felt like we needed to lift ourselves up as a team and a family to overcome that adversity, like we know Jahvid would want us to do. It was hard to go on without him. You stay focused on the details on the rest of the game, but it’s still in the back of your head, wondering if he’s all right.

On fearing the worst

It’s easy to imagine it could have been worse. You hear stories about people being paralyzed on the field, and it’s scary. You don’t’ really ever think about it. You don’t want to think about getting hurt. When it happens, it’s drastic and definitely scary.

CORNERBACK SYD’QUAN THOMPSON:

On trying to play again after Best was carted off the field

If Jahvid would have spoke to the team, he would have wanted us to go out there and play hard. We really didn’t know what the situation was. Coach Tedford told us it was going to be all right and I think that was a relief to the team. Everyody just got fired up and wanted to go out there and play for him.

On OSU’s ability to move the ball through the air

Basically, they read the defense and found ways to get more of their personnel into areas where we were short. That turned out in big plays for them throughout the game.

QUARTERBACK KEVIN RILEY:

On Best’s injury

I was right there and I saw it. I looked at Jahvid’s face and it was kind of a blank stare. He was shaking a little bit. In high school I saw someone on my football team get paralyzed, so that’s kind of what I thought at first but then I saw him move and everything’s cool. Anybody goes down like that, it’s not a good situation and when its’ Jahvid — the best player on our team, and a good person — it’s tough. It wasn’t something you like to see, that’s for sure.

On what effect the injury had on the team

People might have been thinking about (Jahvid’s injury). They got some pressure on me, after that pretty big hit, there were times when I was a little antsy in the pocket.

On his perspective on Best’s injury

I was standing by the running backs. I was standing right there, I blocked the guy. You knew right when he landed that there was something, like the wind knocked out of him. It was a scary picture. His eyes were just a blank stare and he was just trying to breathe.

On resuming play after Best’s injury

Coach Tedford came up to us and said he was going to be OK. People wanted to go out there and win the game for Jahvid. It’s just a tough thing for anybody, especially for someone being the best player on your team offensively.

On putting things in perspective

There are bigger things than football games. I’m just glad he was OK.

On whether it was a relief to hear Best was moving his arms and legs

Once I heard he was OK, he was moving around, I felt a lot better. I was ready to move on with the game and get going.

On OSU’s defense

They do what they do. They don’t mix up too many things. They made some plays out there. They brought some pressure on us a few times. They’re a talented team overall. They just did a better job than us tonight.

On redefining goals for the rest of the season

We’ve got another tough team next week. We just have to work harder and get better. I have faith in this team. We’ll be all right.

On whether he was surprised by the team’s struggles on offense

Definitely thought we’d do a lot better on offense. They did a good job, made some plays, and we didn’t.

RUNNING BACK SHANE VEREEN:

On Best’s injury

It was nothing short of devastating. It crushed me. I knew when he was coming down that it wasn’t good. I’m just thankful that he is OK. It took a lot out of me.

On watching the medical personnel attend to Best

It was one of the hardest things I’ve been through on the football field. But I knew he was going to be OK. He’s a strong kid.

On whether it’s tough to resume playing

For a little bit, it’s tough. After that, you get yourself motivated playing for him.

WIDE RECIEVER VERRAN TUCKER:

On Best’s injury

I didn’t expect him not to get up. We’ve all seen Jahvid make plays like that. When he wasn’t moving, it hurt.

On the mood after the play ended

Everyone is yelling and cheering and then you don’t see Jahvid Best get up. Everyone in the stands was quiet. It was kind of hard getting everything going again. We were wondering if he was OK. But we wanted to use that as motivation. Unfortunately, things didn’t go well for us.

It continues to be good news for Best, who was wheeled off the field on a stretcher after suffering a severe concussion during Cal’s 31-14 loss to Oregon State on Saturday. Best spent the night at Highland General Hospital for observation and was released today. All of the CT scans and x-rays he took came back normal, and he was discharged and left with his parents to go back to their home in Vallejo.

Best definitely won’t play Saturday against No. 18 Arizona. After that, nobody knows. Best will be closely evaluated by team medical personnel on an ongoing basis, but as of right now, there is no target date for his return.

“He’s sore, but we’re all thankful there’s no severe damage and he’s going to recover just fine,” Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. “We’re very thankful it turned out as well as it did, because it was a very dangerous situation, a very dangerous fall.”

Tedford and running backs coach Ron Gould visited Best in the hospital Saturday night. Tedford said Best was groggy because of the pain medication he was under and he had a headache, but he was able to carry on a conversation with no problem.

Tedford also talked with Best by phone today, and said he was “just fine, communicating, seemed to be much more alert.” Teammates Shane Vereen and Brian Holley exchanged text messages with Best today and said Best reassured them that he was doing well.

“He just said, ‘I’m doing good. I feel a lot better this morning.’ That was about it,” Vereen said. “That was very reassuring. I kept replaying it in my head, so it was good to hear from him. You always want that little extra confirmation from him that he’s OK. So we were able to get that.”

Although Best won’t practice anytime soon, Tedford said he expects Best to visit the team as soon as he feels better. “I know the guys are excited to see him and can’t wait to see him,” Tedford said. “That’s what I told him on the phone tonight, and he told me to tell everybody hello.”:

Tedford said when he visited Best last night, Best actually recalled much of what happened on the play in which he was injured. He hadn’t seen a replay of it yet, but did see it today.

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One of the first things that struck me about the play that injured Best was how it symbolized his persona as a player. Not only is Best supremely talented, but he plays with intense determination. The touchdown run came at the end of a laborius drive where the Bears were struggling to punch it into the end zone. You just got the feeling Best wasn’t going to be denied a score.

“We’ve seen it time and time again, the things he does on a football field,” Tedford said. “The way he’ll sell out to make a play. I don’t think he ever saw the guy who pushed him. He was going for the end zone, no question.”

–Tedford reflected personally about what the situation was like for him, from watching as Best lie motionless on the field and then through the night and into today.

“We have a responsibility to these players. We love our players,” Tedford said. “To see them in harm’s way in any way, shape or form is always concering. Yeah, you lose a game, but anytime somebody gets potentially seriously injured, it really puts everything into perspective. That’s a kid’s life and a career, things like that. It was very scary at the time. It makes you feel blessed everything worked out fine.

“I was very concerned for him standing there with him. I was trying to comfort him when he came to — that’s a scary situation when you come to and there’s all the people around him. To tell you the truth, I didn’t even know where we were, I was so focused on how he was doing. The game at that point really took a backseat. Then when I was comfortable he was OK, I saw the team back there and went to them, made sure they had a good feeling he was OK, he was moving and everything. I know that gave them a sense of relief because they were very concerned.”

–Tedford said he received a text message from Washington coach Steve Sarkisian today. “He saw the play and was hoping Jahvid was OK,” Tedford said.

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Holley provided an interesting perspective on Best’s injury because the fifth-year senior is working on a thesis on cognitive dysfunction of football players. He’s spent a lot of time studying concussions and the effects of them.

“It’s a dangerous thing,” Holley said. “You don’t only have to worry about immediate, short-term impairment, you have to worry about long-term impairment, too.”

Holley said based on his research, there are 160 concussions in the NFL every year, and probably much more that go unreported. “It kind of reminds you how lucky you are to play and how close it is to ending,” he said.

Holley said he didn’t watch as much football highlights on TV after the game last night because the clip of Best’s injury kept coming up. “It was harder to watch SportsCenter,” Holley said. “I watched it once and then tried not to watch it again. It was pretty bad. I had the best view in the house when it happened.”

Redshirt freshman Covaughn DeBoskie-Johnson, who will now be the No. 2 running back behind Vereen, said Gould didn’t show the end of Best’s run when the team broke down film today. “He just showed him jumping and how the guy pushed him, but he didn’t show him land at all,” DeBoskie-Johnson said. “When I saw it on youtube, I was like, ‘Oh, man.’ It almost made me want to cry. He looked like he was about to go through a seizure or something.”

DeBoskie-Johnson said trainers and fans in the stands were in tears as Best was attended to on the field. “He has an impact on everybody,” he said. “Jahvid is a good guy. He’s not conceited. He’s not boastful. He’s a real humble (guy). He always encourages us. That’s something I really like about Jahvid. Him going down like that, everyone was said.”

–Lost in garbage time down the stretch: Michael Calvin caught his first pass of the season

–Wide receiver Nyan Boateng failed to catch a pass, and Tedford said he’s still not 100 percent recovered from his foot injury.

–Backup nose tackle Kendrick Payne returned to action for a couple plays after missing the past few games with a foot injury.

–J.P. Hurrell got some rare reps at linebacker

But despite the dearth of excitement, we march forward with some nuggets:

–Nose tackle Derrick Hill suffered a sprained shoulder against the Cougars. Jeff Tedford said Hill is day to day. The good news for the Bears is backup Kendrick Payne saw a handful of snaps yesterday after retuning from a foot injury. And Aaron Tipoti has played well in Payne’s place. That being said, Hill played at a pretty high level yesterday and would be missed if he has to sit out Saturday’s game at Arizona State.

–Tedford said kicking duties will once again be open for competition this week. Vince D’Amato has recovered from his sprained shoulder. Tedford was generally content with Giorgio Tavecchio’s performance Saturday, although he lamented a couple kickoffs that just made it past the 20. But Tavecchio had a handful of others that went to around the 5.

–Think Cal has had a big-play offense recently? Before Jahvid Best’s 2-yard touchdown run in the third quarter yesterday, the Bears had scored 11 straight touchdowns from outside of the red zone.

–Cal has moved into the latest BCS rankings at No. 24.

–Cal received 24 votes in this week’s Associated Press top 25, putting the Bears at No. 28 nationally.

That’s all for tonight. I’ll be back tomorrow with some complete transcriptions from the press room Saturday as well as some final items to wrap up Washington State. Also, tomorrow we will find out the start time for the Nov. 7 home game against Oregon State.

–It was kind of a surreal scene when the game ended. After shaking hands, Cal’s players rushed over to the section of seats at the Rose Bowl where Cal fans were and started celebrating with them. At the same time, UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel grabbed the on-field mike and made a speech to the fans, assuring them his team will not get down and keep fighting. Only problem was the Bears fans were making so much noise, I’m not sure how many UCLA fans could actually hear what Neuheisel was saying.

–Quarterback Kevin Riley talked some after the game about the nice block he threw at UCLA cornerback Sheldon Price during Jahvid Best’s 93-yard touchdown run. Riley said offensive coordinator issues “skull and crossbones” stickers to players who deliver a good cut block.

“I might be the first quarterback for Coach Ludwig to give one,” Riley said. “He’ll judge it. I’m hoping to get one. I was just jogging with Jahvid, saw him start to cut back a little so I just tried to get in the way of anybody. I was just hoping I wouldn’t get the guy from behind, but I got in front of him.”