2 scary injuries cast pall on game
A terrific football game gave way to the sport’s brutality on Saturday in Berkeley. With the crowd twice rendered silent at the sight of a fallen Cal player, a vitally important conference matchup no longer mattered. Even the fans of the victorious UCLA Bruins had their exultation muted, at least for a spell, as the whole of the Memorial Stadium crowd pondered the consequences.
For the record, UCLA pulled out a 36-34 win, but medical recovery would be
the true issue at hand. The signs were encouraging as night fell, but the Bears wouldn’t be certain about the injuries to Chris Harper and Trevor Davis until they received official reports, most likely on Sunday.
Davis was returning a UCLA kickoff with 3:34 left in the game when he was brought down at the Cal 23-yard line by two UCLA players, linebacker Ryan Hofmeister landing hard on Davis’ back. It appeared to be a relatively ordinary takedown, but Davis rolled over, slowly relinquished the ball and did not get up.
Almost immediately, some two dozen Cal teammates gathered inside the sideline and fell to their knees in vigil. Before long, virtually the entire team had joined in. Agurney was rushed to the field, but nearly 15 minutes passed before a halfdozen members of the Cal training and medical staff felt secure in lifting Davis off the ground.
The Cal student section, looking to help in any way possible, began chanting “Tre-vor Da-vis!” and it appeared he was up for a response. Once lodged on the gurney, he began talking, moving his hands. He raised his right arm, to the crowd’s great roar, and there was rejuvenation on the Cal sideline.
“He said he felt OK,” head coach Sonny Dykes said after Davis was whisked away to a hospital. “The signs from the field looked good.” Linebacker Michael Barton said he and his teammates “just prayed to God for his safety. When he gave the thumbs-up, I think we all felt a little better after that.”
As play resumed, Cal went about the business of erasing that two-point deficit. Some progress was made. But with 1:47 on the clock, Harper caught a short pass from Jared Goff, stumbled awkwardly with his back to the onrushing defenders and took a wicked, apparently illegal hit from defensive back Jaleel Wadood.
Replays left little doubt that Wadood led with his helmet, straight into Harper’s neck, but there was no penalty flag. Not that it seemed terribly relevant against the incomprehensible sight of another Cal player lying motionless on the ground, but the referees needed to step up and make that call, and they struck out horribly. Nearly five minutes passed, some 49,000 fans gone silent once again, before Harper was able to get to his feet and leave the field.
Dykes said Harper did not need hospitalization and “we think he’s going to be OK,” but it was the nature of both injuries, to the neck and spinal area, that caused such great concern.
“I want to say that UCLA’s prayers are with Trevor Davis,” said head coach Jim Mora of the wide receiver who scored four touchdowns in Cal’s win over Washington State and became the first player in school history to return two kicks for touchdowns in a single game. “There’s nothing better than seeing him move his feet and give a thumbsup. When they bring the cart out like that, it just puts everything in perspective. These kids are playing the game they love, and hopefully the young man is OK. UCLA is thinking about him.”
This had been perhaps the most compelling game of the Cal season, a serious test met with aplomb. Although they were disturbingly outgained in total yards (567 to 366), the Bears were competitive against the preseason favorite to win the Pac-12’s South Division. Now they had a drive that could win the game in storybook fashion —“Win it for Trev,” as a couple of his teammates said afterward.
It came down to a long Jared Goff pass down the right sideline, intended for Kenny Lawler but intercepted by cornerback Marcus Rios with 51 seconds left. At least, that was the ruling on the field. Replays showed that Rios never had full possession before he went out of bounds, but the officials saw it differently, lamely confirming the call and effectively ending the game.
This was Cal’s annual Joe Roth game, honoring the late quarterback whose star shone so brightly in the mid-’70s, and his memory always brings moments of reflection. Afterward, one imagined, players on both teams focused on what it means to play this game, how a player’s health can be so fragile, and how frightening it was to watch the sport’s most unsettling aspect come vividly to life.