Sat Nov 07, 2009 10:49 pm EST

By any measure, California had a dreadful night against Oregon State -- the Beavers quickly led 14-0 and ultimately outgained Cal by 200 yards for the game to stick the Bears with their third lopsided conference loss in six games. But none of the losses were worse than the spectacular and spectacularly painful exit of star running back Jahvid Best, who momentarily defied the laws of gravity and paid a very hard price on the Bears' only relevant score of the game:
Best remained on the ground for an uncomfortably long time, ultimately being carted away on a stretcher with an oxygen mask over his face; the early verdict indicates he does have feeling in all his extremities and is apparently suffering from a concussion.
Best is often compared to another all-purpose Pac-10 speedster, notorious end zone leaper Reggie Bush, and has gone airborne before. It makes for a nice picture, and if he'd somehow picked himself off the turf after this one, the shot would make Sports Illustrated and live on in infamy. It might, anyway, but hopefully as more of a cautionary tale than an enviable feat. Full-contact games are not made to be played eight feet off the ground.
Dr. Saturday is a college football blog edited by Matt Hinton. Email him tips and feedback.

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20 Comments
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It sucks that he has a concussion, but i'm sure he'd take that over a spinal cord injury.
One question though. He's now had 2 concussions in successive weeks, is his playing career over? Or will he just be out for the rest of the year? Something to think about.
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http://news.limauais.com/jahvid-best-injury-video/
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Shocking, i hope he's alright.
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That said, I think Best woulda been hurt on this play, regardless of the earlier concussion. Bad boink, for sure. When his arms and legs straightened out after the landing, I thought sure he had an upper spinal injury. A concussion is GOOD news compared to that. I hope the kid recovers 100%, although it's hard to believe he'll have the save level of confidence after a scare like this.
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Leaping over people is also a little unnecessary and I hope he comes through this alright. I'd prefer to see him run through people and at the very least, score on the next play. I have to admit, though, that one of my first thoughts were that I have both Stafon Johnson and Jahvid Best as prospects in a keeper league. I was like wtf.... me and my bad luck. But seriously..... best wishes, that was truely a scary injury.
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Jim Smith and associates
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