Top 50 Cal Sports Moments -- No. 45: Safety Valve, 1983

All-America linebacker Ron Rivera’s defensive play in the final minute allowed the Bears to escape Texas A&M in the 1983 opener

Ron Rivera / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

As the Pac-12 Conference era comes to a close after more than a century, we count down the Top 50 moments involving Cal athletics.

THE MOMENT: After coach Joe Kapp took three points off the scoreboard only to have the Bears fumble the ball away at the Texas A&M 2-yard line, linebacker Ron Rivera saved the day with a safety that gave Cal a 19-17 victory.

THE STORY: In its first game since pulling off The Play to beat Stanford in the 1982 Big Game, Cal traveled to College Station, Texas to face Texas A&M in its Sept. 3, 1983 season opener. And this one proved to be almost as surreal.

The Bears jumped out to a 17-0 halftime lead against A&M, under first-year coach Jackie Sherrill. But the Aggies pulled even after three quarters, setting up a wild finish.

Cal was stopped on a fourth-down play from the 1-yard line with 6 minutes left but got the ball back and drove deep into A&M territory. Facing fourth down once more, coach Joe Kapp sent in placekicker Randy Pratt, who converted what looked like a game-winning 22-yard field goal with 1:02 to play.

But A&M was flagged for roughing Pratt so Kapp made a bold decision: He took the three points off the scoreboard and the Bears had a first down at the 2.

Senior linebacker Ron Rivera was initially puzzled by Kapp’s decision. “To actually have Joe take points off the board, my first thought was, ‘Why?’ ” Rivera recalled. “Oh yeah, we can score a touchdown and really ice this thing.”

That didn’t happen. Quarterback Gale Gilbert fumbled the snap and A&M recovered at the 3-yard line. The Aggies gained 1 yard on first down, and Rivera tried to anticipate what was coming next.

“You figure they’re either going to run some sort of dive play or a quarterback sneak,” he said. “Especially at that point, they’re just trying to run out the clock.”

Inexplicably, Sherrill called for a pitch play to running back Jimmy Hawkins. Rivera knifed in and tackled him for a safety with 57 seconds left that got Kapp off the hook and gave the Bears a 19-17 victory.

“They were in an ‘I’ formation, the tailback was deep,” Rivera said. “When they tossed the ball, I ducked under the tight end and made the play. Everything fell into place for me. To be honest, I was just guessing.”

Cal went on to just a 5-5-1 record in Kapp’s second year, but Rivera had a spectacular season, compiling 26 1/2 tackles for loss — still a program record — to earn consensus All-America honors.

* Top 50 Moment No. 46: Stolen Axe

* Top 50 Moment No. 47:  Chicago Seven

Only specific acts that occurred while the team or athlete was at Cal were considered for the Top 50 list, and accomplishments spanning a season or a career were not included. 

Leslie Mitchell of the Cal Bears History Twitter site aided in the selection of the top 50 moments.

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo