Top 50 Cal Sports Moments -- No. 41: Corvallis Minute, 1988

A clock malfunction gave Oregon State an extra minute in the fourth quarter, and the Beavers rallied past the Bears.

Former Cal coach Bruce Snyder / 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: In the fourth quarter of Cal’s 1988 game at Oregon State, the game clock erroneously flipped from 10:00 to 10:99. Officials thought they had fixed it by resetting the clock to 10:59, but it should been 9:59. As a result, the teams played a 16-minute fourth quarter during which the Beavers rallied for a 17-16 victory.

THE STORY: The game seemed well in hand for Cal, up 16-3 the fourth quarter at Oregon State on Sept. 17, 1988. Only 15 minutes from victory.

Sixteen minutes, it turned out.

The game clock was supposed to go from 10:00 to 9:59. Instead, it went to 10:99. The clock operator saw the mistake and tried to fix it. But in doing so, the clock was changed to 10:59. Thus, the Corvallis Minute was born.

Cal coach Bruce Snyder didn’t know anything about it until a half hour after the Beavers had secured a 17-16 comeback victory. Initially unsure what to believe, Snyder said, “It makes it a hell of a lot more painful.”

The Bears were culpable partners in the outcome. Oregon State outgained them 173 yards to 26 in the fourth quarter. Beavers quarterback Erilk Wilhelm passed for 169 yards in the period, Troy Taylor managed just 13 for Cal.

The Bears had a field goal blocked, dropped an interception, lost a fumble, were whistled for personal-foul, facemask and illegal procedure penalties,  and surrendered two sacks — all in the final 2 minutes and 48 seconds.

“We just completely killed ourselves,” tackle Dave Zawatson said afterward.

But the extra minute made a difference, too. That became inescapable when OSU’s Troy Busanich kicked a 23-yard field goal with 16 seconds left, giving the Beavers a 17-16 victory.

* Top Moment No. 42: Dazzling Debut

* Top Moment No. 43: Anigwe 30-30

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