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Provo —Freshman Jonny Linehan made a drop kick with no time left on the clock as BYU defeated Cal 27-24 to win the Varsity Cup national championship.
It gives BYU back-to-back national titles and their 3rd in five years.
"I just wanted to play my game and my best game," said Linehan after the match. "That's probably the best I've ever played. I'm lost for words at the moment."
Linehan scored 22 of BYU's 27 points and none were more important than the three he scored on the game-winning drop kick. His performance earned him MVP honors.
It's the 7th time in the last 8 years that BYU and Cal have met for the national championship. Their last meeting was in 2011 which Cal won at Rio Tinto Stadium. Senior captain and three-time All-American Ryan Roundy had never beaten Cal during his career and dreamed of this moment.
"We couldn't have asked for a better game in front of a bunch of family and friends," Roundy said after hoisting the national championship trophy for a 2nd time. "Great game, I mean, Cal played a great game, great program. I couldn't have asked for a better ending to beat them and go out on top."
BYU jumped out to 16-3 lead but Cal would rally tying the game at 24 with five minutes left.
BYU advanced the ball deep into Cal territory and Roundy almost scored with seconds left. After a scrum the ball was passed to Linehan who had enough space to try the drop kick and the most important kick of his life went straight through the uprights.
"I was like, hey, I'm in front of the post. I'm pretty sure time is up. Let's have a stab and luckily it went through," Linehan remembers. "It's an amazing feeling for sure."
Cal entered the match 21-0 on the season but they had never played against BYU in Provo. BYU remains perfect against collegiate competition at South field since they began playing there in 2009. They lose several seniors like their captain Ryan Roundy and hook Ray Forrester but players like Linehan and football player Paul Lasike return to make another run in 2014.
"It's great because not only was it good today but it bodes well for the future," says head coach David Smyth. "To get an experience like this against a team like Cal you just can't understand how much it helps these kids and their development. Today a lot of kids grew up and they've got two or three years left to do good things for us for sure."
