The Cal Football Fan

Today: Arizona State

The Bears are “hungry” for a win after two tough losses, aiming to return to form as they face #4 Arizona State tonight.

A win over the Sun Devils means that the Rose Bowl is still possible. Am I too optimistic? Probably. But today, I see the Bears looking sharp and ready to play. With new motivation and without the national championship pressures, I am making the homer prediction of Cal pulling the upset in Tempe 31-24.

Injury and personnel updates:

• DE Rulon Davis will be back after missing the past few games with a sprained foot. It was previously uncertain whether he would make the trip to Tempe. The pass rush has missed him badly.
• CB Brandon Hampton will be filling at the rover position for Marcus Ezeff, who is still out with a quad injury which appears to be worsening. The question is: who will see at cornerback? We’ll probably see more of true freshman Chris Conte and possibly RS freshman Darian Hagan.
• WR Robert Jordan (about to beat the record for consecutive games with at least one reception) will play today, and TE Cameron Morrah should also.
• Safety Robert Peele still out (ankle).
• OG Noris Malele is losing some first team reps to RS freshman Mark Boskovich.

Here are the media rounds for the game:

ESPN: “Top 25 Overview”

Arizona State hopes to continue its push into the BCS title game picture as it hosts Cal. Once title-game contenders themselves, the Golden Bears hope to right the ship after a two-game losing streak.

AP: “No. 18 Cal Looking To End Slide Against No. 7 ASU”

Back-to-back losses have dropped the Bears to No. 17 from No. 2. Meanwhile, Arizona State has leaped from No. 18 to No. 7 and inherited all of Cal’s national ambitions. Two programs headed in opposite directions collide in the desert on Saturday night. …

ASU hopes to avoid a repeat of last season, when a loss to Cal all but wrecked its season. The Sun Devils won their first three games before walking into a buzz saw in Strawberry Canyon. The 49-21 whipping by Cal started a three-game losing streak, and the Sun Devils never recovered, finishing 7-6.

“For me, I didn’t play too well at Cal last year and they beat us pretty good,” Arizona State quarterback Rudy Carpenter said. “This is a game I’ve been looking forward to, a little over a year now, waiting to get a second chance at them.”

Bruce Feldman: “Week 9 picks”

Cal 38, Arizona State 34: The Sun Devils have been quite good on defense, but they have yet to face an offense like they’ll see in Cal. Last season Ryan Torain ran all over Cal for a career-best 191 yards. He will be missed. I think the Bears make it five in a row in this series.

Minneapolis Star Tribune: “Saturday’s games to watch”

Cal RB Justin Forsett is second in the Pac-10 in rushing (116 yards per game) and has had a rushing touchdown in seven of his past eight games. … The Golden Bears are first in the Pac-10 in sacks against (eight), and third in scoring offense (35.1 points per game). … The Sun Devils have had an interception in nine consecutive games. … Arizona State is second in the Pac-10 in total offense (437.3 yards per game), scoring offense (37.7 points per game), total defense (304.3 yards per game) and passing defense (214.1 yards per game).

The stat: Arizona State is fourth in the nation in scoring defense (15 points per game). Line: Arizona State by 3.

ESPN: “California-Arizona St. Preview”

“We have stumbled two weeks in a row now,” Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. “We just have to regroup. We are not going to just pack it in. There is so much parity in this conference.”

Although the Bears have been sliding, the Sun Devils have had no success against them lately, dropping four straight meetings — none have been decided by fewer than 17 points — since a 30-10 home win on Oct. 7, 2000. …

Leading rusher Ryan Torain suffered a season-ending toe injury in the first quarter of the win over Washington. Cal has been susceptible to the run lately, allowing an average of 175.7 rushing yards in its last three games. …

Longshore had one of his best career games against the Sun Devils last season as he threw for 270 yards, four TDs and one interception. The Bears have not lost three straight games since losing the first 10 games of their 1-10 season in 2001.

Thoughts at 5-2: “There’s still a chance”

CC Times’ Jon Okanes: “Bears down but not out after slide”

Now that Cal’s players apparently have talked themselves off the ledge following their crushing 30-21 road loss to UCLA on Saturday, it seems they’ve regained some perspective on the rest of the season. No, the Bears aren’t going to win the national title this season, but they haven’t been relegated to spoilers, either. The Rose Bowl may seem like a long shot, but it’s still a possibility. And finishing with a two-loss season would make them a factor on the national scene no matter how the rest of the Pac-10 standings shake down.

“Everybody has to know that it’s not over,” Cal wide receiver Robert Jordan said. “That’s the motivation that will keep us in it, knowing we still have a chance at the Pac-10 title and to get in the Rose Bowl. Everybody just has to relax. The way the college football season has been going, a lot of people can still lose. You never know what’s going to happen.” …

“Everybody had their heads down and everything,” Jordan said. “We just can’t give up on the season like this. There’s still a chance. It’s not too late for us to compete for the Pac-10 championship. Everything will be all right, and we’ll beat Arizona State.”

Oakland Trib’s Gary Peterson: “Tedford dwelling on his play-calling, like Cal fans”

“Trust me, I’ve been awake a lot the past couple days,” [Jeff Tedford] said Tuesday at his weekly media confessional. “As a play-caller after every game, I go back and think, should we have done this, should we have done that? I’m not going to call the perfect play every time.” …

At the top of Tedford’s To-Review list this week were the two running plays he called near the end of Saturday’s loss to UCLA. Cal, trailing by two points, had a first down at the UCLA 35-yard line with 2:40 to play. The Bears needed 20 yards to reach the outer limits of the chip shot zone. …

“We’ve won a lot of games around here doing things the way we’ve done them,” he said. “I’m not sure we should change anything. I don’t think it’s time to hit the panic button.” …

One of the things that won’t change is Cal’s commitment to the run. For starters, Forsett is second in the Pac-10 at 116 rushing yards per game.

SJ Mercury’s Jon Wilner: “How did Cal implode so quickly?”

In eight stunning, perplexing days, Cal plunged from the brink of No. 1 in the nation to fifth in the conference. From a national title contender to the outskirts of the Bowl Championship Series standings. From a Rose Bowl favorite to a Sun Bowl wannabe. And from 5-0 to . . . a three-game losing streak? …The reasons for Cal’s plunge are numerous and somewhat unsatisfying. …

Year after year, the Bears have headed to Los Angeles with a lot on the line, and year after year, they’ve come up short. … During Cal’s six winless years in Los Angeles, UCLA has been beaten at home seven times and USC has been toppled in the Coliseum by Stanford. You’d think that Cal, which has had arguably the second-best program in the league over that span, would have broken through once - if for no other reason than chance. …

And yet, despite their October plunge, the Bears (5-2, 2-2) are not out of the Rose Bowl race.

It has been all of 10 months since a team made the Rose Bowl with two losses in conference play (USC), but the climb to the top of the standings will require help. The Bears need Oregon to lose again, they need ASU to falter, and they need UCLA to stumble at least twice. Oh, and they need to regroup emotionally, get Longshore healthy, find some answers on defense, hold onto the ball and run the table.

SF Examiner’s Glenn Dickey: “Cal alums should see bigger picture”

FACT NO. 1: Cal is two botched plays from a perfect season. …

FACT NO. 2: Jeff Tedford is the most successful Cal coach since the early Pappy Waldorf years, when the Bears went to the Rose Bowl three straight years — 1948-50. Waldorf’s last winning season was 1952, exactly half a century before Tedford’s first season at Cal. …

FACT. NO. 3: Since Tedford has been at Cal, the graduation rate of football players, which had been below 50 percent, has risen dramatically.

Reactions: UCLA 30, Cal 21

Yesterday, Coach Jeff Tedford’s losing record in Los Angeles advanced to 0-6.

I’m not ready to throw any coach or player under the bus, but changes must be made to salvage this season. The best way to describe the Bears on Saturday? Stubborn. That’s all.

Now, I don’t feel like repeating what has already been said:

Jason from EMFMV: “Wait Till Next Year (UCLA 30, Cal 21)”

4:00 PM: If you lose to a bad team, you are a bad team. Two conference losses in a row, and two games squandered. Lots of good excuses last week. This week? None. Cal can’t even beat this terrible UCLA team, a team coached by a moron. . . .

4:04 PM: Cal will fall to 5-2. Hey, is Steve Mariucci coaching? It’s got that feeling. Riding high at 5-0, and then… face plant.

4:07 PM: Game over. UCLA 30, Cal 21. Who needs to play in the Rose Bowl in 2008? Maybe the 50th attempt will be the charm.

Kevin from TBIOOF: “Game Over, Honeymoon Over”

Jeff Tedford did a remarkable job of being more conservative than Karl Dorrell. He flatly coached down to his competition. . . .

There is no excuse for losing this one. But we did.

For me, five remarkable years into the Tedford era, the honeymoon is over.

Ken from EMFMV: “UCLA debacle 1 of 5: I’m disgusted”

There is no excuse for the Bears losing to UCLA. To those who have said they have a newfound respect for UCLA, particularly their defense, one of two things is true. Either you had way too little respect for them or you don’t realize just how poor the Bears play-calling was. If I had to come up with a word for the Bears play-calling in the weak moments of the last two years it would be stubborn. Many pick the word conservative, but I think that is wholly inaccurate. . . .

The Bears should have won this one in a walk… but our coaches insisted otherwise, not because they were conservative, but because they were stubborn.

Unbelievable. Tragic. Disgusting.

Avinash from Bears Necessity: “Well, That Wasn’t Fun”

I can’t say I was surprised. The defense had been teetering like a house of cards for the past two games, and this time it fell apart (there were individual standouts, but the collective effort was gone). The playcalling was…questionable. Very questionable–so conservative it made Pat Robertson blush. I love Tedford, but two runs on 1st and 10 at the UCLA 35 when our field goal kicker looks more shaky than Byung-Hyun Kim?

Last week left me disgusted and bitter; this week just leaves me cold. All the doubters were right–place the Bears against a physical ground game and a fast defense, and they will be exposed. Oregon State opened the seal, UCLA busted it open.

Hydrotech from CA Golden Blogs: “UCLA Post-Game Thoughts”

*Cal’s run defense. Alright, plain and simple it sucked. Surpringly the stats say they only averaged 4.1 yards per carry. I thought it would have been more. … Poor tackling. Lots and lots of “hitting” and not wrapping up the ball carrier. . . .

*Our inability to run the ball. Yeah, we couldn’t run worth crap. Cal had a 2.2 yard rush average. Forsett had a 3 yard average which is sub-par for college football. This inability to run falls on the shoulders of the Cal OL, TEs, and FB. These guys just got out played. . . .

*Turnovers. Once again we lost the turnover battle and the game. Officially we had 4 turnovers and UCLA had 2. I suppose you could say we only had 3 since Longshore’s last INT was sort of a jump ball desperation pass. Nevertheless, the other turnovers are unacceptable. . . .

*Field Goal kicking. One of the most overlooked scorers on a football team is the field goal kicker. I think a lot of fans don’t realize the importance of having an excellent kicker. … Instead of us trying to make comeback, it would have been UCLA. . . .

While I do concede that [Coach Tedford]’s probably lost some games he shouldn’t have, he’s still a great coach. He may have yet to prove that he’s an excellent coach but he’s great. I don’t think it’s time to turn on him and just hope other Cal fans are reasonable in their criticism and don’t just let their emotions cloud their judgment.

Quotes from the team:

Worrell Williams: “We just have to keep fighting and never quit,” he said. “We don’t have anything else to play for but pride. Obviously, the national championship is out of the picture. The Rose Bowl is out of the picture. But we still have to suit up and play.”

DeSean Jackson: “We have to change some things up. I have a lot of confidence in coach (Jeff) Tedford, and we have a lot of playmakers on this team. We can’t wait until the last minute to start rushing around and trying to make plays. We’ve got to start knocking people out right away.”

There’s a lot of season left, but can Cal turn it around? We will see when the Bears visit ASU (#4 BCS, #7 AP) on Saturday. Let’s hope that the team, coaching staff, and fans stay strong despite these disappointing times.

Cal-UCLA TV coverage

Here is the ABC coverage map for the UCLA game, if you won’t be at the Rose Bowl tomorrow. Note that the match-up will not be broadcast in HD, just like the Oregon game.

Cal falls to Oregon State

The Bears experienced a heartbreaking loss today after an ugly and aggravating battle with Oregon State. Despite an opportunity to be the #1-ranked team in the nation after LSU’s loss to Kentucky, Cal fell to the Beavers 31-28.

Fans might be tempted to point blame at a backup quarterback (how could he run with seconds left? why didn’t he spike the ball?) and a true freshman (how could you fumble on that crucial return?) for their mistakes.

However, they played hard and showed great promise, and this loss shouldn’t be on their shoulders. Everything just seemed to go wrong, and painful turnovers spelled the end of the Bears. The Pac-10 officiating (horrible as usual) didn’t help either.

Now what? There is hope amidst the anger and frustration. The Rose Bowl is still very much in sight as we look forward. What do you think? GO BEARS.

P.S. Lavelle Hawkins is a stud.

A few links of note:

• Post-game quotes by Tedford, Hawkins, Williams, and Riley
• Video highlights from Versus
• ESPN College GameDay analysis of the game (see 1:15)

The media on Oregon State

ESPN’s “Top 25 Overview”:

After a bye week, Cal comes into this week’s game against Oregon State with its highest ranking in over 50 years. The Bears will have to keep their guard up as the Beavers have had success at Cal, winning their last three games in Berkeley

Bruce Feldman: “Week 7 Picks”

Cal 44, Oregon State 23: The Bears are very explosive, although I doubt they have the kind of defense that can win a national title. Still, OSU will be too one-dimensional to pose much of a threat.

SF Chronicle: “Beavers rely on speedy defense”

[Yvenson] Bernard is averaging more than 100 yards a game again this season and had the best day of his career two years ago against Cal, when he rushed for 194 yards in a 23-20 upset of the then No. 18 Bears in Berkeley. Two years before that, in 2003, the Beavers upset Cal in Berkeley one week after the Bears had handed eventual co-national champ USC its only loss of the season.

In 2004, Oregon State had defending national champion and No. 3-ranked LSU all but beaten in Baton Rouge, but three missed extra points, including one in overtime, sent the Beavers to a 22-21 defeat. Last year, Oregon State, then 4-3, finished off a major upset, ending USC’s 38-game regular-season winning streak when Van Orsow knocked down John David Booty’s two-point conversion pass for a 33-31 victory over the No. 3 Trojans.

Riley and Van Orsow use words like “confidence” and “opportunity” to explain Oregon State’s upset binge, and to get another one Saturday, the Beavers will need a solid game from sophomore quarterback Sean Canfield.

Contra Costa Times: “Bears and Beavers defenders want to bring the heat”

Both teams have reasons to believe defense can make an impact in today’s game at Memorial Stadium. The Beavers (3-3, 1-2 Pac-10) are tied for second nationally with 26 sacks, and with the uncertainty about Cal’s quarterback situation, they may be relishing the chance to bring the heat even more.

The Bears, meanwhile, can’t wait to make some plays against Oregon State’s Sean Canfield, who has thrown 13 interceptions, more than any quarterback in the land. “It has us licking our chops a little bit,” Cal linebacker Worrell Williams said. “If we can put a little pressure on him, get him in a bad situation, he might give one of those to us.”

This is not the game the Bears (5-0, 2-0) wanted to go into unsure about the availability of quarterback Nate Longshore, who is trying to recover from a sprained left ankle he suffered in Cal’s last game at Oregon on Sept. 29. The Bears had thought the bye week had come at just the right time and Longshore would be a sure thing by today. But coach Jeff Tedford is calling Longshore’s status a game-time decision. …

OSU is without wide receiver Sammie Stroughter (kidney) … Canfield, meanwhile, has thrown at least two interceptions in four of the Beavers’ six games, including five in a 44-32 loss to Arizona State.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “Pac-10 Notebook”

Oregon State started 2-3 last season… before rolling up victories in eight of its final nine games. So perhaps the Beavers are in for the same reversal of fortune this year. And haven’t they won three consecutive games at California? …

Oregon State “leads” the nation with 23 turnovers, in large part because Canfield “leads” the nation with 13 interceptions. It was considered a minor victory when he had only two against the Wildcats, but that number may have been low because the offense played conservatively in the second half and gained only 44 yards. …

While Canfield can’t make mistakes against Cal if the Beavers hope to pull off the upset, the more intriguing matchup may be the Bears’ offensive line against the Beavers’ aggressive front. Cal has given up only four sacks in five games. The Beavers average 4.33 sacks per game, second in the nation.

The Oregonian: “Swallow up the run”

…[T]he Bears weren’t overpowering in their last game, gaining just 115 net yards on the ground in a 31-24 win at Oregon. While the Ducks’ run defense is suspect, the Beavers’ run defense is the stingiest in the country, allowing 43.3 yards per game. Meanwhile, the Beavers’ pass rush has accounted for 25 sacks, No. 1 in the Pac-10 and tied for second among all Football Bowl Subdivision teams.

Those numbers tell Cal coach Jeff Tedford that Oregon State might be trouble in Saturday’s game, even though the unbeaten Bears are a two-touchdown favorite. “You watch these guys on tape, not only the rush defense but the pass rush, and they’re really, really good up front,” Tedford said. …

Last week, the Beavers suffocated the Arizona offense, sacking quarterback Willie Tuitama eight times. The Wildcats had a net of nine rushing yards in the game. … Stopping the run would be a good start if OSU wants to upset Cal.

Oregon StatesmanJournal: “Beavers have history of Berkeley wins; Canfield holds the key”

Another Cal rout? Another stunning Beaver upset? Here are some numbers that lead me to think the Beavers have a shot. OSU is giving up 43 yards per game on the ground, first in the nation. The Beavers also are second in the nation in sacks. Perfect! Shut down the run and then sack the snot out of quarterback Nate Longshore when he tries to pass. The only problem with that scenario is that the Bears’ speedy receivers will severely test a banged-up OSU secondary, and Beavers QB Sean Canfield still is putting the vise grips on coach Mike Riley’s mental health. If Canfield is interception-free, OSU has a shot. If he throws three, it could get ugly. I think it will be somewhere in between. Cal wins 31-17.

TV update: Oregon St (VS), UCLA (ABC)

Today, ABC announced that it will televise the Cal-UCLA game on Oct. 20 with a 12:30pm kickoff. The game should have regional coverage similar to the Oregon game.

And, if you missed the news last week, the Oregon State game will be televised by Versus on Saturday at 4pm.

Cal defeats Oregon, 31-24

In a tough, well-fought battle, the #6 Bears survived a relatively low-scoring showdown in Eugene, Oregon. With both teams coming in averaging well over 40 points per game and questionable defenses, it was expected to be an offensive showcase. During the first half, however, both defenses stepped up, and neither offense was able to find their rhythm. It wasn’t until the final minutes of the second quarter that Oregon was able to find the end zone for the first touchdown of the game.

The second half, however, was more of the shootout that everybody expected. DeSean Jackson had a breakout performance, catching 11 passes for 161 yards and 2 touchdowns. Once again, DeSean managed to fake out the Oregon secondary. On his first touchdown, he faked an inside route, then cut outside for a wide open 25-yard strike. On his second, he caught a short pass, stutter stepped, then exploded down the sideline past the defender. It was great to see DeSean come out and play like a true Heisman candidate. Equally important was Justin Forsett. Despite a slow first half, he managed 101 yards on 25 carries, including 2 touchdowns.

The biggest question most people in the country had about Cal so far this season was whether the defense could hold up against a top-ranked team. This game should go a long way towards silencing that crowd, as Oregon came in ranked 6th in the nation for total yards, 4th for rushing yards, and 7th for points scored. The Bears held them to only 24 points, half of their average 48.5. During the first half, and especially during the fourth quarter, the defense came up huge, coming up with the first two interceptions against Dennis Dixon this year, the first of which set up the go-ahead touchdown. Then came the biggest play of the game, the goal-line forced fumble with only 22 seconds to play.

On the offensive side of the ball, Cal struggled to find their rhythm during the first half, managing to score only 3 points. The O-line seemed to have a little difficulty controlling the line, as nearly each of Forsett’s touches had first contact behind the line of scrimmage. They looked much improved in the second half, as initial successes in both running and passing the ball forced Oregon’s defense to honor and protect against both aspects of the offense.

The scariest point in the game came with only about six and a half minutes to play in the game. With the score tied at 24, Nate Longshore was drilled from the side, his legs buckling sideways underneath him. It brought back flashbacks of two years ago to when a similar tackle took Longshore out for the season. He came out of the game for the rest of the drive, had his ankle taped up, then came back on the next possession. Despite being in the game, his ankle was still clearly bothering him, as he even had trouble with the kneel-down on the very last possession. Both Lavelle Hawkins and Robert Peele were also banged up during the game. Next week’s bye couldn’t come at a better time, as hopefully the extra week of rest will allow all the players to recover from injuries.

With so many upsets this weekend, and the win coming on ABC with the ESPN College GameDay crew in tow, Cal should be moving up in the polls. Oregon may also not move down very far. Here’s what happened in the top 10 this weekend:

• #1 USC squeaked out a 27-24 win over unranked Washington
• #3 Oklahoma lost 24-27 to unranked Colorado
• #4 Florida lost 20-17 to unranked Auburn
• #5 West Virginia lost 13-21 to #18 South Florida
• #7 Texas was routed 41-21 by unranked Kansas State
• #10 Rutgers lost 34-24 to unranked Maryland

The last time that 5 of the top 10 teams lost occurred back in 2003. Look for Cal to be moving up to #3 in the polls this week, and for LSU to gain ground on USC after their shaky victory. Also look for DeSean to move back up in the Heisman watch after his stellar performance, perhaps even as far as #3 behind Darren McFadden and Andre Woodson.

Links:

• ESPN Recap and video highlights
  
• Ezeff’s hit boosts Bears’ national title hopes - Mark Schlabach
• Final Analysis: California-Oregon - Mark Schlabach

Today’s test in Eugene

Here we go, with today possibly the biggest test of the season. Here’s some reading material while we wait for the game.

• Jon Okane’s injury/personnel update: Matt Malele is back, but Zack Follett, Will Ta’ufo’ou, Rulon Davis, Tom Schneider are definitely out. Closed practices this past week.
• ESPN’s video simulation of the game: Cal 42, Oregon 35. Scouts Inc picks the Ducks 38-35. Feldman also picks the Ducks 45-35, saying Oregon is the west coast version of West Virginia (note: Mountaineers fell this weekend)
• TBIOOF’s Cal-Oregon preview: this will be a war, a game so close that “penalties and turnovers will mark the winner.”
• RBBID has two responses to an Oregon’s blog analysis.
• Bears’ Necessity details a free method to watch the game online.
• ESPN’s feature on Cal’s offense being more than a “one-man show.

And just for fun, spotted signs on ESPN GameDay:

• “Les Miles, More Tedford”
• “54,000! Disappointed Fans!”
• “SEC: Soft, Easy, Conference” / “SECond to the Pac-10″
• “Fact: Dwight Schrute likes the Ducks”
• … more to come?

GO BEARS.

Coverage map for Cal-Oregon

ABC has released its coverage map for Saturday. The match up with Oregon will only be shown on stations within the white section of the map. While this includes all of the west coast and more, it would have seemed fitting to have full national coverage (ABC’s national 5pm slot is taken by USC-Washington State) for such a high-profile game - ESPN calls it “one for the ages no matter where you live.”