In addition to the obvious pushing violation on the 2nd ASU drive, there was the earlier on the same drive, drive-extending, “leaping” penalty on the blocked field-goal . I looked up the rules for this a couple days ago (and michias was nice enough to post the rule as well in the comments). It reads as follows:

No defensive player, in an attempt to gain an advantage, may step, jump or stand on an opponent. No defensive player who runs forward from beyond the neutral zone and leaps from beyond the neutral zone in an obvious attempt to block a field goal or try may land on any player(s). It is not a foul if the leaping player was aligned in a stationary position within one yard of the line of scrimmage when the ball was snapped.

So, just so we’re clear on the play, here’s what happened:

1. The Cal player of note is 5 yards (approx) behind line of scrimmage
2. Ball was snapped
3. Cal player takes 1 step forward
4. Cal player leaps straight up, still well behind the neutral zone
5. Cal player blocks kick
6. As Cal player is coming straight down when ASU player comes flying out from line of scrimage and knocks legs out from under Cal player as he’s about to hit the ground.
7. Penalty called on Cal player

So let’s break it down clause by clause to see if the Cal player broke the rule:

No defensive player who runs forward from beyond the neutral zone

OK, the Cal player in question does meet this requirement of the rule in that his step forward can be considered “running”, albeit a bit of a stretch, and he started from behind the neutral zone.

and leaps from beyond the neutral zone

Here’s the rub, right here. It’s the use of the word FROM. Generally speaking, the word ‘from’ is used when going ‘to’ some where. This is not always the case. I can call someone on the phone ‘from’ Ohio and it doesn’t indicate that when I’m done I’ll be somewhere else. However, the way this reads, it makes me think that the implication is that the leap must start ‘from’ behind the neutral zone and ends in the neutral zone. The idea being that all the linemen will be in the neutral zone when this forward (since he was running) leaping guy falls on top of them. However, taking the most broad definition of ‘from’ here, technically speaking, that’s not a requirement that he land in the neutral zone, so our poor Cal player continues to meet the clauses for the rule even if it wasn’t intended.

in an obvious attempt to block a field goal or try

No one would debate that the Cal player was attempting to block the kick so this clause is also satisfied.

may land on any player(s).

And sure enough, the Cal player did land on someone. Now, the ‘catch’ here is that he didn’t land on them because his jump took him into that person but because that person effectively ran under him while he was in the air. There was nothing our poor Cal player could have done to avoid coming down on him nor could he have anticipated that the ASU player would be under him when he started his vertical leap as the ASU player was caught up in the line at the time. So, as much as we’d like to excuse this clause, the reality is that it is indeed satisfied in this case.

So, when one takes the most broad definition of ‘running’ and the most broad definition of ‘from’ and the most broad definition of ‘land on’, sure enough, the Cal player did, as much as it is a stupidly written rule, commit a personal foul.

But here’s my gripe (in addition to the overly generous interpretation of the rule):

If we’re going to have this sort of a nit-picky call of the rules, then where THE HECK is the pushing call later in the drive. I’m OK that some refs are more sticklers for the letter of the law than others who take a more “intent” based perspective. What I’m not OK with is such wreckless inconsistency. It would have been the same ref who called the leaping penalty who would have been in perfect position to call the pushing penalty. And if that ref is going to be an AMAZING stickler for the leaping penalty when it is clear when you read the rule that while he may have JUST BARELY violated the letter of the law, he did not in any way shape or form violate the intent of the rule, then he’d better stinking call pushing in a case where not only was the letter of the law broken but also the intent AND the very strick interpretation that generally limits the use of the the rule in the modern era.

That’s the way I see it anyway. It was a bad call because it was a ridiculously broad reading of leaping and completely inconsistent with both the calling of the rest of the game and of how modern officiating is called these days.

It seems that the topic of pushing other players forward seems to be getting more attention with every passing year. Starting with the “Bush Push” in 2005, each year more and more controversies errupt about whether some play was legal or not.

Everyone agrees that the rulebook is pretty strick about disallowing any type of pushing on the player. The debate always swirls around the “current interpretation” of the rule and whether this play or that violated the standarding being used today.

What many forget is it is NOT illegal to push a would-be tackler off the runner. So, not only do we have the vagarities of the “current interpretation”, we also have the subjective issues of whether the fellow offensive player is pushing the runner or pushing the tackler. Sometimes it is clear. Other times, particularly in a scrum, it’s not so clear.

All of this is background for the ASU’s 2nd touchdown on Saturday. The fans around me, I sit in the portion of the stadium closest to that particular play, were all up in arms about the pushing. I scoffed at it because I generally take a narrow interpretation of the rule and didn’t see anything unusual there.

That is until I got home and watched it on Tivo… HOLY SMOKES!

I’ve never seen a more blatant example of pushing that this. Herring’s feet were LIFTED OFF THE GROUND for the last two yards of the touchdown run. There were two ASU offensive line guys who literally picked him up and effectively used Herring as a battering ram to get into the endzone. If you’ve got a copy of the game, watch that section again. It was MUCH more blatant tha it seemed from the stands.

That should have been called. If there’s ever a time the pushing rule should be called, that was it.

The entire gallery is here.

Some good running early in the day:

But generally the Cal offense was anemic early:

Riley gave it a whirl but didn’t really impress:

But in the end, Cal won going away, and the team was happy:

It’s that time, folks. Time for a waffle and some orange juice, as we wake up and start our weekend.

Oh, wait, that’s not it. It’s time for a Cal football game. At nine in the freakin’ morning?!

Fortunately for our correspondent Ken Crawford it’s more like noon — because he’s in College Park, Maryland at Byrd Stadium.

Me, I’m wearing my pajamas and sitting on my couch. But we’ll both be commenting on the game, live, as it happens. So stay tuned!

(more…)

Well, the first thing to comment on is the BYU-Washington game. Huskies down 21-28 and score a TD with 2 seconds left, but a excessive celebration penalty backs the ball up 15 yards for the extra point and it is BLOCKED. Would it have been blocked 15 yards closer? Who knows… but what we do know is 27-28 on a blocked extra point at the end of the game is a tough way to lose.

3:28 Boy, it would have been a BIG faux-paux to have yelled BLUE during the “rocket’s red glare” of the national anthem. Sometimes one forgets they’re not just in the stands…

3:38 The Wougs just came onto the field. They have their mascot lead them in on an ATV. Mark my words, someone is going to get mauled someday if he keeps going that fast through the band and cheerleader “tunnel”. He must have been going 50 mph.

3:40 Stadium is about 85% full of it’s less than 40K capacity just before kickoff. The ones who are here though are pretty loud and riled up.

3:41 Bears lose the coin flip… we’re doomed! (OK, got my ‘old bear fan’ out of my system)

3:45 (14:49, 1st quarter) Javhid Best sets the tone of the game with running a touchdown run on the first play. He had a HUGE hole to run through. Jason adds “well, that’s a table setter”. Score: 7-0.

3:48 (14:08, 1st) Syd intercepts the ball on a roll-out gone bad for the Wougs. This may be a really long day for the home team. Jason adds “Can we just call the game now?” Sounds good to me. Saves on injuries.

3:49 (13:29, 1st) Touchdown pass to Sean Young. This is too easy. Score: 14-0.

3:50 Jason adds, “I think the WSU quarterback thought they were wearing white today.”

3:55 (11:27, 1st) Jason says, “The trees are cut down, Cal is leading 14-0 after two minutes… did I die? Did I eat some bad mushrooms?” Yes Jason, you did. It’s those Chicago shrooms! WSU has to punt again.

4:00 (10:25, 1st) WSU crowd is loud for first time in the game on 3rd and 9 for the Bears. Pass is complete for 1st down.

4:03 (8:55, 1st) On 2nd and 10 out of the shotgun, Cigneti calls for a run play to Vereen who gets into the secondary before needing to make a spin move to evade the safety en-route to the Bears 3rd TD. This is getting ridiculous. Score: 21-0.

4:05 (8:40, 1st) But WSU decides it’s time to stop the ridicousness and breaks free on the kickoff return to get the ball down to the Cal 22. Here’s the first test for the defense. Jason adds, “That was a pretty important play for WSU, just to give them some life and some enthusiasm after that potentially soul-crushing touchdown.”

4:07 (6:44, 1st) Defense does their job and holds WSU to a field-goal. If Cal can avoid the big play like that kick-return, the Bears are still in great shape. Score: 21-3.

4:17 (2:43, 1st) Well done by WSU to punt the ball down to the Cal 1 yard-line. Particularly the gunner who got all the way down to the goal-line before the ball hit the ground. Many gunners make the mistake of going to where the returner is and then the ball bounces innocently past them into the endzone.

4:19 (0:57, 1st) Best is unable to slip the tackle enough to get that extra yard for a 1st down. That’s where you need the pass to be to a tight-end or a fullback.

4:27 (13:13, 2nd) The Bears are using a number of backups on this defensive drive. I think that’s a big part of the reason the defense isn’t fairing as well. Then the WSU QB gives Cal a gift and takes a sack when he could have easily thrown the ball away.

4:29 (12:14, 2nd) Rulon Davis blocked a 42 yard field goal attempt and then Follett returned it for a TD. The Wougs just can’t get a break. Jason adds, “Now that’s a soul-crushing touchdown.” Score: 28-3

4:34 (11:15, 2nd) One of the crowd raising things they do here in Pullman is to shout in Unison (led by the announcer) “COUGAR FIRST DOWN!” after each 1st down. It’s pretty stinking loud. Of course, it won’t do them much good to do all that yelling when a great swingout pass/WR screen is called back for holding.

4:41 (9:20, 2nd) Nice to see the Bears play aggressively when pinned deep, going for the play action pass down the sideline, even though the play didn’t work.

4:47 (6:00, 2nd) Somebody needs to tell the WSU QB that if you’re going to do the hurry-up QB sneek, you’ve got to actually hurry up. He got to the line and then sat there for 5-10 seconds allowing the Bears to man-up and get in position to stop it. Too bad for them, because the field position game was well in thier favor.

4:50 (5:25, 2nd) So, was that a broken play that Riley improvised well on or what it a really good looking fake that had the defense out of position? Everyone around me says broken, I lean towards fake. In either case it gave Riley a chance to show off his legs. Score: 35-3

4:53 (5:19, 2nd) Seawright is FINALLY getting his kickoffs far enough down the field to give the coverage team a hope at winning the field-position game. That one made it all the way to the 2 yard-line.

4:57 (4:54, 2nd) Wow, their punter is as good as Anger last week. Did they force him at gun-point to switch uniforms? Because Anger isn’t looking that good today. I think that his knee is not 100%.

4:58 (4:36, 2nd) Jason says, “I am getting the feeling that we may have found our Nate Longshore Confidence Building Opportunity.” Thinking that it’s time to put Nate in to get some playing time and his confidence back. That might be doubly true because Riley just fumbled and it gives Tedford an opportunity to punish him for the mistake too.

5:05 (2:57, 2nd) Syd is quickly becoming our next Damien Hughes. He’s getting that instinct on when to look back for the ball and make a move on it. That was a really nice INT. And a doubly good return right up until when he cut it back inside instead of going for the corner of the endzone. He would have scored for sure. Of course, that gave Best a chance to practice his direct snap for the TD. Score: 42-3

5:19 (0:20, 2nd) As much as it’s generally unwise for the QB to run while the clock is running down (and if there’s anyone how knows it, it is Riley), Riley would have been wise to run with two timeouts and an open field in front of him. Overall, not an impressive 2-minute drill by the Bears (so Tedford will have something to complain about to his players).

5:50 (11:28, 3rd) Man, if this interception by Hicks holds up across the review, the Wougs just can’t get a break. I mean it’s their fault and all, but they were finally moving the ball again. Play stands as called. Cal ball.

5:53 (10:38, 3rd) Is this the 1st half? Sure feels like some star RB ran back a big one to start the other half… oh yeah, he did. Boy is he fast. Most mortals would have been caught by the safety. Score: 49-3

6:02 (7:25, 3rd) Longshore is in. What do people think, a good decision?

6:07 (4:15, 3rd) Man did this stadium empty out. It emptied mostly at halftime with more than half the crowd going home. But of the remaining 20K or so, another 5K have left since.

6:16 (0:00, 3rd) Longshore has been looking pretty good so far. Of particular note has been his throwing on the run, which has been on target.

6:19 (14:24, 4th) I’m surprised we’re not seeing more of Slocum at this point. Vereen is barely a backup and is too critical to the offense to risk injury. Just about every other 1st stringer is out. Hey, as if they were listening, there’s Slocum.

6:23 (11:32, 4th) The WSU affliated reporters voiced their displeasure with Cal going for it on 4th and 2 from the 6 yard-line. Accused us of running up the score. Cal’s not the program to accuse of doing that.

And that wraps it up. Sorry for not bringing closure to the post during the game. Things get hectic in the 4th quarter as we have to get ready to go down to the field for post-game interviews.

All in all, a great game for the Bears.

Let’s kick this season off!

Kevin Riley handled himself quite well.

We saw a lot of speedy Jahvid Best.

We saw very little of Nate Longshore throwing to Cal receivers…

…but saw him throw to Michigan State defenders twice.

We may never see him throw again, however.

In the end there was a nice huge run by Shane Vereen…

…and after a last defensive stand, Cal fans went home happy. The Bears are 1-0.

See the whole Flickr set here.

And now to bed. More observations coming at a more decent hour.

I said I could post blogs on my iPhone, not that I could do it coherently…

Best: fast but I’m not convinced he’s great up the middle.

MSU snapping: really bad. More practice.

Cell service at Memorial: not good.

Longshore! Well, the controversy is now at an end. Terrible performance. No more excuses.

Cal defense: your traditional Gregory bend-but-don’t-break story.

Hippies unfurl banner on Panoramic Hill. “We Can Have Old Trees + Gyms.” Banner is on old trees. Now where’s my gym?

Now that I’ve had a few days to think over the 2007 season, I thought I’d give a few thoughts on what the biggest mistakes made that led to this 7-6 season.

1. Kevin Riley should have gotten more playing time: This is not to say that I think he should have been the starter for the entire time, but I am convinced that Tedford was ignoring how badly Longshore had slipped. The most obvious example is the 2nd half of the ASU game. Longshore started strong and then faded as the hits piled up to where he could barely throw the ball. Riley should have come in after Longshore limped off the field in the 3rd quarter. To be clear, I think Longshore was the right guy to start both the UCLA and ASU games, but Riley should have come in late in the ASU game. After that, it’s hard to know because we don’t know how Riley would have performed or Longshore would have recovered both with less playing time and the QB competition.
2. Tedford should not have been calling plays: This is a tough one to say because I think Tedford is a brilliant offensive mind and a great play-caller. All of that said, calling plays takes a TON of focus and really hampers his ability to be a head coach. Also, from the sideline, you can’t see a lot of the developments that a guy in the box can see. Often what is obviously a great play-call with the benefit of the view from the booth is less than obvious on the sideline. Tedford really needs to find an offensive coordinator that he feels good about and work really hard with him each week to design/script plays that can be used during the game. That’ll allow Tedford to both have the offense he wants and the time to be a good head coach on gameday.
3. Offensive line needed better blocking: This is one of the hardest ones to be very specific about with out spending hours pooring over game film as well as interviewing the offensive line coach. Who was at fault here? Were some players not performing well? Were they poorly coached? Was this just a transitionaly year after losing too much talent? It’s all very hard to know. What I can say is that they did not perform as well as their predicessors and there are a number of problems that plagued the offense that starts with the offensive line play. Just to list a few: Ineffectiveness on the goal-line and 3rd and short situations, Longshore’s frequent hurried throws, rushing difficulties in key situations/games, etc..
4. Defense should have gone to 3-4? Now I’m grasping for a final answer to our defensive weaknesses. There was discussion before the season that the Bears would use the 3-4 more than in the past, but through fall-camp it seemed like enough strong defensive linemen developed to not need that and sticking with the traditional 4-3 would work. However, the injury to Rulon Davis as well as the other minor injuries that plagued the defensive line, along with a couple of the guys not developing as quickly as everyone hoped, it seems in retrospect that maybe the 3-4 would have worked better. The 3-4 was used a lot more in the later portions of the Armed Forces bowl and I think it was a better formation for the talent this team had.

Those are the biggies in my opinion. I can’t decide whether #1 or #2 is really the #1 item because I’m unsure if Tedford would have more easily seen what was happening with his QB’s if he hadn’t been so focused on calling plays. Since it was the QB situation that was the symptom-level problem, I put it on top.

The good news is that I think the above problems can all be fixed and 2008 could be a very successful season if the Bears can just find the wide receiver replacements needed to round out what will otherwise be a very experienced team.

9:25 AM: Welcome to the Armed Forces Bowl! Who’s excited? Come on, I remember when Cal got excited about the Garden State Bowl. If you can’t get excited about a bowl game, it’s time to take some excitement pills.

9:26 AM: Ken: “Aw man, Fouts!?! Don’t we ever get a break from this guy.” You can’t escape Foutsy. He’s like our broadcast stalker. Get away, Foutsy!

9:28 AM: Foutsy is saying that Jordan, Jackson, and DeCoud are suspended. I thought they were just “not starting” today. Huh?

9:30 AM: Oh, ABC, I see — you screwed up and said they were suspended, but in fact they’re just not starting. Like we all knew hours ago. Way to not apologize for completely screwing that up!

9:31 AM: Ken: “Nice to see that at least one of the announcers knows what’s going on… Tedford love… hilarious.”

9:33 AM: Great first run by Forsett. I get the feeling the hometown kid is going to put up a whole lot of yardage today. Ken: “Great openning running plays by Cal. Nice to see the offensive line making their blocks and opening some holes.”

9:35 AM: Let me just say: When it’s fourth and inches, you don’t hand it off to a guy who’s five yards back in the formation. Lame. Good punt by Larson. Ken: “So much for that. Not making such great blocks on their 2nd set of downs. Can’t convert on 3rd and inches… remind me where I’ve seen this before. It also didn’t help that Forsett didn’t make the cut back to the hole that would have gotten him a 1st down.”

9:39 AM: Now that’s how you don’t defend the option. Just letting the QB run and not pitch the ball… eh. Not so good.

9:39 AM: Cal’s not wearing names on its uniforms. I know, there are all sorts of fabulous poetic reasons why you do that. Emphasis on team. Honoring our fighting men and women in uniform, yada yada. But in reality, it’s just a ridiculous uniform decision that should never, ever take place.

9:41 AM: Ken: “We have got to defend the regular option better than that. The corners and safeties need to do better than that at getting off their block.” My wife: “Did nobody tell them that Air Force plays the option?”

9:44 AM: Touchdown Air Force. That was uninspiring. Air Force 7, Cal 0.

9:44 AM: Ken: “Air Force is using a lot of chop blocks and Cal seems really uncomfortable getting out of them. If they can figure that out, they’ll probably do better…. but they’d better do it soon because Cal’s not going to be able to make a huge comeback and we’re already down 7.”

9:47 AM: Cal takes the kickoff and will start again. Didn’t we just do this 20 minutes ago?

9:48 AM: Ken: “Gotta love the double commercial: TD, commercial, kickoff, commercial… phst!”

9:49 AM: I’m not a big Dan Fouts fan, but I agree with him: why not go for it on 4th and inches at midfield? Ken: “I’ll tell you why, Jason, because Cal’s shown no ability to convert on 3rd/4th and inches.”

9:50 AM: Nice catch, Justin Forsett. He played that like a wide receiver. Let’s just give it to Forsett on every play.

9:55 AM: Going for it on 4th down, I don’t mind that at all. Good try. You gotta hold on to that ball, though. Ken: “Ugh… just when Cal gets some rhythm everything breaks down. And that 4th down drop was key… was that possibly a catch and fumble?” Phil: “Cal Football 2007: It’s… present.”

9:59 AM: Hey, look, Air Force is going for it on 4th and inches at midfield. What an idea.

10:03 AM: Course, I wouldn’t have called the outside option on 4th and inches, but they got it.

10:04 AM: Unless Cal figures out how to stop the option, this game is gonna be over fast.

10:05 AM: Ken: “There’s the real danger of the triple option: if the safeties bite too much, there might be a receiver or two who gets behind the defense.”

10:06 AM: Phil: “It appears ESPN is seizing upon the physical mismatch angle. And by seizing, I mean over-emphasizing.”

10:06 AM: Ken: “Wow, great defense on the RB pass attempt.” Unfortunately, it was followed up by more bad defense and a first down. Sigh.

10:06 AM: End of first quarter. Let’s hope for better quarters to come.

10:08 AM: Ken: “OK, that’s enough of the ‘Tedford love,’ let’s get DeCoud back in there.”

10:10 AM: “Suspended.” Foutsy… that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

10:10 AM: Foutsy: “Cal’s defense has no answers.” Unless the answer is, “run as long as you like.”

10:12 AM: And the option plays off, with a play fake and a touchdown for Air Force. Air Force 14, Cal 0. Hey, this is the 1-6 Cal team, not the 5-0 one. What a surprise.

10:13 AM: Ken: “Man, that 4th and inches conversion was huge. It looked like the Cal defense was figuring things out but after that conversion, Air Force got back to their 1st drive ways. I don’t know if the Bears have it in them to come back from 14 down, particularly against a run heavy offense that may own the 4th quarter against a tired defense.”

10:16 AM: Kicked high into the wind, basically an onside kick, and Air Force is about to put this game away. Ken: “No, no, no, no, no…. that’s EXACTLY what Cal doesn’t need. The 2nd line on the kickoff coverage wasn’t looking up to see that one of them needed to catch the ball.”

10:18 AM: This is going to become a Deadblog pretty soon if this keeps up.

10:18 AM: Phil: “Tedford’s already quit to take some other job, hasn’t he? And that’s why he seems so disinterested? I’m grasping here. I expect the camera to cut over to him on the sidelines, and catch him eating a sandwich.” To which I respond: if Tedford quit, it would have been after the Oregon game, along with the rest of the team.

10:20 AM: The option completely flummoxes Cal again, and it’s Air Force 21, Cal 0. Seriously, at some point the rules specify that if the score exceeds a certain amount I get to stop liveblogging.

10:20 AM: Ken: “Where are the stinking corners and safeties on these option plays!?! They’re a key ingredient to slowing it down and neither Syd nor Hampton is getting off their blocks.”

10:21 AM: Then again, liveblogging is not the problem. The game is the problem. Maybe I need to blog something else. My kids are playing on the floor in here. I could liveblog that.

10:21 AM: Phil: “The Year the Armed Forces Ruined New Year’s Eve.” The other way to think of it, let’s get this last terrible game out in 2007 so we can move to 2008 fresh. Right? Anyone? Hello??

10:23 AM: They had a month to learn how to play the option. And yet… this. So tell me, is that a failure of the defensive players to learn, or is it a failure of the coaches to coach?

10:25 AM: 18-yard gain for Forsett! Strike up the band! Whooo! Cut that lead to 14! Oh, I don’t have it in me.

10:25 AM: Ken: “Does Riley going in mean Tedford just gave up and is focusing on 2008 already or that he’s desperate to try something, ANYTHING, to shake this team up?”

10:26 AM: Riley to Jackson for a gigantic 40-yard touchdown. Wow, that was a great throw and a great pass. And then Jackson celebrates by writhing in pain. Ken: “WOW! Man, if this continues the Longshore haters are going to come unglued in the next few weeks. Nice evasion move to buy time to throw that ball.” Air Force 21, Cal 7.

10:27 AM: I suddenly feel a compulsion to join the Army. Phil: “If your kids want to join the army, please don’t ask them what is wrong with them. A message from the Army.”

10:29 AM: Oh, ad for the Rose Bowl, you mock me and all Cal fans.

10:31 AM: Reader Kat writes: “It’s 1996 all over again. *sob*.” No, no, Kat. It’s not 1996. In 1996, the bowl game ruined Christmas. In 2007, the bowl game will ruin New Year’s Eve. New Year’s Eve is much less important a holiday than Christmas. And honestly, this game will be over before noon Pacific, so it’s not really even New Year’s Eve yet. So, see, it’s not at all like 1996. Except in every other way.

10:32 AM: Ken: “That’s about the smartest thing (and it’s not tough competition) Fouts and Co. have said: ‘Playing defense is 90% about wanting to.'”

10:33 AM: Phil: “Why is the Air Force player lining up to kick away the ball? That’s very odd. I’ve never seen that before. Must be some wacky option thing.”

10:34 AM: Run, Riley! Run! That’s what a mobile QB can do.

10:37 AM: Forsett fails to find a yard (from six yards back, of course) on 2nd and 1, but Riley pushes over on 3rd and 1 with the sneak. Good call.

10:38 AM: Dan Fouts, please don’t sing!!!! Never. EVER. Phil: “No singing in the booth, Foutsy.”

10:39 AM: Riley to Jordan to the 15. Phil: “Beautiful pass and catch.” This Riley kid, he’s kind of good. Maybe he should have been playing instead of the immobile guy with the bone chips in his ankle. Ya think? Ken: “This is where I hate watching games on TV. Were these receivers this wide open when Longshore was in there?”

10:41 AM: Riley to Hawkins, touchdown! Air Force 21, Cal 14. Excellent fade into the end zone. Cal’s back in this.

10:43 AM: Hawkins, fronting for the 209! Hey, I’m from the 209! I need to write 209 somewhere on my person when I’m liveblogging. Maybe on my sleeve.

10:44 AM: Ken: “While I don’t think there was enough data to justify their passion, the Riley lovers are looking pretty wise right now. Let’s see, 3 punts under Longshore in 3 tries and 2 TD’s in 2 tries for Riley… hmmm… that data is getting a lot more clear.”

10:45 AM: Huge tackle by DeCoud, reaching out with one hand while completely covered by another player to stop the ballcarrier. Wow.

10:49 AM: Ken: “Anyone get the feeling that the team wants to play for Riley and they don’t have any intensity when Longshore is in there? Maybe it’s just a coincidence and the Bears are finally getting in this one or maybe it’s just that the offense is scoring that is helping the defense get back in this one, but something has changed.”

10:52 AM: Ken: “These rugby punters seem to be a pretty awesome way to go. They get 40-50 yards a punt and there’s no hope for a return.”

10:53 AM: Why not use a time-out there? Cal would have 30 seconds at the 45 yard line. Instead, there are five seconds left. Does Tedford not care? Not paying attention? Ken: “The coaching staff blew it again with clock management. We wasted 20 precious seconds by not taking a timeout. Now instead of having 3 plays from the Air Force 45, it’s just a Hail Mary moment.” Phil: “Is the ref ordering from an appetizer menu? It will take 12 minutes to run this last six seconds.”

10:58 AM: Ken: “Hawkins!?! You HAVE to come up with that one. That was a free TD! It hit you practically on the numbers!” Phil: “That was some kind of toss. Fouts had like every receiver trying to catch that. Including guys who had graduated.”

10:58 AM: Ken: “The good news here is that Cal is back in this one. Riley has sparked this team and only down 7. They can win this one.”

Halftime.

11:23 AM: And we’re back.

11:25 AM: Ken: “Well, hard to tell how much Tedford was bluffing on Longshore playing again, but Riley starting the 2nd half is a sign he knows he’s the right guy for the moment.”

11:25 AM: Cal needs to readjust to the Air Force offense. Giving up big chunks of yardage here.

11:26 AM: Option was played right, strung out, and then… there’s nobody out there to stop the RB. Air Force fumbles, but it sure looks like his knee was down. Time for a review. Ken: “And it, in my opinion, was likely not a fumble but not indisputable so the call on the field should stand.” Unfortunately the refs don’t agree, and it’s first and goal for Air Force. Huge call.

11:29 AM: “But ignoring the reversed turnover for a moment, Cal has lost their ability to put an assignment on the pitchout man.”

11:30 AM: Good defense on that goal-to-go series by Cal. Ken: “Now THAT’S how you play the option!” They covered the option perfectly right there. Air Force lines up for the short FG… good! Air Force 24, Cal 14.

11:32 AM: Ken: “Now let’s see if Cal can keep their offensive mojo going. That FG won’t be the difference in this game if the offense keeps clicking.”

11:38 AM: Roll on you Rileys.

11:40 AM: Ken: “What a leap by Hawkins! That’s the type of demoralizing play that’ll keep Air Force on their heels.”

11:40 AM: Riley to Jordan, touchdown! Riley’s got this offense rolling. Air Force 24, Cal 21. Ken: “YES! Now Jordan. THIS is the Cal Bear team that went 5-0. Where have you been my Bears!”

11:41 AM: That was a really nice drive. Lots of good plays that advanced the ball. First down gain, second down gain, third down conversion. Nice roll-outs by Riley, using his mobiity.

11:44 AM: And a big thanks from your friends in Berkeley to everyone in the Military-Industrial Complex for sponsoring the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl.

11:50 AM: Fourth down and Cal is induced into taking a time-out by Air Force looking like they’re going for it on 4th down. I wonder why that doesn’t happen more often — if you don’t want to go for it, just take the delay and then kick. But if you can get your opponent to waste a time out, why not do it? And if you do actually want to go for it, it sets that up nicely.

11:52 AM: They go for it and get it, because once again Cal didn’t have someone to cover the second option guy.

11:54 AM: Air Force putting together some good plays here, energized by that fourth down play. They’re on the goal line again.

11:56 AM: Ken: “That 3rd down conversion pass is right where Cal has blown it all season. There’s a soft spot in their normal zone that allows easy slant patterns to the slot receiver.” This is why they pay Ken to write things about football, folks.

11:56 AM: Nice stop by Cal. QB on the option, opted to take it himself. Wrong choice. Stopped, smacked, and seriously hurt his knee to boot. Fumbled, too, but Air Force recovered.

11:58 AM: Phil: “They need to get away from the idea that the analyst has to chime in on every play. Because sometimes there is nothing to analyze. So the analyst has to fill the air with empty stupid words. Don’t talk unless you have to.”

11:58 AM: Ken: “OUCH, OUCH, OUCH. That slow-mo shot of Carney’s knee should have come with a disclaimer or an ‘R’ rating or something. Sorry Carney, I’d hate for that to be the way you have to finish your college football career.” Yeah, that was a bad one. But Ken, didn’t you listen to Foutsie? He told us not to look at it.

11:59 AM: Field goal good. Air Force 27, Cal 21.

12:01 PM: Riley to Jordan for a zillion yards. Wow. That Riley kid can throw.

12:02 PM: Run, Riley! Phil: “Now fling the ball away!”

12:03 PM: Attababy Justin. Forsett walks in. Touchdown Bears!! Cal 28, Air Force 27.

12:04 PM: Ken: “Here’s the EMFMV trivia question for the commenters: when was the last time Cal had a lead in a game?”

12:08 PM: Jason’s hint: I was not in the country at the time.

12:08 PM: End of Third Quarter. Cal leads by 1! Can you believe it? It’s as if Cal exorcised the bad team of the second half of the season sometime early in the 2nd quarter.

12:10 PM: Answer: The last time Cal led, it was November 10 (more than 12 quarters ago!) against USC, when Jordan Kay kicked a 23-yard Field Goal to give Cal a 10-7 lead. If you were at the game, you were very, very damp. Me, I think I was eating dinner in the cruise-ship dining room at that point.

12:14 PM: Big third-down throw across the middle to Jordan. Wow. Phil: “OK, I’m sold on Riley.” Ken: “OK, here’s your Longshore/Riley caveat. Riley got both quarters with the wind at his back. This is the first time he’ll be going into the wind. Notice his first pass sailed on him. Although that 2nd pass was awesome.”

12:15 PM: Ken: “Hey Fouts! Suspended means ‘doesn’t play at all,’ you numbskull!” Phil: “The Buddhist Koan for Fouts — if they were suspended for the game, how can they tally big stats in the game. What is the sound of one mouth flapping?”

12:17 PM: Those receivers are wide open.

12:17 PM: Forsett doing it for the home crowd! 21-yard TD for Justin! Awesome. Attababy, Texas! Fronting it for the 817! (Yeah, I had to look up Arlington, Texas’s Area Code.) Touchdown Bears! Cal 35, Air Force 27.

12:19 PM: Phil: “And the 30 Cal fans in attendance rejoice!” Ken: “That’s the benefit of balance. Once the defense has to take your passing game seriously, all of a sudden those rushing lanes are a LOT wider for Forsett. Nice to see Forsett streaking down the field. It feels like it has been a long time.”

12:22 PM: I feel bad for Air Force, because they really seem deflated now with Carney on the sideline with a ripped-up knee. (And they’ve brought out the stretcher for him. He’s got to be cold, and in shock…) Yikes.

12:24 PM: Air Force general: “I would kill to have Dan Fouts as my QB…” Phil: “‘And I have. I once strafed the Chargers’ practice facility to make sure Babe Laufenberg wouldn’t play.'”

12:25 PM: Dumb personal foul on top of a fourth-down conversion, letting Air Force get back in this game. Please don’t let the old Cal come back. Please don’t let the old Cal come back. Please don’t let the old Cal come back…. Ken: “That was a bad call. He pushed him with his hands and shoved him. Evens out the bad call on Air Force for a similarly over-protective of the QB. It was a first down anyway.”

12:29 PM: Field goal, Air Force. Cal 35, Air Force 30.

12:29 PM: Once again feeling the urge to enlist in the Army. And fly a Bell Helicopter. For the Air Force. Against the Marine Corps.

12:32 PM: Big run by Forsett while Fisher DeBarry was talking. Now another big play and a penalty and here’s Cal in the Red Zone. Phil: “That’s a terrible penalty. Good lord.” Ken: “Wow has this running game come alive. Thsoe were two HUGE runs.” And Forsett runs away to the one. First and goal.

12:35 PM: Riley walks in… on the option. Touchdown Bears! Cal 42, Air Force 30. Makes you wonder what this season would have been like if they had kept Riley in after the Oregon State debacle, instead of going with the injured, immobile Longshore. Ken: “YEAH! Give’em a little of their own medicine by running the option! The haven’t scored 40 poings since September.”

12:37 PM: Phil: “Helicopters… we see them flying. But do we ever appreciate them? At Bell Helicopter, we do. Hi, I’m Frank Bell for Bell Helicopter. Our helicopters almost never plummet out of the sky. Not since the court settlement anyhow. If you’re in the market for a helicopter, please think Bell Helicopter. Or I’ll hunt you down with a helicopter.” (This was the last we heard from Phil before his screams were drowned out by the sound of the rotors. The horrible, horrible rotors.)

12:42 PM: Ken: “For those who care, Oregon and S. Florida are tied at… ELEVEN!?!
(both converted a 2-point conversion)”

12:45 PM: Fourth-down conversion failed, and Cal takes over. That may wrap it up. Unbelievable how quickly this game turned. You remember it was 21-0, Air Force, right? Wow.

12:46 PM: Phil: “Begin the milking of the clock! The greatest 7-6 Cal team in history.”

12:46 PM: Phil has cursed us all. Forsett fumbles. Phil: “Now I hope the Bell Helicopter people murder me.”

12:47 PM: Ken: “Air Force has had a lot of late penalties, a definite sign they’re out-manned, especially at a service academy where they play such disciplined football.”

12:47 PM: Ken: “OK, I think Cal still has this under control, but do we always have to go for so many nail-biter style points? Stinking fumble…”

12:49 PM: Air Force converts on fourth down. Ken: “There’s that soft spot in the zone again.”

12:50 PM: Touchdown Air Force. Shades of 1996…. brr. Cal 42, Air Force 36. Phil: “Worst 6-7 Cal team in history.”

12:52 PM: Air Force decides to go for two? Which… makes no sense. And then calls timeout because they’re confused. Buh?

12:53 PM: And the two-point try fails. Now if Cal kicks a field goal the game is out of reach. Strategery!

12:54 PM: It’s time for the Navy player of the game: Thomas DeCoud! Phil: “Who will now be forcibly conscripted in the Navy.” Navy — you remember us, we ruined Christmas in 1996.

12:55 PM: Phil: “The Old Navy player of the game is Kevin Riley. He gets cargo pants.”

12:56 PM: Phil: “Hooray, recovered onside kick.”

12:58 PM: Confusion reigns at the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. But while we wait, Kevin Riley has been named the player of the game for Cal. No kidding. He looked great. And tip o’ the cap to Carney, Air Force’s injured QB, who is the Air Force player of the game.

12:59 PM: Problem with the game clock? Don’t worry! Keep time to the rhythmic beating of the helicopter rotors!

1:00 PM: ABC’s showing us the big star trophy. Phil: “Shouldn’t the trophy be in the shape of a Helicopter? Or an armed force?”

1:01 PM: Third and six, Forsett blows outside for another big gain. 140 yards, two TDs for Forsett today. Pretty much the great showing I expected from him — what a way to go out at home.

1:02 PM: Riley, victory formation! Cal wins! Cal wins!

1:02 PM: Phil: “Winning team exits the field in a helicopter. While the losing team is left behind in Fort Worth while the government falls.”

1:03 PM: Game over. Cal wins! Final score: Cal 42, Air Force 36.

1:04 PM: Dan Fouts: “Perhaps a quarterback controversy next year?” Uh, no, Foutsie. No controversy. I think the performance today makes it crystal clear.

1:04 PM: Ken: “Final thoughts: What a difference a backup QB can make? I’ve long been a believer in Longshore and I just don’t get what it was that got/kept him in his funk as long and as consistently as it has been. But at some point, you just have to accept that he’s not coming out of the funk. Way to go Riley! Spring and fall practice will be VERY interesting. Don’t count Longshore out!”

1:05 PM: I’m counting him out, Ken. But one never knows. It’ll be an interesting offseason.

Thus ends our live blog. More to come, no doubt. And a long offseason. Thanks for being with Excuse Me for My Voice in our inaugural season.

Not a lot to say. Being far and away for the past few weeks, this was really my first time to see the 1-6 late-season Cal Bears close up.

Wow. They’re awful.

I don’t know who’s really to blame. Coaches? Players? It felt to me like the whole team just quit after facing adversity and losing a few games. I didn’t see a whole lot of heart out there today. I saw personal fouls and dropped passes. If this season reminds me of 1996 (5-0 start, 6-6 finish), it also reminds me in a way of the pre-Citrus Bowl Big Game implosion that ended the Bruce Snyder era.

So Tedford loses his first Big Game and, while it’s not logical, I almost wonder if it might be his last game at Cal. Logically he should come back after a year like this, and it would be ironic if he finally was wooed away after his worst year at Cal. I want him to come back — he’s just too good a coach, and if he leaves I fear we’ll be seeing a Gilbertsonian-type slide back into oblivion. Crossing fingers.

As for this team, I don’t really need to see more. Unfortunately, the vagaries of bowl scheduling mean that Cal will be playing one more game. Maybe they can view it as a stepping stone to next season. Or maybe they can keep playing the way they have the past two months and finish 6-7, cementing the status of the 2007 Cal Bears for what they truly are: losers.

Jim Harbaugh, please enjoy this axe, suitable for hanging on a wall or parading around a tony private university campus, with our compliments.

OK, here we go Bears fans… it’s raining, it’s cold and the Bears need a win badly:

• For starters I’m surprised that this game is on ABC. It definitely reflects how few Pac-10 games there are this week.
• As expected, Locker isn’t playing, Carl Bonnel will start… isn’t that the same guy who gave us trouble last year?
• TV commentary says “Longshore finally heathy”… I’ll believe it when I see it.
• Got to love those bogus stats: “Willmingham has beat Cal 7 of the 9 times he has played them”… um… yeah, back when he was the head coach of Stanford. Against different coaching staffs. What does that have to do with anything?
• Kay kicked off!?! Isn’t that usually Larson’s job?
• Ugh…. that kind of run defense is going to make for a long game. Definite over-pursuit by the linebackers. That’s the same thing that killed them against UCLA. Huskys in Cal territory on one play.
• 1st and goal from the 9. Thankfully it’s the 9, but lets be honest, this is a REALLY bad start for the Bears defense.
• GAH! That was WAY too easy. Cal is going to have to entirely rework their inside run defense if they’re going to hold the Huskys: 0-7
• Make them re-kick!… YES!!!
• Well we only got an extra 6 yards but it’s clear there is opportunity for more.
• This offensive line has been a HUGE run blocking disappointment. I’ve never known of a team with such good pocket protection and such horrible run blocking.
• GAH! We can’t have penalties like that. (Delay of game) That was a first down given away.
• And now we’re punting on a 3 and out… that doesn’t give the defense much time to scheme and fix their run problems. Thankfully it’s a comercial break to give them a little more time.
• This is making it look like USC’s ability to run the ball last week had less to do with USC and more to do with Cal’s defensive line.
• Cal really loading the box now… sets up a big play-action opportunity. Of course as long Moye is missing tackles like that on the reverse, they may never have to throw.
• Really slippery ball today. That’s 3 bobbles/fumbles in two plays.
• This is just ridiculously horrible. This run defense S.T.I.N.K.S. so far. They’ve only thrown the ball once on this drive and they’re still destroying the Bears and dragging people into the endzone: 0-14
• So to recap, we’ve got two entirely on the ground drives by UW that bookmarks a pretty pathetic 3 and out by the Bears. If this doesn’t change soon this is going to be the worst loss of the Tedford era. There’s your AF-LACK trivia question for you: What’s the Bears worst loss of the Tedford era?
• I’ve been really disappointed by Cal’s kickoff runbacks in the 2nd half of the season, particularly by Hawkins. There’s been far too much delaying and stutter stepping and not enough RUNNING!
• Good to see that the Cal running game is starting to get some traction… but it won’t matter unless the defense can improve.
• Now THAT’S the type of play action Cal needs! Way to go both Longshore throwing on the move and DeSean both getting open and making the most of the opportunity.
• OK, into the redzone. Let’s count the runs and passes. Come on Tedford! Now is the time to pass-first!
• YESSSSS!!!!!!!!! See what I’m talking about? These defenses are biting SO hard on the run game in the redzone that the passing game has all kinds of room to navigate.
• Ugh… that missed extra point may come back to bite us later. Gonna need a 2-point conversion at some point (maybe anyway).
• Hey, was that some heat coming through the line for the Cal defense? Miracle of miracles. Maybe Cal has got some heart back.
• Great defensive series for the Bears. Good pass pressure, good run stopping, good coverage down-field. Here’s hoping for a turn around.
• End of first quarter recap: Washington owned the ground on their first two possessions driving for two easy TDs. Cal seems to have dug deep and drove for a TD themselves and then held the Huskys to a 3 and out. Good old Mo’ is in Cal’s corner right now.
• Two good 3rd and short runs by Forsett to keep this 3rd Cal drive alive.
• Here’s a key 4th down from the UW 45… review… nope, that was not a 1st down, they’re wasting our time with this review.
• Just so it’s out there, I’m OK with a QB sneak… well, that run by Forsett worked well too.
• YES!!! Yet again going to the air in the redzone and a 2nd TD: 13-14… the only thing separating the Bears and Huskys now is a bad extra-point snap/hold.
• Hicks my man, how can you miss that interception!?! Boy would that have been sweet.
• Yet another great series by the Cal defense. Cal now gets the ball back with an opportunity to take the lead after a DeSean punt return that made a little something out of nothing on a booming punt.
• Ugh… Longshore’s obligatory “ill-advised decision” happens in a bad spot. Come on Defense! Bail us out.
• Let’s not be too harsh on Longshore for that one. Every QB gets one mistake a game.
• I get the feeling the Cal defense is not very well conditioned because it seems like the Cal offense giving them time to rest makes an unusually huge difference in their defensive strength. Yeah, they were given a rough situation in this instance, just a few seconds off, but there’s been a trend of this all season: 13-21 (on the short-field TD for UW)
• I used to pride myself in the WR blocking for Cal, but this year these WRs have lost what they used to have. That out to DeSean should have been a 5-10 yarder if Jordan could have blocked his guy. Instead it’s a 10 yard illegal block penalty on a block that didn’t even spring the play loose.
• Forsett, don’t run sideways/backwards!
• Some comercial time analysis: The Bears are back in this game and seem to be playing with heart. Yes the Longshore mistake hurt the Bears but they’re still only down 8 in the middle of the 2nd quarter with a great deal to be hopeful about. Let’s see if the defense can continue to step up because that will be the key to giving a start-and-go offense the opportunities they need to catch up.
• That holding penalty was key. Washington had the running game going again when they were put back to 1st and 20. Three incompletes later (with good pressure on the QB I might add) UW was punting.
• What a great run by Forsett… ah Fouts… a Forrest Gump reference, really?
• Let’s see, three redzone apperances and we’ve got 3 TD’s on 3 passes (and zero runs). I bet you next time Cal is in the redzone there might be some run plays and there will be a lot more running room than in past games: 20-21
• OK, I probably agree that Hampton touched the ball, but the TV commentators have WAY too much confidence in the “no question it hit his hands”. It was pretty marginal. I could see it going either way… OK defense. Do it again.
• That sack was huge because it used their last timeout. That means it’s all pass plays from here on out. Just ask Riley on the sideline, he’ll tell you why.
• Ugh… that hurts. I really though the Bears would hold to the field goal. That was wise of UW to pick on Conte. He’s a young kid and doesn’t know how to defend the fade route yet to be able to stop that: 20-28
• IDIOT TV COMMENTATORS. The Bears will get the ball to start the 2nd half.
• Halftime analysis: Two turnovers deep in Cal territory has led to 14 UW points. Seeing as how Washington has been completely ineffective otherwise after their first two drives where the Cal defense couldn’t stop the run game, I think there is a lot to be hopeful about. The Bears are dominating on both sides of the ball ever since the mid-1st quarter. As long as they can keep the mistakes to a minimum in the 2nd half and I think the Bears win this one running away with it late in the game. The 8-point deficit is the least of the Bears concerns at this point. All they have to do is play the way they did in the 2nd quarter minus the mistakes.
• I guess I should change that above statement: IDIOT TEAM CAPTAIN! That stinks.
• Um… we can’t afford for the beginning of the 2nd half to go like the beginning of the 1st half… what’s going on guys?
• So the way I see it, between kicking twice and that big run, Cal just spotted UW another 3 points, now down by 11: 20-31.
• FINALLY a down-field pass! Now let’s see if the Bears can finally punch it in. Please, please, please pass the ball.
• See, now the Bears are up a creek. If they pass early, they’re keeping the defense who is expecting a run on their heals. But now that it’s 3rd and goal from the 4 and it’s clearly a passing play making it much more difficult. The result, they’ve got to kick the FG: 23-31
• At least the defense is back on track and forces a 3 and out. The open receivers are a little troublesome but it’s a 3 and out nevertheless.
• I think the big question: When do the Bears go for 2?… perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself, but to some extent the game is settling down and there may not be as may future scoring opportunities as the 1st half would indicate. Of course as soon as I say that the Bears go 3 and out.
• This is trouble. This defense looks tired. Another series where the 3 and out exposes their conditioning issues.
• How horrible is that? That “intentional grounding” went wrong on so many levels. Not only would the Bears have picked it up, The replay should have looked at that and pushed them back another 8-10 yards to where the ball was when it was called dead. And then how can they give up a 1st down on 3rd and 24!?! Conte has potential but boy is he young. Hampton really has blown it to lose his starting job to a guy as young as Conte.
• OK, now it’s time to start worrying. 11 points with the vast majority of the 3rd quarter behind us and the offense not dominating like they were before… it’s starting to look a little bleak after that field-goal: 23-34.
• These refs are horrible and I’ve seen this over and over this year. They seem to presume it is a fumble and let the replay booth overturn it. But because there must be conclusive evidence, anything marginal is considered a fumble. That ball was knocked out by the ground. It was obvious to me at full speed and it’s doubly obvious in slow-motion.
• Further proof in the final result: the ridiculous play stands.
• That 4th down stop was HUGE. Breathed some life into a growingly desperate situation.
• What did I say at halftime: Need to keep the mistakes to a minimum. These penalties and miscues are killing the Bears.
• How can we be running the ball on 3rd and 34? Why not do what UW did and just air it out and hope to get lucky like they did.
• THESE STINKING REFS ARE BLIND TODAY! Not only are the Bears stinking it up but we’re getting screwed by the refs too. They’d better overturn this one.
• And so is the replay booth. This is just ridiculous.
• OK, this is what it comes down to: 3 drives at the most, no extra points to give. They MUST get two touchdowns.
• Hawkins has GOT to catch that ball!!! That kills.
• There’s never been a more critical time for a 3 and out for the Bears… and it’s not happening. They’re only 10 yards from FG range to put this game away.
• Under 4 minutes now… we’re nearly at on-side kick time if the Bears can close this one up on the next drive.
• That’s pretty much the game right there. First down with 2:35 to go inside FG range… call the fat lady.
• Oh, while we’re fuming, here’s some fuel to throw on the fire: Washington’s only Pac-10 win before this was over lowly Stanford… they’re the bottom of the Pac-10.

Final analysis: My pre-game analysis was correct. The Bears would decide who won this game. If they could play anywhere even close to their potential they’d win. If they didn’t, they’d lose. During those periods that Cal played reasonably, they dominated. But they came out of the tunnel flat and gave up 14 quick points, then another 14 off of stupid turnovers, and that was all UW needed to win (as the Bears only scored 23). Beyond that, this game is on the defense’s back. They let the UW running game run all over them even when it was blatently obvious that they were going to the running game (like on the last drive).

I’ve been pretty forgiving of the defense in past games saying that they have been holding the opposition to the low 20’s. Well guess what, 37 ain’t the low 20’s. And it was against the bottom of the Pac-10.

This is seriously the most frustrating season for me in my memory. Even 1-11 wasn’t as frustrating to me. I was only expecting 3 or 4 wins out of that team. It’s twice as ridiculous that this team is guaranteed to have a losing Pac-10 record and has to pull out a win against Stanford to keep above .500 overall. This team is way too talented for that.

Frustrating, ridiculous, frustrating.

As those who have read my below post (with the update) things didn’t go well for me watching the game intently and to make matters worse, I don’t have it on my TiVo so I can’t do my usual re-watch to break it down. (BTW, anyone have a torrent link I could use? None of the normal guys seem to be posting the Torrents now that the Bears are losing.)

Nevertheless I have a few last minute things to say before moving on to USC. But first the caveat to my podcast:

I was wrong about Longshore not ever having brought the team back. Actually, after I said it on my podcast, I knew that’s what my Rivals article would be about and I was surprised what I found during my researching Longshore’s comeback opportunities because of how short term our collective fan memory is. Did we all forget that Longshore brought back the Bears against Oregon? Or, and this one is at least last year, what about last year’s Washington game? The Bears scored on two drives where Longshore passed for 60+ yards on each. Heck, or even last year’s Arizona game… he got the team down to the Arizona 30 when the ball was freakishly tipped at the line allowing for the interception. That wasn’t his fault and he seemed to be in control for the comeback win up until then.

After researching it, I think Longshore has what it takes when he is 100% but as we all know, he hasn’t been 100% since the Oregon game. His throwing motion is still all messed up and although I think the ankle doesn’t hurt as much as it used to, he’s still throwing like he’s injured. It’s frustrating because this season hinged not on the Oregon game, but on a late hit late in that game. Otherwise, I think there is real reason to believe the Bears could still be undefeated. I mean, is there a single game yet that the Bears wouldn’t have won if the Bears played the way they did at Oregon? Not from my vantage point.

So really, when I put it all together, the only thing that is really frustrating me about these Bears at this point is redzone play-calling. Tedford is being SOOOOOOOO stubborn. I think he’s slowly pulling out of that stubborn-ness but it’s taking 3 games too many.

Perhaps the Washington game is when that stubborn-ness ends.

I’ll tell you what my problem is! I’m WAY too busy.

I’m sure you’ve all be noticing that I haven’t been posting much lately and for that I apologize. For me, I’m pretty good a juggling lots of tasks but I reach a point where I get so busy that I just can’t keep all the balls in the air and everything comes crumbling down. Saturday’s experience going to the USC game is a perfect example because I had been so busy that everything was rush, rush, rush:

How much I had been rushing became clear to me when I reached the I-80 & I-680 interchange at about 3 PM on Saturday and a huge sinking feeling hit me as I realized I’d left my tickets for the game back at home. Usually, one could do the loop home from there in about 2 hours putting me in Oakland about 30 minutes after the game started. But considering that I had left the house at 1:15 and was just now, 1:45 later, at a spot that only takes me an hour to get to, I knew that I’d barely make half time if I turned around. I was faced with two choices, neither too hopeful, either turn around and watch the game from home or try to figure out how to get replacement tickets at the game (either scalpers or through the ticket-office if they’d give me replacement tickets).

I called my brother who was already on his way to the game to scout out for me if there were any replacement opportunities and continued towards Berkeley. After about 15 minutes he called back to let me know that there is a ticket replacement strategy where I could re-pay for the tickets at the south endzone special services ticket booth and then send in the original tickets for a refund. (There’s a helpful hint for everyone to remember when they’re caught in the same pinch I was.) So we continued on.

At this point I should probably get on to the weather…

In Roseville it had been beautiful all week including Saturday morning. It started to get a little overcast around 11 AM so I looked up the weather forecast and it told me that there was a 30% chance of light showers/drizzle. I figured that it would probably be inconsequential but I packed my emergency ponchos which are nothing more than garbage bags cut differently so that they’re in the shape of ponchos (Target sells them). They’re great because the fold up to be the size of a deck of cards, maybe less, but work well in a pinch for an adult… adult being the key phrase for the rest of this post. Other than that I just brought my boys coats (not rain proof) instead of their sweatshirts.

Just as I was leaving Roseville, the drizzle started. As I was heading down the freeway, the drizzle turned to a consistent shower and messed up the traffic something nasty. (That’s why it took 1:45 to do what usually takes 1:00.) But as we got on I-680 the rain cleared up and I figured things were looking good. Things continued to look good through when we got on the bus at the Rockridge BART station with no rain, although it was overcast and threatening. I figured it was going to clear as we had already passed the storm in the valley and the storms tend to move from southwest to northeast in this area.

But as soon as we get into Berkeley the rain starts and as those of you at the game know, it never stopped. That last part was the killer for me, apparently the ever optimistic one. I assumed the rain would let up so I didn’t pull out the emergency ponchos for either myself or my boys. I was particularly hesitant with the boys because they’re humongous on the boys and really don’t work very well if you’re not holding them in your lap. So here we are, midway through the 1st quarter, soaked to the bone when my youngest says “Daddyyyyyy, I want to go hooooommme.”

Now, I may be a dedicated Bears fan who manages the unthinkable of bringing two toddlers to the game, every game, but there comes a point in every die-hard father’s mind when a line has been crossed. On Saturday I crossed that line.

Instantly I went into disaster recovery mode. I couldn’t just bail right then. The Bears were winning. But I also knew there was no way, even if the rain stopped that very instant, that’d we’d last the whole game. All I could do was hold out for half time and then do everything in my power to get the boys to my mom’s house to change and watch the game on TV. All I had to do was get everything ready to go and figure out how to passify the boys until then. The emergency ponchos came out of their bags for the boys (not for me as I was fine) and they got all the knee bouncing and encouragement we could muster.

When USC punted to the Bears with just over a minute left in the half, we took off boldly attempting to do what no man had done before: Get home before the 2nd half started.

The first key to that was finding a bus. See, the shuttles don’t run except before and after the game. I was hopeful that with the number of fans bailing that they’d run a bus or two at halftime but I knew that it was a longshot. That left two alternatives. #1: Put the boys on shoulders and make the 1.7 mile trek to the Rockridge BART station, something difficult to do in 20 minutes and very labor intensive for a couple of soaked guys. #2: Walk the shorter and more downhill distance to the Berkeley BART station and take BART to Rockridge. Considering there was a transfer involved and everything, there was no way that was going to happen in the alloted time. On the other hand we’d be out of the rain sooner.

So we started the walk to Rockridge.

Just then the clouds parted… no not in real life. They parted because the canon went off at the stadium. THE BEARS SCORED! And then the clouds parted again!!! A 51 bus showed up right as we were walking down college. IT’S A MIRACLE. After all 50 Bear fans piled on board, we made the trek to Rockridge. After the quarter mile walk to our van (arriving at 3:30 there was no hope of getting a spot in the lot), we jumped in and turned on the radio. The 2nd half had just started. While it wasn’t perfect, it was pretty good. We were at my mom’s house shortly after the Bears got the ball back. Not to shabby if I do say myself.

But the score was still 10-14… anyone know what the story with the canon was?

UPDATE at 8:45 AM on 11/16/07: Oh yeah, one more goof I made… I recorded the game on the wrong channel. It’s a nice TiVo with DirecTV feature that when searching for programs to record by title (as opposed to on the guide), it’ll show you programs that aren’t in your subscription package. So I recorded the game on the ESPN GamePlan channel as opposed to ABC by accident. (It’s even more misleading because when I went to record it there was only one instance of the USC at Cal game (the GamePlan one) and this was likely because the guide doesn’t seem to update to show which game is going to be on ABC until the very last minute, which is ridiculous since it was announced on Monday what station (ABC vs. ESPN vs. ESPN2) and which local regions would carry each game.

Here’s my thoughts on the game:

• One thing that I didn’t see mentioned in any of the various analysis out there was how much better the kickoff coverage was. Larson was getting the ball down deep with good hang time and the coverage team was both getting down field quickly and closing down the holes. I don’t think WSU got past the 30 on a single kickoff, which is a huge improvement over past weeks where it seemed every runback was getting up to the 30 and about 1 out of every 3 was getting far too close to midfield.
• The first 3rd down for WSU really worried me because it reminded me so much of the OSU and UCLA games. After stuffing the offense on both 1st and 2nd down, on 3rd down the Bear defense falls back into coverage and gives up a surprisingly easy 10-15 yard completion. Luckily that trended didn’t hold in big part because of the pressure the defense was able to get on the QB.
• While watching the TV coverage I heard for the first time that their punter does that roll-out option punt all the time… and I thought it was just something to keep the ball away from DeSean. After watching him for most of the game I began to wonder why more teams don’t roll the ball down the field more often. There’s no hope of a runback and it’s not hard to get 40+ yards on it.
• Contining in the trend of things I saw early that was troubling was Forsett getting tackled in the backfield on the first play for the Bears.
• The wide receiver screens didn’t work very well for the Bears against WSU. The good news is that they always got positive yardage, unlike some of the previous games. I mean, let’s be honest, a 3-4 yard quick-out is more reliable than an inside run these days.
• The first drive for the Bears is indicative of the change in play-calling in the redzone. Outside the redzone: 8 completion on 9 attempts for 56 yards. 4 Rushes for 11 yards. Inside the redzone: 4 rushes and no passes for 13 yards. The most frustrating to me was the QB sneak on 2nd down. That’s the most predictable play in the play-book, 2nd and 1 from the 1 yard line… you can count on a QB sneak 4 out of 5 times. I even called this one to my peers sitting with me ahead of time. Nevertheless, in this instance the Bears were able to score on 3rd and goal with a sweep run play: 7-0
• Another thing that was improved in this game was the defensive back timing on hitting the recievers. DeCoud and Hicks were particularly good at it with DeCoud breaking up a deep pass in the 1st quarter and Hicks creating that interception late in the 2nd quarter.
• That interception by Longshore is another one that is just terrifying. Is it really his ankle? He seemed healthy for the vast majority of the game. The only thing is that he didn’t seem to step into that throw. Was that just poor form or not wanting to put weight on a sore ankle? Tough to call but it’s critical that Cal find a way to get the ball down-field to keep defenses honest and that’ll mean that Longshore is going to have to get some touch on the deep ball no what the cause of the failure.
• The defense though stepped up again and forced a 3-and-out. A very strong effort and at a very important time, right after the interception. Turned what could have been a momentum turning drive into a meaningless turnover.
• What did Tedford call after the interception? 4 run plays in a row. Unlike at other points in the game, Forsett was able to get big chunks of yards for 2 first downs.
• Interestingly though, although Cal went back to the air after the quarter break, when Cal did run later in the drive, Forsett wasn’t able to get the yards of his first 4. Was that the defense adjusting to a renewed run emphasis by Cal? Whatever the cause, Tedford made the necessary adjustments to go back to the air and continue the drive.
• An intersting note is that both of the big errant throws were to Hawkins and on the 2nd throw Hawkins did an awesome job of making the transition to being the defender and preventing the interception.
• But now comes the baffling part… the redzone. After great balance for the first part of the drive (7 passes, 7 rushes), Cal then runs 5 consecutive run plays in the redzone, finishing with the option. With Longshore!?! That’s 9 plays in the redzone on two drives and ALL of them were rushing plays. Just baffling. At least the field-goal was good: 10-0.
• I was surprised just how many errant throws Brink had. I’ve seen him a number of times now and every time but this time he was very good and was what kept WSU in games where they were completely out-manned. This time he had a number of opportunities to get WSU back in the game and his throws were off the mark.
• Despite the fact that Cal’s last two possession of the 1st half were both 3 and out, I felt like there was balance there and generally good opportunities to move the ball. Of course the last possession was really hindered by that stupid 15 yard personal foul penalty. That was the only “stupid” penalty for the Bears all day thankfully, but it was stupid enough that it stalled the drive. Without the penalty it would have been 2nd and 1 after a great run by Best. After the dead-ball penalty, it was 2nd and 16.
• Not to be forgotten, got to repeat how great the hit Hicks made to knock that ball out for the interception. That interception was key. That was WSU’s only significant drive of the 1st half and if the ball was caught it would have been 1st and goal if not a TD outright. A 10-0 lead is a big difference than 10-7.
• In the 2nd half, I was pretty happy that the Bears got the 1st possession. What a great opportunity to put the game away, right? Well it would have been if Longshore hadn’t treated the snapped football like a greased watermelon. I hate to continue to pile on, but what a way to throw away the opportunity to really distance themselves.
• Of course WSU was able to score their first points, a field-goal that came on the short 34 yard drive that required a 4th down conversion to complete: 10-3
• On Cal’s next drive, they continued to mix it up… but what happens when they get in the redzone? HA! Fooled you!!! This time it was 1 rush and 1 pass, so we can’t harp on the play-calling. But we can harp on Hawkins dropping an easy completion that would have kept the drive alive. While it’s not the same failure mode, it’s still another redzone appearance that ended in less than a TD. The Bears were 1 for 4 in touchdowns in the redzone (the fumble on the 1 yard line yet to come) and 75% for points. That’s got to be 50% plus touchdowns and 90% points to be successful. To be fair, this is the one that it’s understandable that they didn’t get the TD, but the overall point remains: 13-3
• While the previous penalty against Cal was a stupid one, the next one was a bogus one. That was a horrible pass interference call against Syd’Quan. If anything it should have been offensive pass interference for pushing off.
• But you got to give the defense credit. Even though they’d been back on the field a fair amount in the late 3rd quarter with the 3 and out bracketting two WSU drives, they managed to step it up in WSU’s first redzone appearance and hold them to a field-goal: 13-6
• The next Cal drive they managed to get back to the balance to get the ball down close to the redzone. I found it interesting that on both 2nd and 3rd and 3 from 21 yard line Cal took two shots towards the endzone. The 2nd was complete although DeSean didn’t manage to get the ball into the endzone. But what do the Bears do once in the redzone? Two consecutive rushes up the middle from the 1 yard line. To make matters worse, Forsett fumbled the ball on the 2nd attempt. Nevertheless we’ve got a total of 13 plays in the redzone and 12 of them were rushing plays.
• I don’t know what to make of that long pass play WSU converted mid-4th quarter. On the one hand, Hicks did have a beat on the interception if he had just stepped forward and bit. On the other hand, that’s the risk of not going for the hit/tackle instead: a long pass completion. Thanfully DeCoud was able to catch up to the reciever and prevent the touchdown allowing the defense to re-group and hold WSU to a field-goal: 13-9.
• Going back to the field-goal, I was really surprised WSU went for the field-goal. After they’d shown no ability to consistently put up yards until that long pass play, don’t you have to go for it and accept the risk of the big momentum swing that comes based on how the 4th down play would turn out?
• Longshore was stepping into his passes better late in the game. Tedford never called a play that had Longshore passing deep to test that throwing motion, but qualitatively it seemed like Longshore got more comfortable as the game wore on. Hopefully that trend will continue.
• FINALLY Forsett broke a run open. Of course the key to the running game is not the ability to break out the long runs (really it’s to get 4-5 yards each attempt and grind things out) but it is nice when the running game can add to the quick strike ability of the team: 20-9
• While the first big WSU pass play is somewhat excusable, the 2nd is pretty bad. You can’t let up on your coverage because it looks like Cal might get a sack/safety. Let the linemen do their job and you do yours. Speaking of which, I had thought it was Syd who missed the coverage and I said so in my podcast. It was instead Hicks.
• And it was Hicks who blew the coverage on the eventual TD. Let’s not forget that the long pass play didn’t even get WSU down into the redzone, only to the Cal 33. After that Cal was mostly able to hold WSU where they were minus a 4th down conversion that setup the 18 yard TD pass that never should have happened: 20-15
• After thoroughly reviewing the 2-point conversion I think that it was a marginal call and one that the booth shouldn’t have overturned. The reciever was darned lucky he landed on top of the defender for the rollover. But even that said, I think his butt was down before the ball crossed the plane. The key was the angle from the endzone. The view down the line didn’t give a good view of whether his knee or butt hit down first and when that was. Also complicating matters was that the goal line goes out of view right as his butt touches the ground by synthesizing the two views. Nevertheless my extrapolation of those moments suggest that his butt was down mid his attempt to reach over the goal line and before the ball actually crossed the plane:20-17
• Thankfully Cal recovered the onside kick with a perfectly executed reception using a few of the recievers as blockers for Hawkins who caught the ball.

Overall, I think that this Cal team is just some play-calling in the redzone tweaks and an ankle healing (or said differently, the current/former ankle injury no longer affecting Longshore’s throwing motion and touch) from getting back to the team that beat Oregon. Whether those things will happen before the USC game is anyone’s guess, but I very much believe the team is capable of beating USC with a strong performance.

The Bears FINALLY got back in the win column last night… but it was one of the most uninspiring win of the Tedford era. How many times do the Bears have to run it up the gut inside the 5 yard line to know that between the young/weak offensive line and defenses keying on it that it’s just NOT going to happen.

There will be plenty of commentary to come, although most of it is going to have to wait until tonight. Unfortunately the podcast won’t be posted until tomorrow because I left the critical cable to upload the audio in the office. However I do plan to do my full re-watch game analysis tonight. In the mean time, here are a few thoughts:

• The team that played last night WILL NOT beat USC. The good news is that they’re some better redzone play calling and Longshore getting back into rythym from being the team that can pull it off.
• The defense had one of its best performances of the season outside of both those last two big WSU plays and of course their performance against Oregon.
• Longshore looked fairly healthy for the majority of the game. Perhaps 90%. His one big interception was an under-thrown ball that had the feel of the ASU injured Longshore and there were a few other moments where he was moving around a little gimpy, but for the most part this was the old Longshore, mobility wise.
• Despite getting a bit more healthy, you can tell that Longshore and the offense are still suffering from his injury. They felt about as in sync as a 2nd week of the season team, not a 9th week. This injury has completely disrupted the team’s timing and Longshore’s over-the-middle confidence (it seemed he was using the out patterns as a crutch a lot). Hopefully now that he’s closer to full strength a good week of practice and reflection will get them back in sync for the big matchup next week.

More to come…

OK, I guess this is going to have to be a feature after every loss… reasons to hope:

1. Let’s not forget that ASU is a pretty good team. I think that all other things aside, like a 3-game losing streak and the Rose Bowl, Cal fans wouldn’t be as distraught about this game as they currently are.
2. I think we need to remember just how injured Longshore is. I think that once he gets back on his feet he’ll get back most of his game. Yeah we can question the decisions the coaching staff has made to start who they have when they have, but hindsight is 20/20 and it doesn’t change the fact that the coaching staff can make the right decisions in the coming weeks.
3. I know I’ve said this after every loss but this is still one talented team and one that could beat every team left on the schedule. Yes the morale will have to improve and yes the execution will have to improve, but I think this team is still capable of greatness. Yes the bowl game will suck being at least the Sun Bowl or lower, but 10 wins is 10 wins and will still look good for recruiting. Finishing strong makes a big difference.
4. Cal has WSU at home this Saturday. If there was ever a team Cal needed on the schedule, it’s this WSU team. They’re no good at all. Don’t take anything from their beating UCLA. All that proves is that UCLA is every bit as bad as we thought and that loss is every bit as disgraceful as we hate to know.
5. How great would it be to beat USC this year? It’s almost all the better that Cal has 3 losses. That will make it all the more disasterous to the most arrogant fans in college football. If you doubt it, look deep inside. You know in your heart of hearts that Cal has the talent to beat USC if you watched the Oregon vs. USC game.

Let’s not forget to cheer the Bears on Saturday.

Here are my thoughts after re-watching the game:

• Interesting to hear that Tedford deferred on the initial kickoff. That’s going back to a pre-30 yard line kickoff mindset. Perhaps he’s been unconvinced the extra free yardage has changed things that much.
• I remember thinking after the first play (a false start by ASU) that “yup, same old ASU, not up for the big game.”
• And re-iterated that thought after the sack on 3rd down and the 3 and out (making Tedford look smart for deferring).
• Longshore’s first pass was an over-throw… a sign of things to come.
• After making an easy swing pass, Longshore’s next throw?… a big miss deep where perhaps it was a miscommunication between Jordan and Longshore over the middle.
• And on the back of those two bad throws, Cal had to try 2 consecutive 3rd downs… always bad.
• And it doesn’t help that a false start backed up that 2nd 3rd down from 3rd and 6 to 3rd and 11.
• And those 5 yards were huge as it completely changes the plays that’ll work. The pass to DeSean may have had a hope on 3rd and 6.
• And then the field goal block, which was Kay’s fault… he didn’t get any air under it.
• So what do we have… we have a team that comes out of the gates a little slow and although got fairly deep in ASU territory is stalled by Longshore being off and a false start penalty.
• And then Cal gets a free gift… a fumble for a touchdown. Tell me this didn’t feel like the same old ASU at this point? But remember this later, every time Cal is up by (pick your score) that it’s really 7 points less if you’re just comparing offense to offense.
• The first play after the TD was a perfect example of how the worn down defense killed the Bears later. On that play, Herring nearly slipped the tackle of DeCoud, but DeCoud managed to hold on long enough and slow him enough that the rest of the defense was able to pursue to the ball and keep it to a short gain. Later in the game, that first tackle didn’t have any holding on and Herring was gone.
• And after a weak run and another Carpenter mis-fire, another 3 and out from the pseudo-2006 ASU offense.
• Now to give Longshore credit, his next throw, a 44 yard pass to DeSean was right on the money… to keep the critical aspect though, that was a marginal receiver to throw to. DeSean was pretty well covered and it was somewhat lucky (or based on DeSean’s talent, depending on how you look at it) that DeSean was able to go up and get that one.
• But yet again the drive stalls. This time yet another poorly thrown ball where DeSean was perfectly positioned between the corner and the safety (corner-2 coverage) on 1st down, a weak run out of the shotgun and an out pattern that was thrown well but Jordan didn’t handle well and bounced off his fingers. So not all Longshore’s fault, but he missed a near TD again. Luckily Kay makes the field goal to prevent complete futility. This drive should have been for a TD though.
• ASU goes three and out again on the back of a 1st down holding call, two mediocre runs (considering the down and distance) and Zack Follet getting pressure on the edge and forcing a bad throw while hanging on Carpenter’s hip… tell me again that this isn’t the pseudo-2006 ASU team?
• And Cal quickly marches down the field on the backs of Forsett (including a quick pass from Longshore) and Stevens… in fact both were quick passes. So far Longshore’s only pass with any touch was the long bomb to DeSean. BUT… they can’t punch it in with 1st and goal from the 6 on a stuffed run up the middle on 1st down, a throw away on Longshore’s rollout where DeSean was covered, and a busted up slant on 3rd down to DeSean again… a pretty ineffective set of 3 plays. None of them had a hope.
• So to recap, with 1 minute left in the 1st quarter we’ve had 4 ASU drives all 3 and out or worse (two and fumble for a TD) and Cal got the ball inside the 30 on all three of their drives and came away with 6 points on 3 field goal attempts. That’s just not acceptable against a good team. You’ve got to put them away early when given a chance like that.
• Because what happens after that? Dennis Erickson knows how to get his players back on the right track, unlike his predicessor. Carpenter’s passes all of sudden got on track (including a dropped ball in the endzone on the second set of downs). After a handful of good Carpenter passes, a tough face-mask penalty and a horrible run-stopping play later, ASU has erased their spotted 7 points on the fumble and are only down the measley 6 points the Cal offense could muster in the quarter.
• That was the turning point for the ASU offense getting back on track. They spotted Cal a quarter of bad offense and a fumble for a TD, but after that, they were back on track.
• Cal did their 2nd reverse of the day on their next drive and just like the first, although it got 4 yards, those just aren’t the big gainers they used to be.
• Cal marched it down into the redzone yet again… all the way down to a 1st and goal from the 7. Yes, Cal finally punched this one in on a VERY close to being out of bounds pass to DeSean, a pass interference call on DeSean backed them up to 1st and goal from the 22… that’s not going to work most of the time. Cal got lucky on that one.
• Ah man, I completely forgot about this next play, the first 3rd down of ASU’s next drive. DeCoud was blitzing and got offsides, but the resulting play was a tipped interception (that of course didn’t count). So instead of Cal ball in ASU territory, a 3rd and 6 turns into a easily converted 3rd and 1. At first I didn’t hold that against DeCoud, I figured he’s just trying to make a play. But considering how much of this happened including a pass interference call against Syd’Quan two plays later, all of these penalties were inexcusable. What a missed opportunity that play was.
• This is the same drive where ASU went for it twice on 4th and 1… not sure one can hold that against Cal, 4th and 1 really is a down the offense should convert most of the time, but it shows just how close the Bears were to stiffling ASU yet again, particularly when joined with the penalty undone interception. Looking at it from ASU’s perspective, this was a time to be really agressive. Down 7-20, already on Cal’s side of the field, why not be aggressive?
• Now the 2nd 4th and 1, that was ridiculously horrible with 12 men on the field. How ridiculous is that coming out of a timeout? Again, penalties kill Cal and of course ASU is able to punch it in. ASU within 6 yet again despite Carpenter being only 3 of 8 and ASU only having about 80 total yards of offense compared to the Bears with over 200 yards of offense and actually scoring fewer points with the 7 the defense handed the offense.
• ANOTHER big miss by Longshore. This time to Jordon. How great would it have been to have one last drive by Cal to go up 27-14? Nope, instead Longshore starts missing everyone. The third down play after a timeout didn’t have a chance, Longshore throwing a ball that DeSean didn’t have a chance at both because it was over-thrown and because he was doubled covered (and well double covered at that).
• But the defense holds (or should I say that Carpenter missed some passes again… still reason to believe that this is the same old pseudo-2006 ASU at this point) and gives Cal another chance with a minute and a half left.
• For any lurking ASU fans who want to complain about the refs on the fumbled punt return by DeSean at the end of the 1st half, the refs made the right call and it’s more important than you think that the back judge waved his arms and assumably blew his whistle. A bunch of Cal players were in the area and stopped pursuing the ball, unlike the ASU players. A big part of that was because the ref called it dead. That’s why it’s important that he called it dead. No one knows who would have recovered had he not called it dead.
• But what does the offense do? They blow that opportunity too with a false start, two overthrown balls by Longshore, a holding penalty, a weak inside run play on 2nd and 20, (and then a timeout? for 3rd and 16 with 36 seconds left?) and then a fairly good out pattern for 15 yards (aka 1 yard too short). And then a punt… which is a risky play. Why call the timeout in that instance?… In any case, it was a really weak effort by the Bears and netted zero points.
• So I don’t know about everyone else but at this point I had a huge mixture of optimism and fear. Fear because I saw how close the score was and thought that if ASU could play a more balanced 2nd half, the Bears would be in trouble but also optimistic because there was reason to hope that both the Bears offense and defense could be effective in the 2nd half.
• But this is the difference in ASU with Erickson at the helm. He was able to get his team motivated at halftime and was able to make the adjustments needed.
• And what does Cal do? The get one first down and then Longshore throws two passes off the mark so they have to punt away, blowing their halftime possession advantage.
• While ASU comes out and scores on their first possession. And they’ve got the gusto to go for it on 4th and 1 again inside the redzone. This one again is disgusting because he was hit behind the line of scrimmage and two Bears had a shot at him including Follet who should have nailed him but went head down too early and completely missed Herring. WRAP HIM UP!?!
• To Cal’s credit, they respond on their next drive with a number of 1st downs when they get the most bogus ref penalty call of the whole day. He was off the line by a good 2 yards. Ridiculous nitpicking by the refs. Everything crumbled on the drive from there (and the foul undid a first down). A false start put the Bears back at 2nd and 15 and then Longshore underthrew Hawkins, setting up 3rd and 15 where Longshore WAY overthrew it. This is, in my opinion, where Longshore fell apart and I’m not sure why it was this moment.
• One thing that was disappointing with the Bear defense was there inability to keep ASU backed up in their endzone. Twice ASU had to start a drive around their 5 yard line and twice Cal gave up a mid-depth pass play on 1st down completely undoing the field position advantage.
• I think Cal was playing Worrell Williams WAY too deep as the middle linebacker throughout this game. There were a number of times I saw him 20 yards deep. They almost played him like a 3rd safety at times. When the ASU passing game finally got working, it was because there was a HUGE underneath range to throw into and there were lots of yards to get after the catch because Williams was nowhere to be found.
• There were really only 3 drives in the 3rd quarter. Cal got the ball back with 1:08 left in the 3rd after the field goal by ASU.
• You can tell at this point that Tedford and Longshore were butting heads. They were at each other as the 3rd quarter ended.
• And then Longshore throws the WAY WAY WAY WAY under thrown interception where if he’d got it out there DeSean would have had a free TD. That was a horrible turning point of the game. I think Longshore doesn’t respond well to critcism from Tedford. It seems his effort/heart level drops after those head-butting moments with Tedford.
• After the interception, a series that put the Cal defense back on the field very quickly, the defense looked tired for the first time. An offense just HAS to give the defense more time than that. Those INTs are horrible for defensive rest time.
• Luckily for the Bears, the double pass by Carpenter and the associated penalty killed the drive.
• On the next drive, another reverse that doesn’t work for Cal.
• On the very next play, Longshore throws his second pick in two possessions… and leaves the field limping
• And the defense looks REALLY tired after only getting 4 plays off.
• And ASU takes advantage marching the ball easily into the endzone and to add injury to insult, Cal lost Rulon Davis who was a primary reason the Bears were stopping the run as well as they were.
• ASU had 4 trips into the redzone and scored a TD on all 4… that and Longshore’s poorly throw balls (including the turnovers) were the difference.
• Upon more reflection, I think Tedford made the wrong decision to leave Longshore in there. It wasn’t about creating a QB controversy or having lack of faith in Longshore. It was all about Longshore limping off the field. He was injured. He clearly had trouble throwing the ball. He was more injured than he was letting on. That’s when it is time to put in the backup.
• And what happens? Longshore throws two errant passes on another 3 and out.
• Cal would never get the ball again as ASU ground out the game on the ground against a defense that never got a sustained drive to give them a chance to rest.

And that’s all she wrote. Looking back over the post, I counted 13 errant passes by Longshore. Let me repeat that: THIRTEEN!!!! I think it’s acceptable for a QB to have up to 5 bad throws a game, but there is no way Longshore should be throwing 13 obviously poorly thrown balls on 36 attempts. That’s more than one out of every 3.

While I was very down on Longshore’s heart in my podcast, I think upon further review while there was some lack of heart, I think more and more that it was the injury. This entire season turned on the fateful play in Oregon. I mean Cal was up 7 and had the ball in Oregon with little enough time on the clock that a solid drive with even a field-goal could put the game away. Instead the Bears had to rely on the defense holding Oregon scoreless, which as we all know, they BARELY accomplished. Ever since then, the Bear offense has been off the mark. In the first game against OSU, it took Riley a half to get rolling and Tedford had him on a short leash. In the second game, Longshore was clearly injured and Tedford had him on a short leash. In the third game Tedford let off on the leash and Longshore couldn’t perform. I’m thinking this injury has been causing all kinds of problems and no one is willing to admit it.

So my heart is still broken and I don’t have much more to say. We’re all searching for answers and I don’t think there is just one answer that explains everything. All I know is that this season had so much hope and this team is so talented and it just hasn’t happened.

How sad is that?

7:14 PM: Phil will be joining me for today’s action. Phil: “I feel like this game could have started long ago.” No kidding. What’s the delay here? I’m sleepy already.

7:18 PM: Phil: “Well, one less fraudulent team at the top of the Pac-10 standings. Let’s make it two.”

7:18 PM: Get that guy! Three and out on a sack by Rulon Davis.

7:21 PM: I have to say, getting it to Jahvid Best with space to run is generally gonna work out. Roll on you Bears.

7:23 PM: Jordan makes something out of nothing when a screen collapses to the inside by turning outside.

7:24 PM: Justin Tryon, poor sport (see last year’s punt coverage) stops Jackson short of the first down. At least Jackson wasn’t defenseless this time. And they block Jordan Kay’s kick. Of course.

7:29 PM: Cameron Jordan recovers a fumble by Rudy Carpenter — batted out of his hands! — and runs it back for a Bears touchdown! Cal 7, ASU 0.

7:35 PM: Ah, good old enemy QB inaccuracy — our best defensive weapon. ASU must punt.

7:38 PM: Nice first-down pass to Jackson for a long gain on first down. And on the next play a flag is down. Why, it’s a personal foul face mask on Justin Tryon! What a surprise.

7:42 PM: Third down pass right off the hands of Jordan. Should’ve caught it. Now Jordan Kay has to make another fearful appearance. 41-yard kick not blocked, up, and good! Cal 10, ASU 0.

7:44 PM: Well, if you’re going to do a medical cutaway from the sideline reporter, do it now: first quarter. Not like last week, when during the UCLA game they brought out the skeleton on a third down late in the fourth quarter. Advantage FSN. Of course, we missed a holding penalty that makes it first down and 20. Disadvantage FSN. Still, your HD signal is oh so pretty. But I think your sideline reporter is not a trained medical professional.

7:46 PM: Phil: “Now tell me how MRIs work, sideline reporter. What’s the pancreas do? Is this growth on my arm something I should get checked out?”

7:48 PM: ASU forced to punt again, having done zero on offense today thus far.

7:49 PM: Phil: “Every time they cut to Dennis Erickson on the sideline, I expect to see him sipping a martini. I don’t know why I feel that way.”

7:51 PM: Big gain by Forsett on a third-down pass, ASU was offsides on the play — that’s the kind of free play we like to see. First down Bears! Nobody covered Forsett out of the backfield. Phil: “Coach Erickson slams down his martini. ‘Now look what you kids made me do!'”

7:52 PM: Nice gain by Stevens over the middle, with a Sun Devil riding on his back like he was being bucked by a bronco.

7:54 PM: Fourth and goal after a run and two incompletions, and it’s Field Goal time. Lots of missed opportunities early, and you hope they don’t come back to bite the Bears. Four trips deep into ASU territory and all we’ve got to show for it is this: Cal 13, ASU 0.

7:56 PM: First down ASU, and the first completion by Carpenter. The defense has really shut them out for almost the entire first quarter. Although they wouldn’t have shut them out in any sort of way if Jones hadn’t just dropped that deep ball in the end zone. A touchdown taken away by Cal’s very best defensive player, Sir Isaac Newton.

7:59 PM: End of First Quarter. ASU on its first good drive of the game. But it’s Cal 13, ASU 0.

8:04 PM: Touchdown Sun Devils. Nance strolls into the end zone. Cal 13, ASU 7.

8:09 PM: Nice run to the left off tackle by Forsett. Next play? Forsett into the line. That one hasn’t been working so well lately. But it’s enough for a first down.

8:13 PM: Total yardage: 183 for Cal, 47 for ASU. And yet it’s a six-point game. That’s not good.

8:14 PM: Fantastic catch by Jordan inside the 20 on 3rd and long. He stretches out his arms and snags a pass that no defender could have caught. Jordan comes out and might have aggravated his shoulder injury.

8:15 PM: Nice variety on the playcalling. End around, reverse, run off tackle, sweep pitch wide… I like it. First and goal, Bears.

8:16 PM: Longshore to Hawkins, he gets to the end zone for an apparent TD — but there’s a flag down and it’s going to be pass interference on DeSean Jackson for setting a pick in the end zone. Ouch.

8:20 PM: Longshore to Jackson, another apparent touchdown, but he may have not gotten his feet down. However, Fox’s camera angles suck and in the one angle where you see his feet, it’s impossible to tell. Warren Moon, however, lives by a higher standard, and feels that it wasn’t a TD because of some mysterious divination. Warren is wrong. Touchdown, Bears! Cal 20, ASU 7.

8:29 PM: Carpenter hit on the blitz by DeCoud, ball up in the air, picked off by Bandon Hampton. But DeCoud was offside. Well, that’s one way to pressure the QB — jump offside.

8:31 PM: Another penalty, this time PI on Syd’Quan Thompson. ASU back into Cal territory.

8:33 PM: At the risk of watching ASU score instantly, let me say I think this is the best I’ve seen Cal’s defense play all year.

8:35 PM: ASU goes for it on fourth down and gets it, but it’s nullified because ASU called timeout. Phil: “‘I wasn’t calling a timeout — I was signaling for more vermouth!'” And they get it anyway.

8:37 PM: Great hit by Hicks to stop an ASU receiver and force 4th and 1 inside the 10.

8:40 PM: ASU doesn’t have to go for it. Out of a timeout, Cal has 12 menu on the field. Free first and goal! Way to go.

8:41 PM: Phil: “So when Tedford said they concentrated on the little things this week, counting to 12 wasn’t one of them.”

8:41 PM: Nance in for the Sun Devils Touchdown. Cal 20, ASU 14. I will not praise the defense again. I will not praise the defense again. I will not praise the defense again. I will not praise the defense again.

8:47 PM: Cal goes three and out and the Sun Devils will have a chance to go ahead going into halftime. Is it me or has every single Cal game this year been a struggle? They just can’t put it together. It’s really disspiriting.

8:55 PM: On a punt, Jackson is hit as he’s catching the ball. Then he lands on the ball and the ref signals timeout. Then the ball gets kicked out and ASU recovers inside the 10. And yet the “ruling on the field” is that it was recovered by ASU? Oh my god. What a terrible, terrible bit of officiating.

8:56 PM: The reverse angle shows clearly that Jackson’s knee is down before he loses the ball. Clearly. And how is the ruling on the field that the play continued after the back judge blew the ball dead? You’ve got to be kidding me. What a sham.

9:00 PM: “The ruling on the field is that there was an inadvertent signal.” I assume this means that the whistle blew so it’s a dead ball. Wow, Dennis Erickson is mad. Ken, avert your eyes from Dennis Erickson’s lips.

9:04 PM: This is why the refs sprint off the field at the end of the game and are immediately whisked from the stadium in an unmarked van by police escort.

9:10 PM: Oh please take a knee. I really need for it to be halftime. Thank you! Halftime. Cal 20, ASU 14.

9:32 PM: And we’re back from the half. I had a peanut butter sandwich, thanks for asking.

9:34 PM: Jordan catches the ball and gives Tryon the old stiff arm to the face as he goes out of bounds. The crowd is very angry, and I understand why — but that’s legal, folks.

9:36 PM: The drive stalls across the 50 and it’s punt time already. ASU must start inside their own 10.

9:39 PM: “Call the holding!” shouts someone picked up by a crowd microphone. We agree, sir. It’s interesting, Cal seems to be pressuring the QB a bit more often than in past weeks.

9:42 PM: Guess ASU has decided to throw the ball this half. Wow. Goodbye, lead.

9:44 PM: They had Nance behind the line on 4th and 1, stopped him, and he bounced off and ran it in for the Touchdown. ASU 21, Cal 20.

9:51 PM: Nice passes and a couple of nice runs on this drive for Cal. Great comeback catch by Jordan to get near the first-down marker.

9:56 PM: This officiating crew is embarrassing. Not that they’re making calls that favor ASU, but that they’re whistling everything, they’re visibly confused… bad times.

9:58 PM: And thanks to the penalties this once-promising drive comes down to a 3rd and 15. Deep ball, way overthrown. Failure.

10:02 PM: Now Carpenter’s hitting everything. This is going to get really ugly really fast. Cal’s secondary is being picked apart.

10:05 PM: If you’re going to rush the QB, don’t let them complete passes for 30 yards at a shot. Nance is wide open out of the backfield for a huge gain.

10:07 PM: Cal’s defense stops a running back for a 7-yard loss, and on the very next play Carpenter hits a wide-open receiver for a 20-yard game. Carpenter can fire at will right now. This sure doesn’t feel like a one-point game with a quarter and 2:30 to go. This feels like an ASU blow-out. Cal has lost control completely, and they need to reassert themselves rapidly or this one will be over.

10:10 PM: 47-yard ASU field goal good. ASU 24, Cal 20.

10:14 PM: End of third quarter. ASU has scored 17 unanswered points.

10:17 PM: Jackson blows past Tryon, open for the TD, and Longshore (who has been overthrowing people all night) underthrows the pass, giving the ball to Tryon on the interception. Jackson waves his arms in frustration rather than trying to knock the ball away or tackle Tryon right away. Doom.

10:19 PM: Cal has given up on this game, I think. Mail in the third consecutive loss. It’s over. They won the first half but failed to take advantage of it, and now ASU is blowing them away. I wonder if Cal will even be good enough for the Emerald Bowl this year.

10:30 PM: Longshore intercepted again. How does 5-3 feel like, everyone?

10:32 PM: Many different Herring runs.

10:33 PM: Another third down conversion by Carpenter. Those pass rushes don’t help if you get to the QB a second too late and he’s already tossed it downfield for a completion. Horrendous defense.

10:35 PM: Third down again. Time for Carpenter to toss a first-down pass or a touchdown pass. Rulon Davis is down, now, in his first game back… not good.

10:37 PM: There’s the Carpenter TD I just told you would happen. ASU 31, Cal 20.

10:38 PM: Cal hasn’t scored a point in the second half. ASU has sscored 24 unanswered points. I’m headed to the Carribean on Friday. My apologies to those of you who have to watch the rest of this season.

10:45 PM: Like the saying goes, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Good night.

As much as we’re all sick about this game, in the end, I’ve got to return to being optimistic. I see two angles for optimism… #1: The Rose Bowl is not dead… yet. #2: Tedford always strives to improve and is very perceptive.

Let’s take them one at a time…

#1 The Rose Bowl is not dead… yet

It really bugs me how negative the press was about the Bears chances. The Bears aren’t even close to dead if they win out. Now, of course what is really bothersome is that it doesn’t look like Cal has it in them to win out, but leaving that aside for the moment (and remembering just how much talent there is on this team) Cal is very much still in the hunt. Here’s what needs to happen assuming Cal wins out:

• Oregon must lose 1 (still have ASU, UCLA, OSU and USC on their schedule)… tell me it’s unlikely they’ll lose at least one of those?
• ASU must lose 1 beyond their loss to Cal (still have Oregon, UCLA and USC on their schedule)… this is the most untested team in the Pac.
• UCLA must lose 3 (still have ASU, Oregon and USC as well as WSU and Arizona on their schedule)… and this is one weak team in my opinion.
• OSU must lose 1 (still have Oregon and USC as well as WSU and Washington on their schedule)… I just can’t see them winning out.

That’s it!

Yeah, it’s not exactly a lock, particularly considering that the prerequisite is Cal wining out. But let’s not start carving the tombstone just yet. I fully expect both UCLA and ASU to fall apart down the stretch because their schedules are VERY back-loaded. The biggest risk in my opinion is Oregon and I’m pretty hopeful that either USC or OSU (remember, rivalry game) will help Cal out.

But let’s assume it doesn’t happen for the Bears, which is a reasonable assumption. That still leaves the 2nd reason to hold out a longer term hope.

#2 Tedford always strives to improve

I still have a lot of hope for Tedford’s Bears even as soon as 2008, although 2009/10 is looking really strong at this point with the recruits who are just coming in. What has always impressed me about Tedford is his ability to learn. He’s not a natural at just about anything, and I mean that as a compliment. He wasn’t a natural at QB… but he managed to lead Fresno State and Canadian football teams with authority. He isn’t a natural coach… but he managed to work his way up and find a way to relate to his players. He’s not a natural recruiter… but he’s learned that too.

How has he managed that? He’s managed it by being willing to learn. Tedford’s greatest asset is his perceptiveness and his ability to learn. Why do you think it is that so much of what Cal does today echo’s the best of what Oregon has been doing for the last decade? It’s because Tedford was there to learn and to see what was successful about their program. He’s got no pride/super-ego and is willing to take whatever works and put it to use for him.

I bring this up because the position the Bears are in right now is something entirely new to Tedford. Just like going to Tennessee last season to open the season was a new experience for him, and he completely missed the boat as the best way to prepare for a matchup like that, being a top-rated team with a bulls-eye on his back is new for Tedford too. I don’t think Tedford knows how to lead a team that knows they’re considered one of the best in the country. I don’t think Tedford knows how to play-call against teams that come in with a nothing-to-lose attitude because they’re expected to get blown out.

Did Tedford blow the play-calling against UCLA? Absolutely… but I have complete confidence in Tedford’s ability to learn and grow from this experience. Next year and every year after this, Tedford will have the experience of this year under his belt. And just watch… Tedford will make the adjustments, just like he did in his 2nd shot at the Holiday Bowl and against Oregon in Eugene and Tennessee and every other hurdle that the Bears have cleared in the last 6 years.

Tedford has not topped out. Give the man more time. I have high hopes that he will lead Cal to the promised land and a Rose Bowl berth long before any of us, God willing, die.

I’ll do what nobody in their right mind should do… re-watch the game. Here is my commentary:

• The first series of the game was a bad omen: A forsett run for a loss on 1st down, an underneath and short gain pass, followed by an incomplete (and tipped) pass on third down for the first 3 and out.
• And isn’t the 2nd series ENTIRELY different!… OK, the first set of downs was run, run, pass, but after that pass, rush, pass, pass, pass, rush, pass, pass, pass for TD: 7-0
• Additionally, the UCLA defense is already loading the box… setting up 1-on-1 coverage on the receivers.
• On UCLA’s next drive, the 3rd down completions where infuriating… one of the things I hate about television games. How can they be leaving guys open 15 yards down field on 3rd and 13…
• All of the manhandling and pass-interference penalties that we saw makes me wonder just how physical the game was off-screen. Just about every play that they showed a downfield camera there was a LOT of pushing and shoving. Not sure what that means or the implications of it, but just an observation.
• But got to give the defense credit for stiffening in the redzone. In my mind that’s classic Bend But Don’t Break: Force the offense to be patient and not make mistakes on entire drive and then when on the few times they’re mistake free and worn down after the long drive to the redzone, turn up the head and force the FG once there: 7-3
• Of course, despite the indicators to the contrary, Cal goes right back to the run on first down strategy. One 3rd down conversion saves Cal from a 3 and out, but the 2nd series of downs is the depressing run, run, long incomplete pass series.
• Then we get the long run by UCLA. So much for BBDB. Let me tell you what that was all about: the linebackers over pursuing, particularly Anthony Felder who bit REALLY HARD as if it was a sweep. He actually got on the other side of the middle linebacker (Williams) well before the runningback had made is way through the line. Almost like it was a linebacker stunt, although it doesn’t seem like it was: 7-10
• The next series for the Bears was the perfect example of just how much UCLA was keying on the run. I challenge anyone to give a specific example of where a defense let DeSean get 10 yards behind them (sans slipping or something like that). DeSean was ridiculously wide open: 14-10.
• Another “I thought we had a BBDB defense!?!” moment with the long pass by UCLA on their first play from scrimage. How’d we let a guy get that far behind us. This is another “I wish I was there” moment as well because it sure looked like Conte had the receiver well blanketed as they shot away from the line but when the camera panned with the ball it was as if Conte bit back on some move by the receiver or something because it just didn’t make sense how much Conte was out of position based on how the two of them left the line. In any case, it’s an easy 38 yard pass play, something that shouldn’t be happening with BBDB.
• Something I’ve notice in the last couple weeks, facing these more traditional offenses, the Cal defense has been giving away their blitzes and schemes by creeping in too early. I wonder if playing so many weeks of no-huddle, up tempo teams makes them a little out of cadence with creeping in at the right times.
• In any case, outside of the 38 yard pass, the defense held UCLA to a field-goal:14-13
• You know there hasn’t been much discussion of this in the post-game head-scratching, but that Longshore to Best pitch/fumble was PAINFUL. The Bears were driving and seemed sure to score another TD. How different would this game have been at 21-13 at the half?
• And while we’re on the topic of that drive, it was another great drive (up until the fumble) and why? Passing the ball a lot, of course!
• Got to give props to both Williams and Hampton on that forced fumble and recovery. I don’t know how Williams was able to get such a grip on that ball to rip it out and throw it 15 yards and then how Hampton was able to get there in time to pick it up after the first UCLA guy overshot the ball.
• But before we get too hapy clappy, Cal gets the ball with 1:20 or so, and after two passes (yeah!) that weren’t effective (can’t win them all), they let the clock run down from about a minute to 20 seconds on 3rd down. What the heck!?! Talk about having no confidence in your defense… because the only reason you don’t take a timeout (or do a quick snap) there is because you fear that you’ll end up giving the ball back to UCLA. Instead Kay is stuck attempting (and missing) a 44 yard field goal when the Bears could have had another 30 seconds to drive to the endzone.
• And re-iterating what I’ve said a number of times, I’d much rather be down my one than up by one at halftime. It’s far more easy to motivate a team that is behind than ahead and the 2 point swing is trivial at halftime. In fact, I just realized, 14-13 is the EXACT same score at halftime for the OSU game too.
• I’m starting to re-think my not being so harsh on the defense for this game. The WR pass for a TD was yet another case where they were out of the BBDB philosophy and the safeties bit on the reverse. That’s 17 of their 20 points that came on BBDB breakdowns… it’s not so much a criticism of BBDB but of the defense’s execution of it in this game: 14-20
• And how does Cal respond? A stuffed run on 1st down.
• Now, a couple of series later, Cal starts of the series with an attempted DeSean pass play (as in DeSean is the QB). To some degree, you can’t say that Tedford and Co. didn’t bring their trick plays. That’s why I still think that conservative is the wrong word… stubborn is. To further the example, what’s the call on 2nd down? A stuffed run of course… which sets up the next play:
• An interception! It was really surprising to me to see Hawkins not play that ball more aggressively. He SHOULD have out muscled the UCLA DB for the ball. I mean, it was closer to the QB. But he didn’t play it very aggressively, which is unlike Hawkins.
• The more I watch this game the more I remember how sloppy it was, for both teams. I think that’s part of what makes it so disgusting. I mean… OSU, they played pretty much their best game. UCLA, they turned the ball over, commited lots of penalties, they did everything Cal should have required to pick them apart.
• And what do you know… Cal goes back to the air on their next drive: result… TOUCHDOWN! (Despite going for the inside run on 1st and 2nd and goal… more stubborn play calling): 21-20
• After holding UCLA yet again (way to go D… finally stiffening a bit), what does Cal do: a 5 play, 10 yard drive that was ALL rushing… even on 3rd and 18.
• Another hold by the defense and another run, run, pass three and out.
• This next UCLA drive was the one drive I was disappointed with the run defense of Cal. I think they were getting tired on the defensive line. Earlier in the game there was a number of strong run plays by UCLA but they were never able to string them together to base a score off of it, that one 60+ yard rush aside. But on this drive, UCLA was able to really stuff it in Cal’s face, drive down into field goal range and milk the clock down as much as possible (5 1/2 minute, 42 yard drive): 21-23.
• After repeating this game, after re-validating just how bad the play calling was (by the way, as it was happening live, on 1st down when they handed off to Forsett, even though he got 4 yards I screamed at the top of my lungs: “NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NOOOOOOOOOO! Jeez!?!” It was that clear to me that running the ball was the wrong strategy, even before the disasterous pick-6.
• I’m feeling sick again.