(Written by kencraw)

(We continue our hugely unpopular look at The Half Season Of Which We Shall Not Speak (THSOFWWSNS) with the USC game. Go here for past posts.)

The pre-game Storyline:
The Bears had finally won a game, albeit not very impressively, after a horrific 3 game losing streak. Now Bear fans had to ask themselves, was this still a team capable of competing with the best in the PAC-10? Maybe. USC had, after all, lost to the same Oregon team that Cal had beat, as well as losing in a shocker to Stanford. They seemed vulnerable. Add that to the fact that Longshore was still undefeated at home and there was reason for hope. But hope it was, and everyone saw this as an opportunity, not an expectation.

The pre-game Reality:
While it was true that USC was not the same team it had been the last 3 years, it was still very good and was getting some of its form back. With Booty now back under center after 3 games off injured (a streak which, if you include that he played injured against Stanford, spanned both of USC’s loses) and their talent was still 2nd to none. Talented teams, particularly deep talented teams, tend to do very well towards the end of the season. At the same time, there was still lots of talent on this Cal team and a strong effort at home could have sealed a victory. There was of course one huge wildcard: it was raining in Berkeley.

The key plays:

• Longshore starts the game slinging the ball in his “new” post injury slinging form.
• Longshore and Jordan were not on the same page on 3rd down forcing the Bears to punt on their first possession.
• Larson shanks his first punt for only 20 yards.
• USC tries to run the ball on their first possession and the Bears are ready for it, forcing a 3 and out.
• A double reverse from Hawkins to Best fools USC for a sizeable gain.
• A delayed run play to Forsett catches USC over-pursuing and Forsett is able to rush for a TD. Bears up early: 7-0.
• USC returns the ensuing kickoff to midfield.
• Booty connects with a wide open WR in the cover-2 hole.
• Washington busts a big run down to the Cal 2 yard line and USC punches it in from there to tie the game: 7-7.
• Another Longshore to WR miscommunication nearly results in an interception.
• Forsett has a series of good runs, particularly in staying on his feet and bouncing of tackles, sustaining the drive.
• Hawkins open on a seam pattern and gets the ball down to the USC 6 yard line.
• The Bears get a number of good breaks on the goal line including pass interference call that gives Cal a second set of downs and a Forsett fumble and turnover erased because of an offside penalty. Nevertheless the Bears can’t convert and Kay kicks the Field Goal. Bears back on top: 10-7
• Cal sends the farm on an all out blitz around midfield and Washington gets by it for an easy TD run. Bears in their first hole: 10-14
• With a minute left in the half, Longshore slings it to Jackson down to the USC 27 yard line.
• Longshore is sacked and loses the football but it is recovered by Cal back on the USC 42. Unfortunately that was the end of that last-second scoring opportunity.
• After marching the ball down the field to open the 2nd half, USC fumbles deep in the Cal redzone saving the Bears from a disaster on the scoreboard.
• Longshore and his WR are not on the same page yet again and this time it hurts the Bears as USC intercepts it at the Cal 13.
• However, the defense holds firm and USC is held to a Field Goal. Deficit grows but is still one score: 10-17.
• Game gets very sloppy through the rest of the 3rd quarter.
• DeSa tips a USC punt giving the Bears the ball at the USC 45.
• Longshore finds Hawkins on another seam route, this time for a touchtown. Game is tied: 17-17.
• USC fumbles on a bobbled snap giving Cal the ball around midfield.
• Forsett continues to look strong and bouncing off tackles but another QB/WR miscommunication on 3rd down stalls the drive.
• A USC play-action pass fools the Bears and a long completion ensues, but it is called back for holding, saving the Bears again.
• However, a wide open TE gets USC back in business to erase 1st and 20 and then Washington runs over a tired Cal defense getting down to the Cal 4 yard line where USC punches it in from there. Bears back down by a TD: 17-24
• Longshore bobbles a snap of his own giving USC the ball back at the worst time of the game, now mid-4th quarter.
• Cal got the ball back on its own 7 yard line with 4 minutes left where Forsett breaks a big run to get them out of the shadow of their goal line.
• Forsett runs for a big gain down to the USC 36 on a swingout pass.
• Longshore throws a crucial pick by not putting enough air under a ball to Jordan that would have gone for a tying score with 2:30 left.
• Instead, USC is able to run the clock out, including getting a crucial 1st down when Follett misses a back-field tackle that would have forced 4th down.

The forgotten

• Cal really got the better of the bounces of the ball. Between the fumble recoveries, the missed interceptions that USC couldn’t haul in, penalties offsetting otherwise big plays, Cal got all the help it needed to win this game.
• USC’s Washington really destroyed the Bears late in the game with his rushing for 220 yards.
• Forsett also had a monster game, perhaps the best of his career at Cal, carrying for nearly 170 yards and being very determined and durable even when the plays didn’t go as designed.
• The miscommunications between Longshore and his receivers was so consist and so baffling that it must have either been a new read that hadn’t been in place in previous games or there was something about USC’s defense that made the reads more difficult.
• Booty was surprisingly off the mark in this game missing a number of open receivers, more so by far than Longshore. If he had been on the mark, this game would have been a blowout.
• The same can be said for penalties where Cal played a very clean game and USC’s penalties really stiffled them.

The post-game storyline:
Somehow in the middle of this game it turned from an opportunistic one to a “must win” and the hearts of everyone in Berkeley were crushed again. The game was eminently winnable but the Bears just couldn’t seal the deal. Thankfully the rest of the schedule looked easy and the Bears could finish the season a respectable 8-4 with a likely Sun Bowl visit if two PAC-10 teams made it to a BCS game (between ASU, Oregon and USC that seemed likely).

The post-game reality:
The Bears were now completely broken down and had lost their heart for the season. They too were making the assumption that these last two games were easy victories when in fact there was more trouble brewing.

The 2007 learnings:

• Cal’s trouble around the goal line was now firmly established but the USC game confirmed what was already known.
• The defense was showing more and more signs of sporadic weaknesses. Sometimes it was wide open receivers, other times it was a systematic inability to slow down the running game. Which would strike when was unclear.
• Longshore’s trend of giving up game sealing interceptions continued into this game.
• Longshore was still not healthy but there were no signs that Tedford was going to give Riley a shot.

The conclusion
This was a game that I really didn’t get a good look at the first time around. I had brought my kids (the weather was fine in Sacramento when we left) and they were soaked and cold by the end of the 1st quarter. We left just before halftime and didn’t get to a place to watch the game until late in the 3rd quarter. Even then I was distracted by comforting the kids (changing into dry clothes, food, etc.). So my heart was never really invested in the game the first time and I never understood why so many people were hugely disappointed by this game. But experiencing it again and seeing how there was every reason to believe the Bears could win this one and how that changed the game from an opportunistic one to another disaster mid-game, I better understand now. In reality, this game was more like the ASU game where there was every reason that the Bears should have been dominant early and extended to a good win, but instead found themselves with only a small lead and completely unable to convert on later opportunities that could have still given the Bears a win. Perhaps if the Bears had never been competitive from the get-go, it actually would have been better for the team psyche.

And from this point on, the psyche was the key to success (or failure).