(Written by kencraw)

Many may ask why this site has been so quiet the last few days. Could it be that Ken is following Jason’s example of “if you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all.” Or perhaps my perpetually upbeat nature can’t find any angle on which to predict a win?

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Nope. The only thing keeping me from posting is that I’ve been CRAZY busy this week. I’ve had a huge project due at work today and at home I’ve been on kid duty while my wife has been finishing up her Master’s Thesis. I’ve been dying to find time to post, but it just hasn’t been there.

See, there’s lots to feel good about. This Cal team is VERY capable of beating USC. I don’t think this team could beat the 2004-2006 USC teams, in fact I think this team is weaker than either the 2004 and 2006 Bears which both lost to USC (although I do think the 2004 Bears would have been the 2006 Trojans, but I digress). But the 2007 Bears don’t have to play those Trojan teams. They have to play the 2007 Trojans.

The 2007 Trojans are not a team to be scared of. They’ve lost to Stanford… AT HOME! They’ve struggled against Arizona and Washington. They lost to Oregon on the same field that Cal beat the Ducks… and that game was not as close as the score or the final opportunity to tie.

So there is no question that the Bears are capable of beating USC, the question is can they put together the same type of game they put together to beat Oregon. I mean, they haven’t played a game at the level of the Oregon game since Longshore got injured in the 4th quarter of that game.

But to me, that’s the key. I think the Bears struggles start and end at the quarterback position. The Bears are such a balanced team that when they lose that balance they give the opposition an opportunity to hide their defensive weaknesses. When they have balance, there is no way the defense can keep from being exposed. And the Bears haven’t had offensive balance since Longshore got injured.

Don’t get me wrong, I think they had potential to have offensive balance. By putting more trust in Riley in his start or being willing to let Longshore sling the ball around when he first came back I think the Bears could have had the balance they are capable of. But whatever the reason, the Bears haven’t had that balance. So the question remains, can Cal get that balance back?

I think the answer is an unqualified yes. I think between Longshore getting health and Tedford growing more comfortable with his team’s strengths and weaknesses with Longshore less than 100%, I think the Bears will get their mojo back.

Bears win 24-17.