Who Are The Cal Bears?

California defeated Arizona State 23-21 on a FG kick by Giorgio Tavecchio with 21 seconds left in the 4th quarter improving the Bears overall record to 6-2. With four games remaining Cal is currently in third place in the Pac Ten. The Bears still have to face Oregon State, Arizona, Stanford and Washington. The Rose Bowl is a long shot, but the Holiday and Sun Bowl are still a possibility for Cal. There are four solid to above average teams left on the schedule and the Bears have not beaten a ranked team all season.

For the second season in a row Cal has not been consistent on a week-to-week basis. Cal jumped on Minnesota 14-0 and had to struggle to win that game and today the Bears went up 14-0 on ASU and needed a FG in the last 21 seconds to win the game. The Gophers and Sun Devils are average football teams. That would lead me to believe that Cal will have a difficult time with Stanford and Washington. The Bears have not beaten a ranked team since they defeated the Ducks 26-16 on November 1st 2008. Arizona is currently ranked #20 and it is possible that Oregon State could be ranked when they face the Bears next week.

Cal is at their best when the passing game and running game are clicking. Against ASU QB Kevin Riley was 27/44 for 351 yards and 2 TD’s. Jahvid Best was held to 63 yards rushing, but Best was heavily involved in the passing game finishing with 61 yards receiving and 1 TD. If Jeff Tedford can get Riley’s completion percentage above 60% and get Best and Vereen going again Cal would have a great chance of winning the rest of their games.

ASU is a one-dimensional team and they have difficulty moving the ball through the air. QB Danny Sullivan finished the game 16/29, passed for 244 yards, 1 TD and 2 interceptions. When Cal faces OSU next week they will be playing a team that is very balanced on offense. QB Sean Canfield is completing over 67% of his passes. RB Quizz Rodgers has over 800 yards rushing and 15 total TD’s. WR James Rodgers has over 50 receptions. The Bear team that shows up for this contest will have an effect on how this game will play out. Will it be the Cal team that just got by the Gophers 35-21 or the team that showed up against the Trojans and Ducks?

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Bruins And Cardinals Play For First Place In The Pac Ten

UCLA travels to Stanford on October 3rd with first place in the conference on the line. UCLA’s top priority will be to stop the Stanford running game. Toby Gerhart is leading the conference with 516 rushing yards. Stanford will be running directly at a Bruin defense that is only giving up 2.3 YPC on the ground. The goals for both of these programs going into this season was to become bowl eligible. Stanford has not been to a bowl game since the Seattle Bowl in 2001 and UCLA’s last bowl appearance was the 2007 Las Vegas Bowl. Stanford is 3-1 after beating Washington 34-14 and the undefeated Bruins (3-0) are coming off a bye week after beating Kansas State 23-9 on September 19th.

Both of these teams have to find a way to advance the ball down the field through the air. After the fourth week of the season UCLA has the ninth best passing offense (167.3 Passing Yards Per Game) in the conference and Stanford has the seventh best passing offense (185.8 Passing Yards Per Game). Cardinal QB Andrew Luck is completing 60.2% of his passes and has a QB rating of 146.4. On the other hand, both Bruin QB’s are completing less than 60% of their passes. Kevin Prince is completing 55.8% and Kevin Craft is completing 54.2% of his throws. The team that gets a big performance out of their QB will have a big advantage in this game.

This game is very pivotal in the Pac Ten race. UCLA and Stanford face some tough opponents following this game. UCLA gets Oregon and California at home before traveling to Arizona on October 24th. Stanford is at Oregon State and Arizona before getting Arizona State at home on October 24th. The next four weeks will determine what Bowls they can qualify for and if they will be Bowl eligible at all.

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