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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5-2 Arizona Wildcats Still Under The Radar

With the USC Trojans visiting the Oregon Ducks on October 31st for first place in the conference and Arizona on their bye week the Wildcats will continue to go unnoticed. Arizona defeated the UCLA Bruins 27-13 in a great defensive effort. The Bruins were held to 2/15 on third down conversions and 1/3 on fourth down. Three UCLA QB’s combined for a total of 146 passing yards and UCLA was held to 65 yards on the ground averaging only 2.8 YPC. Arizona held the Bruins scoreless in the 1st and 4th quarter of the game.

The whole country is familiar with the USC Trojans. The Oregon Ducks receive a lot of attention for their interesting uniform combinations, but the Ducks did qualify for the Fiesta Bowl in 2001. The Ducks have beaten high profile programs such as Michigan and Oklahoma over the last three seasons. The last time Arizona made a BCS game was in 1993 when they defeated the Miami Hurricanes 29-0 when the BCS was called the Bowl Coalition. Last season the Wildcats defeated BYU 31-21 in the Las Vegas Bowl. Before last years Bowl victory the Wildcats had not qualified for a Bowl game since the 1998 Holiday Bowl against Nebraska.

The rest of the Pac Ten and the entire country should pay close attention to what Mike Stoops is doing in Tucson, Arizona. The Wildcats at 30.5 PPG are the 4th best scoring offense in the Pac Ten. Arizona has the best passing offense in the conference with 259 passing yards per game. The Wildcats should have a very competitive team for the next three seasons, because QB Nick Foles is only a sophomore. Foles currently leads the Pac Ten in passing efficiency with a QB rating of 151.9 .

After the bye week the Wildcats have Washington State and California before they get the Oregon Ducks at home. When the Ducks come to Arizona Stadium on November 21st the Wildcats have a very good chance of being 7-2. The USC/Oregon game will have a lot at stake as far as what team can control their own destiny in the Pac 10, but before the conclusion of this season Arizona will be involved heavily in the race to become the Pac Ten Champion.

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Bears Take Another Step Forward

The Bears defeated the Golden Gophers 35-21. After jumping on Minnesota 14-0, California was outscored 21-7 before taking control of the game in the fourth quarter. The question is did the Bears make a great impression with this win? Minnesota is probably the fourth or fifth best team in the Big Ten with Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State and maybe Iowa ahead of them. On the other hand, Cal is expected to compete for first place in the Pac Ten. A 14 point victory in a new stadium on the road should not be overlooked, but the Bears should have put this game away before halftime. Cal has experienced a lot of trouble on the road going 1-4 in 2008.

The Trojans are the measuring stick for every team in the Pac Ten and Cal is trying to dethrone USC. The Trojans played the first or second best team in the Big Ten in Ohio State on the road and won by three. Last season USC beat Virginia on the road by 45. In 2007 USC beat Nebraska by 18 on the road and Notre Dame by 38 in South Bend. As the Trojans have shown when you have elite talent and a strong belief on what you are trying to accomplish the site of the game does not matter. The Bears have enough talent to beat a lot of teams by more than 20, but Cal is not playing up to their talent level. With Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen in the backfield and a talented group of WR’s, after the half it should not take until the fourth quarter to get a first down. Jahvid Best was on the sideline a lot in the second half. Best should always be on the field even if the ball is not going to him, because he demands so much attention from the defense that things will open up for other players. Jahvid finished the game with 26 carries for 131 yards and 5 TDs.

Going forward the key to the Bears season will be their ability to win games on the road. Next week California plays at Oregon. Later in the season the Bears play at UCLA, at Arizona State, at Stanford and at Washington. If the Bears plan on making a move nationally and in the Pac Ten Conference they will be forced to overcome their difficulties on the road. California’s defense will be a big reason why this football team starts to win on the road. The defense held Minnesota to 37 yards rushing and 4/12 on third down conversions. Next up is a difficult game in Autzen Stadium. If the Bears can get past the Ducks it would set-up a major match-up against the Trojans on October 3rd.

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Inside The Pac Ten Week 1

It was evident after Week One in the College Football season that the USC Trojans and the Cal Bears are the two best teams in the Pac Ten Conference. The Trojans defeated San Jose State 56-3 and California beat Maryland 52-13. Oregon got out played and out coached in a 19-8 loss at Boise State. Another team must step up and prove that they can compete for first place in the Pac Ten. There are a number of good OOC match-ups this week such as UCLA at Tennessee and Stanford at Wake Forest. There are a number of players that must step up this week for their teams if they expect to get a victory in Week Two.

First year Trojan QB Matt Barkley had a very solid game going 15/19 and passing for 233 yards. One thing that will make life easier for Matt this year is the experience of USC’s offensive line. With players like C Kristopher O’Dowd (6-5 300), G Jeff Byers (6-4 285) and T Charles Brown (6-6 295) the o-line will provide more than adequate protection for Barkley and open up holes for RB’s Stafon Johnson and Joe McKnight. Scott Wolf of the L.A. Daily News reports that O’Dowd should be ready for the game at Ohio State. RB Joe McKnight averaged 10.4 YPC against San Jose State and USC hopes to keep the running game going at Ohio State this week.

One of the question marks for the Bears coming into this season was there receiving core. With the Maryland defense concentrating on Jahvid Best that allowed QB Kevin Riley to pass for 298 yards and 4 TD’s. The WR’s stepped up against the Terrapins with Marvin Jones averaging 24.7 YPC, Verran Tucker 16.7 YPC and Nyan Boateng catching 2 passes for 22.0 YPC. The Bears have an easy opponent this week with E. Washington coming to Memorial Stadium. The Bears are now ranked #10 (AP) in the country. If California can win at Minnesota on September 19th they can put themselves in a very good position Nationally and in the Pac Ten.

One of the teams that most people are not talking about is the Stanford Cardinal. Stanford is 1-0 in conference after beating Washington State 39-13. Redshirt Freshmen QB Andrew Luck had a very solid game against the Cougars. Luck went 11/23, passed for 193 yards and 1 TD. This Saturday Stanford travels to Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons are coming off a 24-21 home loss to Baylor. Head Coach Jim Harbaugh will rely on RB Toby Gerhart to have a big game to take the pressure off Andrew Luck. Gerhart ran for 121 yards and 2 TD’s against Washington State. A victory at Wake Forest would be huge for the Stanford Program.

The UCLA Bruins started off slowly last Saturday against the Aztecs. San Diego got off to a 14-10 first quarter lead. The Bruins out scored the Aztecs 23-0 the last three quarters of the game. QB Kevin Prince got an opportunity to get a game under his belt before the Bruins take on the Tennessee Volunteers this Saturday. When the Bruins travel to Knoxville they will need RB Derrick Coleman to have a big game and the UCLA defense will need to play well to keep this game close going into the 4th quarter. BlueReign of Bruinsnation.com talked about the importance of a good defensive performance by UCLA. With the Oregon Ducks in trouble, a win by UCLA at Tennessee would prove that they are one of the teams that could have a tremendous year in the Pac Ten this season.

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Cal Avenges 2007 Loss To The Terrapins

Last season the Bears were expected to beat Maryland, but the Terrapins handed Cal a 35-27 loss. In that game the Terrapin defense held Jahvid Best to 25 yards rushing. That would not be the case when Cal beat the Terrapins 52-13. Jahvid ran for 137 yards, caught two passes for 23 yards and he returned one kickoff for 18 yards. Jahvid more than made up for his performance in 2008.

Going into this season Cal had question marks at QB and the WR position. The WR’s look much better with a year of experience under their belts. Marvin Jones had three receptions for 74 yards and 1 TD. Verran Tucker averaged 16.7 YPC and Nyan Boateng averaged 22.0 YPC. QB Kevin Riley was very efficient in his first start of the year finishing the game 17/26, for 298 yards and 4 TD’s.

With Oklahoma and Virginia Tech losing on Saturday the Bears should be moving up in the polls. California hosts E. Washington on September 12th, but the country will learn if Cal is for real when they play at Minnesota on September 19th. The Bears still have to prove that they can come up with a dominant performance on the road. They will get their chance against the Gophers.

Opposing defenses will learn quickly that Cal has a number of playmakers on their roster not named Jahvid Best. RB Shane Vereen finished with 1 TD and 48 yards and RB Covaughn DeBoskie averaged 6.0 YPC. It will be up to Kevin Riley to manage the game and get the football quickly into the correct hands on any given play. Riley has a lot of help on offense and if he takes advantage of the situation he’s in the Bears can win a lot of games.

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Trojans Look To The Future With Barkley At QB

Pete Carroll’s decision to name Matt Barkley as the Trojans starter will pay tremendous dividends in the future. One thing that Coach Carroll always stresses is that he wants the Trojans to improve every week. Pete has gotten all his teams to do this since he took over the program. There will be a big difference between the Trojan team that lines up on September 5th against San Jose State and the USC team that will play Arizona on December 5th. From September through December Matt Barkley will improve a lot and so will the Trojan’s defense that had to replace seven starters from the 2008 season. The decision to name Barkley the starter may cost USC the chance to play for the National Championship this year, but starting in 2010 they might be the favorites to win it for the next three seasons.

Carroll will have Barkley for a minimum of three years and if USC starts playing for BCS Championships again it might be easy to convince Barkley to stay for a fourth season. The Last time Pete had the same QB for three consecutive seasons Matt Leinart had USC playing for the BCS Championship or a share of the Championship in all three of those seasons. Leinart in his first season had the luxury of having players like Reggie Bush and Lendale White. Matt Barkley will get a lot of help from RB’s Stafon Johnson (5.1YPC), Joe McKnight (7.4 YPC) and WR Damian Williams (9 TD’s). Barkley will have a lot of talented players he can lean on for support. The Trojans also have a very experienced offensive line protecting Matt Barkley.

Barkley will get his first in game experience against the San Jose State Spartans. After The Trojans dispose of the Spartans there will be a lot of talk about USC not being able to win in Columbus with a true Freshmen at QB. The truth of the matter is Ohio State is over hyped and not that good. The Buckeyes lost RB Chris Wells, WR’s Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline. The Buckeyes just don’t have enough talent at the skill positions to complement QB Terrelle Pryor. Matt Barkley has talented WR’s and RB’s that will make life easier for him against the Buckeye’s defense.

The Trojans will face much tougher opponents when they visit California who has one of the best defenses in the country on October 3rd and when they visit one of the toughest venues to win at in the county when they face the Oregon Ducks in Autzen Stadium on October 31st. The Trojans will stumble twice this season, but during the month of November I expect the Trojans to be clicking on all cylinders and playing better than any team in the country. If the Trojans finish with a 10-2 record they should still qualify for a BCS game and that will be a great accomplishment to get that done with a Freshmen QB.

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