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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Jeff Tedford’s Indecision At QB Is Puzzling

The California Golden Bears have dropped their last two games by a combined score of 72-6. In those two losses to the Oregon Ducks and the USC Trojans the Bears are 15/46 on third down conversions. Against the Ducks Cal QB Kevin Riley was 12/31 for 123 yards and against the Trojans Riley completed 15/40 for 199 yards and 1 interception. I don’t have a problem with Riley having bad games, but I do question Jeff Tedford’s resistance to putting in a different QB. This has been an issue with the Bear’s program for the last couple of seasons. Former Bear QB Nate Longshore had a lot of bad games, but kept his job. Riley took over for Longshore for the last couple of games last year, but Tedford went right back to Longshore for the Emerald Bowl. Cal has been lacking consistent play at the QB position since Aaron Rodgers left for the NFL.

If you look at the Pac Ten Conference there are a number of teams starting young QB’s that are producing in games. Pete Carroll decided to go with first year QB Matt Barkley and Barkley has led the Trojans to victories at Ohio State and California. UCLA was starting red-shirt freshmen Kevin Prince at QB until he was injured and Prince led the Bruins to a victory at Tennessee. Red-shirt freshmen Andrew Luck has led Stanford to a 4-1 record and the Cardinal are in first place in the Pac Ten. These teams have proven that they can be successful with a freshmen QB under center.

The question is does Cal have a young QB that was highly rated coming out of high school that could be playing? QB Allan Bridgford was the 15th rated QB in the country from last year’s recruiting class according to Phil Steele. Phil Steele had USC QB Matt Barkely #5, Kevin Prince was # 49 in 2008 and Andrew Luck was #8 in 2008. Why have coaches like Pete Carroll, Rick Neuheisel and Jim Harbaugh come to the realization that starting these young QB’s this year will make their programs extremely better over the next three seasons, but Tedford seems to lack that same kind of vision. If Matt Barkley can take the Trojans to the Rose Bowl his confidence will be out of this world at the start of next season. Andrew Luck has a great chance of leading Stanford to their first bowl game since 2001 and once Kevin Prince returns from injury the Bruins will probably make their first bowl game since 2007.

Jeff Tedford has been touted as a QB guru so he should not have a problem getting another QB on his roster ready to play. Cal has a bye week before traveling to UCLA on October 17th. If a change is going to be made this would be a good time to make it. If Tedford sticks with Riley for the rest of the season, Cal will begin the 2010 season with Riley being the only returning QB on the roster with starting experience. USC, UCLA and Stanford will be ranked ahead of the Bears in every pre-season poll in 2010, because all three programs would be returning second year QB’s who were productive and gained valuable experience in the 2009 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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