Casting call at Cal

BEARS' ROSE BOWL HOPES HINGE ON STARS GETTING HELP
By Jon Wilner
Mercury News
So tailback Marshawn Lynch ``might be the best all-around player I've ever seen,'' in the words of Cal Coach Jeff Tedford. So the 1,615-pound offensive line features two All-America candidates in center Marvin Philip and tackle Ryan O'Callaghan. So rover extraordinaire Donnie McCleskey is healthy once again.
The truth is, Cal's big-name returnees do not hold the key to Tedford's fourth season in Berkeley. The difference between a five-win season and a nine-win season is the supporting cast: the heralded freshmen, the former reserves stepping into crucial roles, and the junior college transfers.
If the Bears don't find a dependable quarterback and playmaking receivers, defenses will overload the line of scrimmage and stuff Lynch. If the revamped defensive line doesn't generate a consistent pass rush, the veteran secondary will become vulnerable. If the new linebackers don't fill the proper holes, the Bears won't be able to stop opposing ground games.
Fresh off a 10-2 season that ended poorly -- bumped from the Rose Bowl, then thrashed by Texas Tech in the Holiday Bowl -- the Bears are aiming for Pasadena once again.
And this time, it's the national championship game.
``Any time you get that close . . . you use it as leverage,'' Philip said.
What will it take for Cal to remain a player on the national scene?
Here are five areas to watch:
The search for leaders
It doesn't grab headlines like a quarterback competition, but the search for leadership is the most important issue facing the Bears -- especially on defense, where they're replacing eight starters.
Gone are the players who navigated the transition from Tom Holmoe to Tedford and fueled the remarkable turnaround of the past three years. Into that void step dozens of players with no Division I-A experience. The offensive line and secondary are the only units stocked with proven playmakers. They must set an example -- not only on Saturdays but also in practice, in the locker room and in the weight room.
``In past years, we knew what it would take,'' Philip said. ``Now there are guys that haven't been around and we need the leadership to surface so that we're not totally blind.''
The quarterback duel
Yes, Joe Ayoob put up gaudy numbers last fall as a junior college All-American at City College of San Francisco (35 touchdown passes and 61.3 completion percentage). And yes, he has a good arm and terrific mobility. But he does not have Aaron Rodgers' aptitude for the game -- the ability to quickly assimilate dozens of formations and blocking schemes and read progressions. (Few players do.)
Ayoob struggled through spring practice and training camp and will open the season on the bench. Redshirt freshman Nate Longshore will start Saturday's opener against Sacramento State, although Ayoob is expected to play.
This much is sure: Both Ayoob and Longshore will spend much of their time handing the ball to Lynch, who averaged 8.8 yards per carry last season. Tedford plans to make defenses stop the running game before he turns the offense over to an inexperienced quarterback.
``I don't know that it would be very smart to come out winging the ball every down,'' he said. ``I think there's no question the running game is ahead of the passing game.''
The young receivers
Even if the Bears find a reliable quarterback, that only solves half of the pass-and-catch riddle. Without Chase Lyman, Jonathan Makonnen and Geoff McArthur, the most productive receiver in school history, the Bears need their young wideouts to become dependable playmakers.
The top newcomers are CCSF transfer Lavelle Hawkins and freshman DeSean Jackson, who picked Cal over USC in part because of the chance to make an instant impact.
``We expect those guys to contribute very early,'' Tedford said. ``They have great speed and good hands. We feel like they will play a major part in the offense.''
At least three sophomores should play prominent roles: Sam DeSa, Noah Smith and Robert Jordan, a revelation last fall with 29 receptions. (Junior David Gray has moved to tight end.)
``We have a chip on our shoulder,'' Jordan said. ``Everybody is talking about the receivers being the weakest link. But nobody can run with us.''
The JC defenders
The Bears were second in the Pacific-10 Conference in scoring defense last season (16 points allowed per game). They won't come close to matching that number without help from two newcomers.
Nu'u Tafisi is a 260-pound dervish from Mt. San Antonio College and the man Cal hopes will replace Pac-10 sack leader Ryan Riddle. The new middle linebacker is Desmond Bishop, a heavy hitter from CCSF and one of the most acclaimed defensive players the Bears have ever recruited.
``He's great from tackle to tackle,'' defensive coordinator Bob Gregory said. ``He's tough, he's a hitter, and he's a very natural leader.''
How quickly will Bishop and Tafisi adjust to the speed of Division I-A play? It helps that they were enrolled for spring practice.
``We've really been fortunate in that our JC guys, on both sides of the ball, have come here and played early and effectively,'' Gregory said.
The training room
Sure, health is an issue for every team. But Cal's imbalanced schedule makes it imperative that the elite players survive the soft September and October so they're ready for a brutal November.
Only a major upset will prevent the Bears from winning their first five. Sacramento State, Washington, Illinois, New Mexico State and Arizona had a combined record of 15-40 last season, and three of the five have new coaches.
At that point, the schedule turns tough -- but only for one week. After an Oct. 8 visit to UCLA, Cal returns home to face two second-tier conference opponents (Oregon State and Washington State).
In other words, the Bears could exit October with one loss, or perhaps unbeaten.
When comes the gantlet: a trip to Oregon, which should be one of the league's best teams; a showdown with USC in Berkeley; and the Big Game at Stanford.
The Bears have dominated the rivalry during Tedford's reign, but Stanford's coaching change -- jettisoning Buddy Teevens, hiring Walt Harris -- has seemingly narrowed the gap between the schools. The outcome could hinge, as it has so often over the decades, on good old emotion and luck.