Daily Cal: Cal Remains Undefeated Without a Scratch

By Chris Nguon Daily Californian

Berkeley, CA (U-WIRE) -- It was a play that defined why he was so highly touted in the first place.  With the No. 10 Cal football team holding a two-touchdown lead with 9:05 left in the third quarter against Arizona, Bears quarterback Joe Ayoob took a broken play and turned it into a highlight reel.  With the ball placed on the Wildcats 45-yard line, Ayoob took the snap from center, rolled right and quickly scrambled as the pocket started to break down.  Ayoob promptly swiveled towards the left sideline, and as he was about to get hit, threw a beautiful ball to wide receiver Robert Jordan in the back of the end zone.  Although that play was one of few highlights on the day for the Cal offense, it was more than enough, as the Bears blanked Arizona 28-0 Saturday at Memorial Stadium.  The contest marked the second consecutive year Cal has shut out the Wildcats, and also matches the Bears' best start to a season since 1996.  "The turnovers this week were huge," Cal defensive coordinator Bob Gregory said. "I felt we tackled much better this game. We had 11 guys around the ball."  The game also saw the return of running back Marshawn Lynch and yet another dominating performance by the offensive line. But make no mistake, it was the Bears defense that shined Saturday.  Cal (5-0, 2-0 in the Pac-10) forced Arizona quarterback Richard Kovalcheck into three interceptions-two by Daymeion Hughes and one by Tim Mixon-and consistently put pressure on the Wildcats signal caller, who completed 19-of-36 passes for 169 yards. As a team, Arizona (1-3, 0-1) gained only 206 yards on the day.

"When you get two interceptions, that is the benefit of playing hard and getting pressure on the quarterback," Hughes said. "For them to come out and try to pass the ball when we know they are more of a running team, that really helped us out a lot."  The Bears' impressive play on defense was highlighted late in the third quarter with a series that defined what the entire contest was about.  With under four minutes left in the third quarter, the Wildcats offense marched down the field. Thanks to a questionable defensive pass interference call inside the red zone, they found themselves on the Cal two-yard line, first-and-goal.  On a night when the Bears dominated the line of scrimmage, the next four plays epitomized Cal's fortitude Saturday.  From the two yard line, first down saw Arizona running back Gilbert Harris get cut to the ground by linebacker Ryan Foltz for a two-yard loss.  On second down, the Wildcats gave to the ball to Mike Bell, their leading rusher this season, only to see the junior get stuffed by Bears defensive tackle Matt Malele for no gain.  On third down, Arizona decided to go to the air, as Kovalcheck looked to wide receiver Anthony Johnson, but Hughes was all over the play, knocking the pass away.  Finally, on fourth-and-goal, Kovalcheck again went to the air, only to see his pass sail on him, as Mixon slapped the ball away from Johnson in the back of the end zone to keep the Wildcats off the board.

"It was great for our defense to be in a situation like that and come up with the big stop," Foltz said. "We're going to be in that type of situation again so I think it really helped us build our character as a defense."  In a contest that was eerily similar to Cal's 38-0 shutout of Arizona in the desert last season, the Bears were stifling on defense while controlling the ball on offense. They used their running game to control the clock and keep the Wildcats offense off the field.  Suffice to say, Arizona coach Mike Stoops was not pleased with his team's effort.  "To go eight quarters without scoring is unacceptable," Stoops said. "We didn't play well offensively, we didn't coach well, and we didn't execute anything. The inability to run the football really hurt us."  Cal held over a 10-minute advantage in time of possession, and used it to its full advantage.  With the return of Lynch, who sat out the last two weeks due to a broken left little finger, the Bears once again pounded the ball on the ground.

Lynch was productive, rushing for 107 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown.  Not to be outdone however, backup running back Justin Forsett was also solid, carrying the ball 13 times for 74 yards.  For the game, Cal tallied 331 yards of total offense.  "Arizona is probably the best tackling secondary around," Bears coach Jeff Tedford said. "Their players did a nice job of filling the gaps. Normally, we're able to make the safeties miss and get some big plays. But you have to give Arizona credit, they were very physical out there."  Next up for Cal is No. 20 UCLA at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., next week. The Bruins will be the first ranked team the Bears face this season.  Although Cal has been executing well in many facets of the game so far this year, Tedford said he knows that it is going to take a lot more for Cal to continue its current winning streak.  Namely, the play of Ayoob and the Bears passing game still worries Tedford.  Ayoob was very efficient Saturday, completing 14-of-20 passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns.  The junior also showed off his running ability, scrambling for two first downs and a rushing touchdown.  But, Tedford still sees a lot of room for improvement.  "Our offense is still a work in progress," Tedford said. "There is no question about it that to beat some of the teams we will face, we are going to have to make more plays in the passing game."  Ayoob seemed to agree with Tedford's assessments.  "There is no excuse for me not hitting some of the long balls I threw today," Ayoob said. "It was a couple of series in which we didn't play well. It was just ugly."