Marin Independent Journal:Bloggerbacks need to back off Ayoob

Dave Albee 

BERKELEY

JOE AYOOB had an answer for his critics last night: Blog this. Cal's junior quarterback out of Terra Linda High threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to rally the Bears from a 10-point deficit to a wild 42-38 win over Washington State. But that's only part of the story. Consider what he had to overcome. He was the Cinderella Man in blue and gold. Ayoob was missing his two best play-making receivers - Robert Jordan and freshman DeSean Jackson. At one point in the third quarter, the Bears were down to two healthy wide receivers: sophomore Sam DeSa and walk-on LaReylle Cunningham who, coming into this season, had one catch between them at Cal. In addition, the Bears played again without their best offensive lineman, Ryan O'Callaghan. Cal is using backups at both tackle positions on offense, which may explain why the pocket is collapsing too often around Ayoob. And, as if there's already not enough pressure on Ayoob, Cal's pass defense last night was horrendous. It gave up 22 unanswered points in the third quarter, blowing an 18-point Bears halftime lead. Nevertheless, Ayoob delivered Cal's most impressive win of the season. The Bears, with their sixth victory, became bowl eligible and it's a good thing. Their remaining three games are against three of the top four teams in the Pac-10 standings - USC, Oregon and ... Stanford? Ayoob completed 19 of 35 passes for 274 yards and four touchdowns. He was intercepted twice - but both were off the hands of his own players. He left the field through a tunnel toward the Bears locker room with his head held high and a smile on his face. He felt vindicated.

After Ayoob completed only 13-of-39 passes and had two passes intercepted the fourth quarter in an upset loss to Oregon State at Memorial Stadium last Saturday, Ayoob became the easy target of Cal critics and we're not just talking about the well-chronicled man and woman in their "40s and 50s" who screamed at Ayoob as he left the field. Those were his parents. Just kidding.  Mr. And Mrs. Leatherlungs, who dropped a F-bomb and a choke sign on the 21-year-old Cal quarterback, have never been identified for such a sickening, cowardly act directed at an amateur athlete, which begs this question: Where's Geraldo Rivera when you really need him? The strong criticism of Ayoob didn't stop there, however. Bears faultfinders had a field day on the Internet. Call them Monday Morning Bloggerbacks. "Worst quarterback I have seen play for Cal in 15 years," wrote one guy, who apparently conveniently forgot about Justin Vedder. "Folded like a bad hand of poker," wrote another blogger.

"Stinkbomb," wrote yet another. Then somebody with a computer and no life launched a campaign on the Internet to get Cal coach Jeff Tedford to bench Ayoob. For who? For what? During the week, Tedford launched a campaign of his own - Operation: Reassure Ayoob. The Bears coach handed his junior quarterback dozens of e-mails from Cal fans that offered support for Ayoob. Tedford also designated Ayoob as one of Cal's four game-day captains last night. Aye, aye Ayoob. What needs to be understood and remembered is Ayoob is learning on the fly. Tedford recruited him as a gun-slinging quarterback out of City College of San Francisco, which runs an Urban Meyer Utah-style offense with four and five wide-receiver sets. Ayoob had the freedom to make plays with his arm and legs at CCSF. Now it appears Tedford, for the time being, is trying to turn Ayoob into a modern-day Trent Dilfer. You know: Here's the ball. Don't make any mistakes. Don't blow it. Ayoob is quarterbacking a Cal offense that usually runs out of the I-formation and lately has been running on spare tires. So Tedford tried playing conservatively on offense, calling short, quick, high-percentage, confidence-building pass plays for Ayoob, waiting for the right moment to take a chance with him. That came on a second-and-1 play the WSU 22-yard line late in the first quarter. Ayoob unleashed a perfectly thrown pass to tight end David Gray in the left corner of the south endzone as Cal took the lead for the first time in the game. Officially, Ayoob's only statistical blemish in the first half was a first-quarter interception. The particular slant pass was a tad behind Gray into tight coverage and the ball deflected off Gray's hands. However, following the interception, Ayoob completed his next six passes for 93 yards and a touchdown and eight of his next nine for 126 yards.