Monday, October 17, 2005

Oakland Tribune: Beavers expose Cal's weak spots

BERKELEY — Outside the unavoidable facts of Cal turning over the ball over five times and getting shoved around so much by Oregon State that Jeff Tedford felt obliged to concede he and his staff were outcoached as much as his team was outplayed, it was a beautiful Saturday in the People's Republic of Berkeley.  Rain that had been in some forecasts never materialized, the temperature warmed as the afternoon moved along, and 57,174 eyewitnesses at Memorial Stadium were brought to the realization Cal is not where it was last year nor where it hoped to be this year.  If you want the terrible truth, the Bears, 23-20 losers, were pounded around by Oregon State, something a couple of days ago didn't seem possible.

Meaning a lot of us either underestimated the Beavers, who were a tidy 10th in defense in the Pac-10, or overestimated Cal, which was first in defense. The choice is yours.  Following a second loss in eight days, after beginning with five victories — if over a group that included Sacramento State and New Mexico State — Tedford was more self-critical than any time in his tenure.  Not that he didn't waver some.  Asked if in his three-plus seasons as The Man at Cal, he could remember a game in which both his offensive and defensive lines were controlled, not to mention dominated, Tedford replied, "No ... no."  "For them to stop our run like they did," Tedford said, "well, we felt we could do a couple of things. That's where as a coach, you've got to look and find out. Is it a breakdown, are we not playing well enough, or are we not putting them in a position for them to be as successful as they need to be?"  But then, maybe worried someone would think he didn't know how to coach, Tedford added, "I'm not going to start doubting our players and doubting our schemes. We've been fairly efficient on offense. We just need to execute and not have penalties and turnovers."

And there you are, a game in a nutshell, which is where this one belongs. Or hidden in a Hefty bag. The final result was a matter of ineffectiveness getting trumped by inefficiency.  Oregon State was nothing if not resourceful, but the Beavers had their own problems, like three interceptions and one lost fumble.  OSU quarterback Matt Moore, a refugee from UCLA where he had played for a couple of years, kept throwing the ball to the Cal defenders at the most inopportune times. Finally, Oregon State stayed on the ground, rushing for 105 yards in the third quarter alone.  In the bitter end, Oregon State gained 377 total yards to Cal's 315 and had the ball 35 minutes, 1 second, to Cal's 24:59.  If you haven't yet come to the conclusion, the Bears didn't belong on the same field as the Beavers.  "They were the better team," agreed Cal defensive coordinator Bob Gregory. "Give those guys credit. They made more plays than us."  They also exposed the inexperience of Cal quarterback Joe Ayoob, who last year was playing junior college ball.  Indeed, Ayoob threw a touchdown pass, caught a touchdown pass and ran for a touchdown, but some of the balls he let fly were no nearer the receiver than they were the man in the moon. And there were a couple of the so-called wounded ducks made infamous by the guy who played the position for the Bears a half-century ago, Joe Kapp.

Ayoob's passing stats were 13-of-39 for 219 yards, which considering he was sacked three times and under a hard rush at least 33 times, may not be as bad as they appear.  "We had a chance to make plays, and we didn't," Tedford said. "I'm not going to put that all on the players. Anytime we don't make plays, everyone has to look in the mirror. When a team doesn't execute, you've got to know why."  The reasons are clear. You get knocked around some. You get careless some. You throw passes that are out of reach. You drop passes that are within reach. And you are forced to start two drives in the fourth quarter on your own 1-yard line after downed punts.  "We need to grow up," Tedford reminded. "Attention to detail is what makes you win or what makes you not win."  What made Cal not win was Oregon State. And that hurts.

 

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