Jake Curtis, Chronicle Staff Writer
Cal's identity under Jeff Tedford has been its explosive offense, and the story of Saturday's Big Game was Bears quarterback Steve Levy being a winner in his first collegiate start. However, the reason Cal is 4-0 in the Big Game since Tedford arrived is the Bears' defense. For the second straight year, Cal held Stanford without a touchdown, and the three points the Cardinal scored Saturday was their lowest Big Game output since 1967. In the very first Stanford possession of Tedford's first Big Game at Cal four years ago, the Cardinal scored a touchdown. The Cardinal have scored only two touchdowns against the Bears since, and one of those came on the final play of the 2003 Big Game with Cal leading 28-10.
The Bears' defensive performance Saturday was the best and most important of the bunch, because Cal was reluctant to take chances on offense with its inexperienced quarterback. "The way the defense was holding them," Tedford said, "we felt we could be fairly conservative with the running game." The Cardinal did virtually nothing on the ground, which was not altogether surprising given their ranking as the Pac-10's worst rushing team. But the Bears' ferocious pass rush prevented Stanford from mounting any passing game either. Cal had nine sacks, the most by a Bears team in at least four years. "Three or four sacks is a huge day," Cal defensive coordinator Bob Gregory said. Not only did those sacks cost Stanford 70 yards in losses, but the pass rush prevented Stanford from attempting any deep passes. And, perhaps most important, one of those sacks knocked Stanford quarterback Trent Edwards out of the game.
"We came at them from every angle you can imagine," Cal safety Donnie McCleskey said. "The quarterback probably thought we were coming from behind him sometimes." Gregory called for more blitzes than usual, and the Bears had picked up a few things on film that suggested some places they could attack. "They had not shown a multiple number of formations," Gregory said, "so the kids had a pretty good idea where their guys were going to be on plays." Edwards and Stanford coach Walt Harris thought it had more to do with muscle than scheme. "That's just a physical team up front," Edwards said. "In order to have championship-type games, you have to match up physically," Harris said. "They were more physical up front, and that was the game. We couldn't get enough time for our quarterback." Eleven different Cal players had at least an assist on a sack, and linebacker Mickey Pimentel led the way with 2.5 sacks. "It just felt like our team was moving so much faster than theirs was," Pimentel said. "They didn't know who was coming or who they were assigned to block." When Pimentel and Philip Mbakogu combined to knock Edwards out of the game, much of Stanford's offense left with him. "We put pressure on (T.C.) Ostrander last year," Pimentel said, "and when he came in I think he was seeing flashbacks." The Bears had six sacks in last season's Big Game, which Edwards missed with an injury. Ostrander was the Cardinal's quarterback that day and he completed just 8 of 26 passes. Ostrander had better numbers on Saturday, but many of his yards came after the Bears were comfortably ahead. The finishing blow was accomplished with the Bears' final sack of the day. With Cal leading 20-3, Pimentel sacked Ostrander and forced a fumble that Cal recovered with 5:58 left.
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