SF Chroncle: Key is Cal offense vs. BYU defense

Las Vegas -- Cal coach Jeff Tedford and Brigham Young coach Bronco Mendenhall echoed each other. This game, today's Las Vegas Bowl, was like any other, they both said. It would be decided by turnovers, field position and big plays. There are also a couple of intriguing subplots in the matchup between the Bears (7-4, 4-4 Pac-10) and the Cougars (6-5, 5-3 Mountain West). Each team will be challenged by the unknown. BYU uses an unorthodox defense, one Cal rarely sees. And Cal has a running game unlike anything normally seen in the pass-happy Mountain West. The Bears average 234.7 yards a game rushing. Tailback Marshawn Lynch has crested the 1,000-yard mark and backup Justin Forsett is within easy reach at 962 yards.
"They run the ball constantly, which we haven't gone up against," BYU linebacker Cameron Jensen said. "In the Mountain West, you see spread offenses. You don't see teams that run for 250 yards a game." And what the Bears don't see in the Pac-10 is a defense that has three down linemen, three linebackers and five defensive backs. That's only the beginning.
"They're always moving," said Cal center Marvin Philip, who noted the Bears last saw a 3-3-5 in last year's 56-14 win at Air Force. "They don't give you the same look twice. They line up in gray areas."
Tedford said the extra time -- the Bears have been preparing for BYU for nearly three weeks -- has been beneficial in helping break down the Cougars' complex defensive schemes.
"It really causes a lot of confusion," Tedford said of BYU's schemes. Blitzes can come from anywhere on the field, which severely test a team's blocking schemes. "They run hard, they play hard," Tedford said. BYU's defense is matched by the complexity of Cal's offense. "You look at all the variations of what they do on defense, with all of our formations, and there are probably over 150 multiples," Tedford said. The other primary matchup in the game, Cal's defense against BYU's offense, is similar to the scenario that unfolded last season in the Bears' 45-31 loss to Texas Tech in the Holiday Bowl -- a game in which Cal was unable to deal with an offense that rang up 520 passing yards. The Cougars run a scheme very similar to the Red Raiders', often flooding the field with five receivers in search of favorable matchups, but there's a difference: Tech virtually ignores the run, but BYU has a 1,000-yard rusher in Curtis Brown. "The games we've done well in, we've always had balance in our offense," said BYU quarterback John Beck, who has thrown for 3,357 yards this year. Cal rover Donnie McCleskey said the lesson learned about the spread offense last year was a simple one:
"Keep the ball in front of you and eliminate the big play," he said. There was a larger lesson learned as well. Last year, Cal was ranked in the top 5 much of the year and appeared headed for a BCS bowl -- with the Rose Bowl the most likely destination. Instead, the Bears were nudged down in the BCS standings and Texas went to the Rose Bowl, beating Michigan. The disappointment certainly contributed to Cal's loss in the Holiday Bowl. "Last year, we felt cheated," McCleskey said. "That haunted us throughout the week. This year, there's no complaining. We're at the right game for what our season got us to."