Is this the season Cal gets the combination right? That magical blend of Golden Bears' experience and Old Blues' expectations? Of internal ability and external promise? Coach Jeff Tedford clearly thinks Year 5 could be the year. ``There are challenges and changes every single season,'' said Tedford, whose team opened camp this week. ``This year there are high expectations with a more veteran squad.'' That is, except at one key position: quarterback. Tedford, known for producing effective and efficient quarterbacks, is juggling four players in search of a starter. None has yet proved himself.
Since Tedford arrived for the 2002 season, the stakes have ratcheted higher and higher every year. And this is the season the Old Blues believe they should get to make travel arrangements for a bowl game with a recognizable name and a Jan. 1 date. In other words, the Granddaddy. And hearing what Tedford had to say last week at a football kickoff luncheon will do nothing to dissuade those in blue-and-gold striped shirts from booking tickets to Pasadena. Tedford ticked off the past chapters: Year 1 was about trying to rebound from the horrors of 1-10 and a decimated program. Year 2 was trying to build on that progress. Year 3 was learning to deal with heightened expectations. In Year 4 the blend was wrong: sky-high hopes with an inexperienced team.
``That's not a great combination,'' Tedford said. This year the balance seems better. The Bears have a preseason national ranking, a Heisman Trophy candidate in tailback Marshawn Lynch, a speedy core of receivers, a veteran defense. Down south, the best team in the conference is still loaded but has lost its most dangerous weapons. This could be Cal's year to take the next step. Except for that nagging quarterback issue. Which just happens to be Tedford's area of supreme expertise. The quarterback-molder isn't sure who will be his starting quarterback. Tedford expects to make decisions by the end of the week and adjust the number of snaps in proportion to the depth chart.
Sophomore Nate Longshore, who suffered a broken leg in the first half of last season's opener, is first in line on the preliminary depth chart. Joe Ayoob, who started nine games last season but struggled, has the most experience. Steve Levy endeared himself to Old Blues with a Big Game victory and a win over Brigham Young in the Las Vegas Bowl. Kyle Reed is a redshirt freshman with tons of promise but no experience. ``The key is probably the quarterback,'' Tedford said. Isn't it always? Last season was the first that Tedford -- who turned around Kyle Boller and sculpted Aaron Rodgers -- couldn't work his quarterback magic. Ayoob felt the wrath of Cal fans -- who suddenly seem to expect every kid behind center to be Montana. ``I'm proud of how he persevered,'' Tedford said. ``I absolutely think he's going to draw on that. It got as bad as it could possibly get. That takes some pressure off.'' Whoever gets the starting nod is going to have a baptism by fire. The Bears open at Tennessee -- in front of 104,000-plus rabid fans in the humid heat of early September. We know that starter won't be Levy -- who used his passing arm in the off-season to aim a pint glass at a doorman and is suspended from the opening trip.
If it's Longshore, this opener will be a far cry from last year's, against Sacramento State. ``If Nate is the starter in the first game it's going to be a learning experience,'' Tedford said. ``I think Nate will be fine. One of his strong suits is mental toughness and preparation.'' The new quarterback will also have to absorb some new plays; Tedford is planning to integrate a spread offense into his game plans. And there are questions about the offensive line -- the Golden Bears lost three starters to the NFL in the off-season. The new center and the quarterback will have to adjust to the shotgun snap -- always an adventure. But despite the questions at quarterback and on the line, the expectations are high, and the Bears are eager to get beyond 2005. ``We overcame some adversity -- losing four games to us is adversity,'' Tedford said. ``Those are not the expectations this group of guys have.'' Nor the expectations held by the strutting, bowl-trip-planning Cal fans. But that doesn't bother Tedford.
``I think it's good for this team,'' he said. ``Because we do have experience. We're not fazed by high expectations.'' That kind of talk will only encourage the Old Blues. They won't even care if those airline tickets to L.A. in late December are non-refundable.
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