By Bob Rodman
First, he had to overcome California football coach Jeff Tedford's highly involved playbook. Then it was overcoming phenom junior college transfer Joe Ayoob for the starting quarterback job. But less than 30 minutes into Cal's 41-3 win over Sacramento State to start his redshirt freshman season in 2005, Nate Longshore broke his leg and tore an ankle ligament. The season was gone and there were two more hurdles for him to overcome. "It was tough," understated Longshore, who leads the 20th-ranked Bears (3-1) into Saturday's 1 p.m. Pac-10 Conference game against Oregon State (2-1) at Reser Stadium. It wasn't exactly back to square one for Longshore, a 6-foot-5, 233-pound sophomore with a powerful arm and an ever-increasing flair for running the Cal offense. But it was close. "Being on the sideline and not being able to contribute physically was the hard part," he said, "but I learned a lot, gained a lot of experience in game planning and dealing with scouting reports."
In August and for the second fall camp in a row, Longshore outdueled Ayoob for the starting job. But in the season-opener at Tennessee, the Bears landed hard on old Rocky Top, falling 35-18 before a national television audience. Longshore survived physically but was just 11-of-20 passing for 85 yards and one interception. He was lifted in the third quarter. "We had to refocus our attention to one thing at a time," he said in the aftermath of Cal's crash. "One practice, one game at a time. Each of us had some goals that we locked onto and we shouldn't have done that." Since, the Bears have been golden. They dropped definitive crushings on Minnesota 42-17, Portland State 42-16 and Arizona State 49-21. In those past three games, Longshore had a 188.48 passer rating and completed 55-of-80 passes for 795 yards and 10 touchdowns. Two interceptions were just brief interruptions. For his work, Longshore has been named the top Pac-10 offensive player two of the past three weeks. And for his 18-of-26 for 270 yards and four touchdowns against ASU, he was proclaimed national player of the week by USA Today
"He sees the field better, he's throwing the ball on time, he's extremely accurate with the football and he's putting the ball in places where people can catch it," Tedford said. "Last year, we were expecting the same thing. Unfortunately, he got hurt, but he's always showed promise and a lot of potential." Cal's leading receiver, DeSean Jackson, has 20 receptions for 371 yards and six touchdowns. Those six scores are tied for first in the nation. "We have a quarterback now who can sit in the pocket, make the reads and distribute the ball," Jackson told the Contra Costa Times newspaper earlier this week. Longshore, the league leader and ninth in the nation in pass efficiency with a 166.9 rating, directed much of the credit for Cal's offense - which leads the Pac-10 in scoring (37.8) and passing (287.8), and is second in total offense (444.5) - to his surrounding cast.
"We have so many athletes," he said, "but we're not out there trying to score a touchdown on every play. We just go after whatever the defense gives us." Lavelle Hawkins, a wide receiver for the Bears with 15 catches for 229 yards and a touchdown, said Longshore "puts the ball where you can make a play. "He told me that as long as he plays well, this team will be just fine." The Beavers are well aware.
"Obviously, we have to try and get pressure on him," Oregon State starting defensive tackle Ben Siegert said. "Longshore appears to be growing in that offense," OSU coach Mike Riley said. "He's got a great arm, but they also have such a dynamic run game (Marshawn Lynch is averaging 7.2 yards a carry). It makes it the hardest (offense) to defend." Oregon State's pass defense, while yet to be tested against a Pac-10 opponent, leads the league, allowing just 124.3 yards and only one touchdown. It's one more thing for Longshore to overcome. And for the Bears in recent years, overcoming the Beavers has not been an easy thing to do. Oregon State has won six of its past seven games against Cal, the one miss coming in 2004 at Reser when the Bears won easily 49-7.
"Oregon State always comes to play," Longshore said. "The more you watch them, the more it seems they rise to the occasion. Last year, they upset us. Two years ago they almost won at LSU." Longshore and the Beavers go back a ways. Riley recruited Longshore when he was a high school senior from Canyon Country, Calif., throwing for 34 touchdowns and nearly 3,500 yards. "Coach Riley was the first to offer me a scholarship," Longshore said. "He was my favorite thing about Oregon State. People love playing for him, but I wanted to stay closer to home." The Beavers' loss, obviously, was the Bears' gain.
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