Baltimore Sun: Cal tries to shake early loss

After flopping in opener, resurgent Bears have won four straight

By Christian Ewell

Four straight wins and a month later, California is still being defined by its lone loss. The Bears, ranked No. 9 in the preseason, went to No. 23 Tennessee for the season opener and were embarrassed in a 35-18 rout on national television. "That's hung with us for [more than four] weeks now," Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. "It seems like every question starts with, 'since the Tennessee game.'"  Tonight, No. 16 Cal (4-1 overall, 2-0 Pacific-10 Conference) gets another nationally televised game with the chance to move on from the first one, hosting No. 11 Oregon (4-0, 2-0).  It's simply a conference matchup in the Pac-10, where the Bears and Ducks share unblemished league records with Southern California and Washington, which also play today.  "It's what we need to do to remain in the conference hunt," Tedford said earlier this week. Over the past four games, Cal has outscored its opponents by an average score of 44-17. Quarterback Nate Longshore completed 69 percent of his passes during that stretch, for 14 touchdowns and three interceptions, while tailback Marshawn Lynch has four straight 100-yard games.

However, one of those opponents was Division I-AA Portland State and the Division I-A foes have a combined record of 7-7.  But Arizona State coach Dirk Koetter - whose team was blown out by the Bears and Ducks - said the four wins are more indicative of Cal's strength than the loss.  "I think the Tennessee game was an anomaly," Koetter said. "They just had a seven-minute stretch when everything went right for Tennessee and everything went wrong for Cal."  Nonetheless, Oregon is the Bears' top opponent since the opener. With their perfect record saved by questionable officiating (Oklahoma) and trick plays (Fresno State), the Ducks are just the team against which Cal can change others' perceptions.  "I'm hoping that at some point, we can put that one outing behind us," Tedford said. "Oregon is a great football team, and I would hope [a win] would help. People are still going to talk about the Tennessee game, but [beating Oregon] would make strides in doing that."