Friday, October 06, 2006

Daily Cal: Second Time in Prime Time Will Bring Win

BY Steven Dunst

Here's a quick and easy way to agitate the normally unflappable and stoic Jeff Tedford: Make any mention whatsoever about the Tennessee game. Within days of the loss to open the season, mentioning the Knockout in Knoxville to Tedford became as risky as asking Senator Hillary Clinton if she and Monica Lewinsky were good friends.  Saturday, Tedford and the Bears finally have the chance to prove that the loss to that school down South was a fluke, a lopsided result based on a few missed tackled and some season-opening jitters.  Since that game, quarterback Nate Longshore has emerged as one of the best signal callers in the country and "DeSean" and "Daymeion" have become household names on the West Coast. The defense has made a transformation, proving it can stop the run (see Minnesota, Oregon State) and the pass (see Arizona State).  But all that has taken place away from the watchful eyes of senile Lee Corso, the rest of the national media and the majority of college football fans who have been engrossed with SEC football and Notre Dame's overrated comebacks.  Cal returns to prime time against the Ducks in an ABC special that could finally make everyone look at the Bears as a top-10 team and not as a squad that is still trying to recover from an ambush.  

ESPN GameDay may have bypassed Berkeley, but this is still the biggest game for Cal since, well, ESPN GameDay actually covered a Bears game two years ago at the Los Angeles Coliseum when No. 7 Cal and the unflappable Aaron Rodgers almost upset No 1 USC.   The winner Saturday will have a legitimate shot at smelling roses and winning the Pac-10. The Trojans may have all the talent in the world, but their inexperience has shown in narrow wins over Arizona and Washington State, two programs that aren't exactly contending for a BCS berth.   Little separates Cal and Oregon on paper. There is a reason that the last three meetings between the teams have been decided by a touchdown or less.  Here are three reasons why the Bears will come out on top and Tedford will be able to forget about the Rocky Top disaster.  First-half fireworks: Oregon may currently average more points per game than the Bears, but that is only because Cal has not had anything at stake in the second half since week one. The Bears have outscored the Ducks 143-81 before intermission.  If Oregon falls behind early, Bears tailback Marshawn Lynch will be able to grind it out on the ground against the Pac-10's ninth-rated rushing defense and the Bears will control the tempo of the game. Late-game comebacks on the road are never easy.  Nate the Great: No quarterback in the nation has been as phenomenal as Longshore over the past month. He has tossed 14 touchdowns and amassed 1,114 yards in that stretch.   In last year's overtime loss to the Ducks, Cal quarterback Joe Ayoob was abysmal, going 10-for-26 with three interceptions and only 88 yards. Longshore, on the other hand, is number one in pass efficiency in the Pac-10. Don't bet on him coming through with an Ayoob-like performance Saturday.  

Game-changers on defense: Bears cornerback Daymeion Hughes has more interceptions (five) than the entire Oregon team (three). Cal has forced 12 turnovers overall; the Ducks, only six. As Sun Devils quarterback Rudy Carpenter found out the hard way, the Bears' speed on defense allows them to force turnovers and thwart long drives. In a close game, the turnover battle often decides the outcome. Saturday should prove to be no different.

With those three advantages, Tedford may not have to hear about the Tennessee Volunteers for a long, long time.

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