BY Steven Dunst
Two years ago, it almost seemed as though Cal was crashing the party. Sure, the Bears were ranked No. 7, but they were about to face No. 1 USC on the road, and the ESPN Gameday crew rolled out to the West Coast for the first time ever. Cal never even dreamed of such a big spotlight, and the Bears hung in there valiantly, falling 23-17. The obnoxious Trojans fight song and Traveler riding around the Coliseum after scores have crept into the nightmares of more than a few Bears fans ever since. Nevertheless, the average Old Blue breathed a sigh of relief after the loss, content that Cal avoided a blowout. That loss on Oct. 9, 2004 put coach Jeff Tedford and the Cal football program on the map.
Two years and some change later, Tedford has a chance at redemption, another chance to snap the Trojans’ ridiculously long home winning streak. This time around, the Bears are veterans under the bright lights. This time around, there will be no moral victories if Cal fails to make its first Rose Bowl in nearly 50 years and has to make another trip to the Holiday Bowl. This time around, the Bears belong—in what may be the biggest regular-season game in Cal history. If ESPN were dedicated entirely to Cal football, the hype meter would be so high that the producers would have cloned Lee Corso and hired John Madden to do the pre-game. Even though the Bears really have no marquee win over the last two years, they have the firepower to go toe-to-toe with the Trojans. USC’s winning streak at the Coliseum may stand at 31 games, but the team that has been invincible for so long has a few kinks in its armor.
The Trojans lost to struggling Oregon State and should have fallen to Washington and Washington State, if not for late-game heroics. Quarterback John David Booty is still learning the ropes, and they have no running back as explosive or as elusive as Marshawn Lynch. While USC coach Pete Carroll has been trying to mold an ensemble of five-star athletes into a formidable, working team, Tedford has enjoyed the return of 18 starters from last season. This was supposed to be a down year for the Trojans, with all their youth and the loss of two Heisman winners. If Cal were ever due for a Rose Bowl berth, it’s now. Bears players have said all week that going through USC is what they wanted. There would have been a slightly bittersweet feeling if Cal had made its first Rose Bowl appearance since 1958 without knocking off the perennial champions. For the Bears to take their perch among the nation’s elite, they have to prove they can beat the best. The Trojans have been on top for as long as every current Cal player has been playing collegiate football. They have a virtual monopoly on recruiting West Coast talent. As Mickey Pimentel said Tuesday, USC is the Cal’s biggest rival no matter how much Old Blues talk up Stanford as the hated enemy. The Trojans are the ones with a jaw-dropping number of big wins over the last five years. To USC, this really is just another game, just another hurdle on the road to just another BCS Championship bid. The Trojans can lose and still go to a BCS game, can fall at home and still be seen as a preeminent national power.
The same cannot be said of the Bears. Cal’s season is on the line. More than that, their history of coming up short in marquee games is on the line as well. All of the heartbreakers can be erased with a win Saturday night. Welcome to the spotlight.
No comments:
Post a Comment