Oakland Tribune: Gutsy call: Levy deserves start

Column by Dave Del Grande

DO YOU WONDER where the Cal football team would be today if Steve Levy had been the quarterback all season? I do.  No doubt, the senior from New Jersey isn't half the "classic" signal-caller Bears starter Nate Longshore is. Levy lacks the first two things pro scouts look for in a quarterback: height and arm strength.  But as he demonstrated a year ago when Cal's season was falling apart, the fifth-year Bear is a winner. And there were times this season when Cal needed a winner more than a guy with a rocket arm.  They needed a guy who could stand up to 90,000 orange-clad crazies and shout: "This is Bear territory."  They needed a strong voice who could have prevented letdowns against vastly inferior Washington and Arizona teams.  And they needed someone who could have stuck his nose into the middle of the USC defensive line and come up with a yard when the Bears needed it.  In general, they needed a guy with some guts.  Steve Levy doesn't have all the tools it takes to be a big-time quarterback, but one thing he has is guts.  I don't think anyone owes the fullback-looking young man an apology. But if I were Jeff Tedford, I'd certainly say thank you.  Thank you for saving the 2005 season. And thank you for setting the stage for a highly successful 2006 campaign.  As a graduation present ... I'd give him the start in the Big Game. After all, honoring the heart and soul of the program — the mostly invisible guys who have taken one for the team time and again for up to five years — is what "Senior Day" is all about.

DATELINE: Pasadena. Here's the irony of Cal's loss to USC: The Bears might be headed to the Rose Bowl had the high-and-mighty Trojans had their way.  You see, Pete Carroll doesn't approve of the use of instant replay in officiating college football games. Given a choice last season, USC insisted no replay be used in its dramatic victory at Notre Dame, where a review of either of the final two plays might have changed the outcome.  Coaches no longer have a choice. A new rule this season assures the replay system will be used at every game in Division I-A.  Imagine Saturday's game without replay. Cal had two touchdowns overturned — and rightfully so — upon further review, one leading to a USC field goal.  That's a 17-point swing in what turned out to be a 14-point game.  Now what do you think about replay, Pete?