Friday, December 29, 2006

American Statesman: California routs A&M in Holiday Bowl

Bears shut out Aggies in second half for lopsided victory

By Randy Riggs

SAN DIEGO — The next time Dennis Franchione's Texas A&M football team receives a bowl invitation, do the Aggies have to accept?  They will, of course. But history has shown the fun Franchione's Aggies have at these affairs stops abruptly when they step on the field.  A&M's season of close calls, both good and bad, ended Thursday night. And this call wasn't close. No. 20 California, supposedly the finesse team, muscled the Aggies all over the Qualcomm Stadium field for a 45-10 victory in the 29th Holiday Bowl.  The score was even more lopsided than the only other bowl trip in Franchione's four seasons at A&M — a 38-7 loss to Tennessee in the 2005 Cotton Bowl.  "Cal played a great game and we were not up to the task," Franchione said. "I thought they controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball to a certain extent."  The 21st-ranked Aggies, whose losses in a 9-3 regular season were by a combined six points, were outscored 31-0 in the second half Thursday. The Golden Bears (10-3) gained some measure of revenge against the Big 12 Conference after their 45-31 loss here to Texas Tech in 2004.

The Maroon gloom was for more than the score. A&M's outstanding freshman tailback Michael Goodson was hurt with 6 1/2 minutes left and put no weight on his legs as he was helped off the field.  Franchione said he "wasn't sure yet" on the extent of Goodson's injury.  The game turned early in the third quarter when A&M punted. Cal's DeSean Jackson led the nation this season in return average and touchdown returns (4), which Aggie punter Justin Brantly might have had in mind when he woefully shanked the kick.  The ball fluttered into the Cal bench for a net kick of exactly zero yards. The Bears took over at the A&M 41-yard line. A 27-yard pass to Jackson got them to the 2 and Marshawn Lynch barrelled over on the next play.  Lynch fumbled and officials initially ruled it was A&M's ball. But replay clearly showed Lynch crossed the plane of the end zone before losing the ball, and the call was overturned.  Franchione called the shanked kick "a big swing of events."  "But we've been in that position before," he added. "We just didn't respond tonight."  With quarterback Nate Longshore completing 19 of 24 passes for 235 yards and the tailback tandem of Justin Forsett (124 yards) and Pac-10 offensive player of the year Lynch (111) sparking a ground game, Cal amassed 476 yards.  That was the most yardage surrendered by A&M's defense this season.

"No one did good, no one played good," senior safety Melvin Bullitt said. "It was one of those games."  The Aggies did move the ball fairly well — 349 yards — but got in the end zone only once, on their first possession of the game.  "It comes down to making plays when it matters most, and it always seemed like we were a foot short or a penalty away," said quarterback Stephen McGee, who completed 17 of 26 passes. "I wouldn't say Cal was that much more physical than any team we've played this year. They played good, but it came down to us not making plays."  Neither team did a particularly good job of stopping the other in the first half. Cal couldn't stop A&M's running game and the Aggies couldn't stop the Bears' passing game.  The end result was a 14-10 Cal edge at the break, which came when a 42-yard field goal try by the Bears' Tom Schneider was short on the final play of the half.  Ironically, while Cal passed like crazy and A&M ran effectively in the first half, the Bears' touchdowns came on runs while the Aggies' came on a pass.  The latter was a 19-yard strike from McGee to senior receiver Chad Schroeder. It capped a six-play, 61-yard drive on A&M's opening drive. For Schroeder, the senior from Westlake, the slant route marked his fourth scoring reception of the year, but first since the third game of the season, Sept. 16 vs. Army.

Cal quickly answered with touchdown drives on its next two possessions to take a 14-7 edge.  The first score came on a 1-yard sneak by Longshore after a 26-yard pass to tight end Craig Stevens.  The Bears' second score came on a wrinkle that coach Jeff Tedford added for the game. A 43-yard catch by Robert Jordan helped Cal get to the A&M 2-yard line. From there, Lynch lined up at quarterback in the shotgun and took a direct snap for the first time this season and scored over left tackle.  A&M trimmed its deficit to four points with a 32-yard field goal by Matt Szymanski with 2:08 left in the half. It was the first field-goal try by Szymanski since the freshman lost his starting job to Layne Neumann in the Army game.  The Aggies pounded out 108 rushing yards in the first half, divided fairly equally between Mike Goodson (33), McGee (29) and Lane (24). Longshore, meanwhile, shredded A&M's secondary for 177 yards.  Cal's 6-foot-5-inch sophomore quarterback completed 12 of 16 passes in the half, and had two drops. He was intercepted once when he lofted a bomb down the center of the field where only A&M safety Japhus Brown was standing. Brown's pick led to Szymanski's field goal.

 

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