Yahoo! Sports: Best Games of 2007

Here is the link.

 

Week 1: Saturday, Sept. 1

Tennessee at Cal: We expected this game to be a toss-up last year, and Tennessee instead scored the game's first 35 points on its way to a 35-18 triumph. California should put up much more of a fight at home. Both programs could start the season ranked among the top 15 teams in the nation, which makes this the most attractive game in a relatively lackluster opening weekend.

<snip>

Week 11: Saturday, Nov. 10

Southern California at Cal: Southern California's chances of winning a sixth consecutive Pac-10 title and playing for the national championship could depend on whether the Trojans can pull off this road victory. California will need a big performance from Nate Longshore, who completed less than half his passes and threw two interceptions last season in a 23-9 loss to USC.

CBS Sportsline: Vols CB Johnson found not guilty in toy gun assault case

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- A jury on Friday found Tennessee cornerback Marsalous Johnson not guilty of assault, after an off-duty sheriff's deputy said Johnson waved a gun at him while driving on the interstate.  When the deputy alerted on-duty officers and they pulled over Johnson's vehicle, they found a toy Uzi submachine gun under the passenger seat.  Johnson's case was postponed several times since the incident last July and finally went to trial in Putnam County Circuit Court. A jury found Johnson not guilty of simple assault, court clerk Marcia Borys said.   Johnson was originally charged with aggravated assault, but the charge was lowered to a misdemeanor in November and sent to a grand jury.  "I am really happy for Marsalous and his family. They have been through a lot of heartache and emotion through all of this," coach Phillip Fulmer said in a statement.   Johnson, a rising sophomore, was suspended for the first four games of last season as punishment for the arrest. He is projected to start at cornerback this season.

 

Contra Costa Times: Cal finds quarterback next door

Tedford's one-time neighbor gives Bears an oral commitment

By Jonathan Okanes

Beau Sweeney's welcome to Cal's football program was a little different than most.  Sweeney, a junior quarterback at Clovis West High School in Fresno, gave Cal coach Jeff Tedford an oral commitment last week. Sweeney's father, Kevin, was Tedford's teammate at Fresno State, when they both played for Sweeney's grandfather, Jim. When Tedford later became Fresno State's offensive coordinator, he lived just around the corner from the Sweeneys.  So after Sweeney committed, Tedford sent him some old photos that featured his kids and Sweeney at various birthday parties and holiday functions.  "I was a little kid, so I don't remember it too much," Sweeney said. "There were quite a few pictures. It was a good laugh."

Sweeney obviously has football tradition on his side, but only lately did he become prevalent on the recruiting radar. Sweeney performed well at recent camps at Stanford and Cal, and ended up securing offers from Oregon, Arizona State, Nebraska, Colorado, Boise State, Oregon State and Arizona, along with Cal.  Sweeney said he didn't want to wait to see what other schools might extend offers, partly because Cal was recruiting other quarterbacks and because of he and his family's history with Tedford.

"There are so many great things about Cal," Sweeney said. "I have a really good relationship with coach Tedford. It was a tough choice for awhile, but every time I kind of thought about what my priorities were, Cal kept coming up No. 1."

Tedford, who has been lauded for his work with quarterbacks throughout his coaching career, is stockpiling the program with highly regarded signal-callers. Starter Nate Longshore, along with backups Kyle Reed, Kevin Riley and Brock Mansion, were all considered blue-chip recruits coming out of high school.  Sweeney acknowledged there might be a fight for playing time when he arrives in Berkeley.  "I didn't really consider that because I was looking to go to a Pac-10 school, and wherever you go in the Pac-10 you are going to have to compete," he said. "Wherever I go, I am going to be competing with someone. So why not Cal?"

 

Contra Costa Times: Ayoob endures struggles for a Cal degree

Worth its weight in gold

By Jonathan Okanes

BERKELEY -- Every now and then last season, there were reminders that Joe Ayoob still was part of Cal's football program. He was seen holding for place-kicker Tom Schneider. A television camera occasionally would steal a shot of him on the sideline.  No, Ayoob had not given up on college football or transferred to get away from all the bad memories. He simply had become similar to so many other student-athletes -- off the main stage, in a reserve role, attending classes and working toward his degree.  To say that Ayoob's playing career didn't work out would be an injustice to what he endured. But his ineffective play at quarterback, his ensuing lack of confidence, the booing and nasty e-mails from fans, and ultimately, the loss of his starting job, never prompted Ayoob to lose sight of the one thing he had in his sights -- a Cal diploma.

Read the entire article here.

Oakland Tribune: Cal-bound Salesian football star blazes to MOC record in 200 meters at Edwards Stadium

Best of show: Prep leaves indelible mark

Column by Carl Steward

BERKELEY — Jahvid Best hasn't even officially enrolled yet at the University of California let alone slip on a pair of football pads, but he already has left an indelible mark on its campus.   Saturday at Edwards Stadium, the lithe, explosive Salesian High track and football star repeated his North Coast Section Meet of Champions sprint double of a year ago, blowing away the competition in the 100 and 200 meters as expected.  For Cal football fans who can't wait to see this kid move up the hill to Memorial Stadium as one of Jeff Tedford's prized incoming tailbacks next fall, you have to love this: Best is significantly faster now than ever.   Already the state leader in the 100 (and second-fastest in the nation) with a 10.36 clocking, Best narrowly missed the long-standing MOC record with a time of 10.44. A poor start probably cost him the meet mark. That was not in the case in the 200, where Best blasted out of the blocks perfectly, and despite running into a slight headwind, obliterated the meet record of 21.24 with a time of 20.92.

For comparison's sake, Best won the NCS 100-200 double last year with times of 10.78 and 21.77, respectively, then clocked 10.56 to finish fifth in the state 100 and 21.31 to finish third in the 200. His times Saturday made those clocked as a junior look silly. Goodness, he was nearly a full second faster in the 200.  "I wanted to go out here leaving a mark, leaving something to remember," said Best of his spectacular 200. "I think everybody who saw me run today saw me at pretty close to 100 percent of my capability."   A splendidly cut 185-pound package of power and speed, it was easy to envision what Best might be capable of when he puts on a football uniform at Cal. It's tough to say how much playing time he's going to get as a freshman with a number of backfield candidates vying for the void left by Marshawn Lynch's departure to the NFL. But there's little doubt Best has a chance to make an immediate impact with the kind of incredible breakaway speed he possesses.  Simply stated, one nice hole and nobody's going to catch this guy. Gone. See ya. Touchdown. To see him burn up the track in the 100, leaving Deer Valley's Taiwan Jones in his dust after Jones got the early jump out of the blocks, was a frightening sight but a fantastic one if you're a football fan.  Does Best ever think about being on a football field while he's running one of his track races? Not really, he confessed.

"When I run track, I'm thinking about my form while I'm running," he said. "But in football, I just run."  But what about those breakaway runs, of which he had so many memorable ones for his small parochial high school in Richmond?  "Well, yeah, then I start to run like I'm running the 100," he said. "I get my knees pumping up a little higher."  Best has one last challenge as one of the most remarkable East Bay dual-sport athletes in recent years. He wants to be a state champion next weekend at the state meet in Sacramento. He'll be the 100 favorite, but faces a formidable challenge in the 200 against Long Beach Poly's Bryshon Nellum, who has the nation's fastest time of 20.58 (Best now has the second-fastest nationally in both the 100 and 200).

Nellum, who signed a track/football scholarship with USC, is a wide receiver in training but primarily a 200/400 track star. He won't try to play football until 2008. Best, on the other hand, will have football on his mind first when he arrives at Cal, even though he also will run track at Berkeley.  Can he beat Nellum?  "I don't know, we'll see," he said. "But he's not going to walk away with it."  Best tried to size up what it's going to be like being the favorite in one race and the underdog in another at the state meet.

"I'd rather be the underdog, but being on top is just as hard because you've got to worry about somebody," he said. "When you're the underdog, you see the top dog and you have to try to beat them. But when you're on the top, you don't know who's coming, so you have to be ready for everything."  If nothing else, Best looked more than ready for Cal on Saturday. I asked him if he left tickets for Tedford to watch him run his two electric races. He chuckled.  "Nah, he's probably busy doing something else," Best mused.  It's hard to believe anything else could take priority over watching this young man run. Except maybe designing a stack of football plays for him, and then watching him run.

Daily Cal: ESPN Gameday Shoot At Cal Not a Certainty

BY Ryan Gorcey

Despite widespread speculation that ESPN’s premier college football pre-game show, ESPN Gameday, is coming to Berkeley for the Sept. 1 season-opener next fall, the visit is not yet official.   On May 13, BearInsider.com, part of the Scout.com network, reported that the program was a lock to come to Berkeley for the Cal football team’s rematch against Tennessee, however nothing has been confirmed by Cal or by ESPN representatives.   The program, hosted by Chris Fowler and featuring analysts Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit, last covered the Bears in 2004, when Cal visited USC at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum a year after derailing the Trojans’ national title hopes in a triple-overtime win at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley. The Gameday crew has never visited Cal in the show’s 20-year history.   Cal football spokesperson John Sudsbury said that Cal had been contacted by ESPN about the possibility of hosting the show, but nothing was finalized, much less where the program would be located on campus, which has been a favorite point of speculation for Bears fans.

“The only thing we know right now is that we’re in consideration for it,” Sudsbury said. “Nothing has been decided yet and nothing has been confirmed, even though it was on that one website (BearInsider.com). They just said that we’re definitely in the consideration.”   One reason for the speculation surrounding the possibility of Cal hosting the program is the lack of other big games being played on that day, as the next-most significant game will be between Notre Dame and Georgia Tech, scheduled to be broadcast by NBC. Other games being nationally broadcast are Kansas State at Auburn, Arizona at BYU, Virginia at Wyoming, New Mexico at UTEP and Baylor at TCU.  “I think we have the most appealing game for it,” Sudsbury said. “But, I don’t know what ESPN’s looking at.”  Nevertheless, at this point in the year, planning for next fall’s football season is not in any final form, according to ESPN Senior Media Relations Director, Rob Tobias, who could not confirm that Cal would be hosting the program.  “It’s unlikely that we’ve determined what sites we are going to visit in the fall just yet,” Tobias said. “I don’t think we’re even close to finalizing our schedule.”

Napa Valley Register: Cal Ranked 11th in Pre-Season Poll

Here is the link.

 

Athlon Sports has ranked the UC Berkeley football team No. 11 in its preseason Top 25. The magazine has also selected DeSean Jackson as a Preseason First Team All-American and Alex Mack as a Second Team All-America honoree. The magazine hits newsstands on June 5.

 

Joining Jackson and Mack as Preseason First-Team All-Pac-10 selections by Athlon are tight end Craig Stevens and punter Andrew Larson.

 

Offensive lineman Mike Gibson of Napa, quarterback Nate Longshore, wide receiver Lavelle Hawkins, linebacker Zack Follett and kicker Tom Schneider have been named Second Team All-Pac-10 for the preseason.

 

Gibson played at Napa High and Solano Community College-Suisun before transferring to Cal. He started last year as a junior at tackle on the offensive line for the Golden Bears.

 

Gibson played in all 12 games with eight starts last year as Cal beat Texas A&M, 45-10, at the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego to cap a 10-3 season. He was All-Pac-10 Second-Team and recorded 24.5 knockdown blocks.

Scout.com: El Camino Star Joins the Bears

By Jim McGill

The Cal commitment train is picking up steam, as the Bears received their second So Cal JC commit in the last week and third commitment in the last two weeks today.

6-2/180 El Camino JC receiver Verran Tucker committed to the Bears this week, joining fellow So Cal JC star Shaun Mohler as new Cal commits this week.  “Cal’s close to home and it’s known for both its academics and the talent of the football team so it was a good fit for me,” said Tucker. It’s also in the Pac 10 so you get to go up against some of the best schools in the nation.  “I sat down and talked to some of my coaches, Coach Duncan and (Head) Coach Featherstone and they felt like it would be a good fit for me, too.”  “Also, I’ve felt real comfortable with the Cal coaches (WR Coach Dan Ferrigno and RB Coach Ron Gould) when they were recruiting me and when they came down today, it was more of the same and I gave them a verbal commitment.

To read the rest of the story, click here.

 

Athlon Sports: Cal Preview

No. 11: Electric offense sparks Bears in '07

Here is the link.

 

No. 11: California

If the Heisman Trophy were to go to the player with the ability to change the complexion of a game on one play better than anyone else in America, DeSean Jackson would be front and center at this year’s ceremony, and probably would have been last year. Jackson has been Cal’s leading receiver in both of his first two seasons, averaging 17.1 yards on 97 catches with 16 touchdowns. He also ran back four punts for touchdowns last year, giving him five for his career, and was the recipient of the Randy Moss Award as the top return man in the nation. He takes just about one out of every five punts he touches the distance.

Quarterback Nate Longshore returns along with his top three receivers, including Jackson and tight end Craig Stevens, who was second-team all-conference in a Pac-10 known for great tight ends. Wideouts Lavelle Hawkins and Robert Jordan combined for 92 catches with nine touchdown grabs last fall. Three starting offensive linemen also return, led by first-team All-Pac-10 center Alex Mack.   The biggest void is at tailback, where Marshawn Lynch took off for the NFL after rushing for 1,356 yards and 11 touchdowns last year. Softening the blow is the return of Justin Forsett, who has run for 1,625 yards at 6.5 per carry with 10 touchdowns over the last two seasons, and 2005 Parade All-American James Montgomery, who redshirted last year.

The top three tacklers from a year ago need to be replaced along with most of the defensive line. Three of the top four returning tacklers are DBs. Linebacker Zack Follett notched 12.5 tackles behind the line and 5.5 sacks among his 62 total stops coming in off the bench and is the new man in the middle. Follett, linebacker Worrell Williams and 335-pound tackle Matt Malele will be counted on to hold a mostly new front seven together.  The Golden Bears are champing at the bit to get at Tennessee after the Vols shot them down in last year’s opener in Knoxville. The Cal-Tennessee game opens the 2007 campaign for both teams in Berkeley on Sept. 1. Coach Jeff Tedford’s club also gets Oregon State and USC at Memorial Stadium but travels to UCLA in October. The Big Game this year is at Stanford.

Notes:

» Jackson scored touchdowns on his first career reception and his first career punt return as a freshman in 2005 — both in the same game.

» In 2006, Cal won a share of the Pac-10 championship for the first time since 1975, when it was the Pac-8.

» The Golden Bears have now posted five straight winning seasons for the first time since 1947-1951.

 

2007 Schedule

S.       1    Tennessee

S.       8    at Colorado State

S.     15    Louisiana Tech

S.     22    Arizona

S.     29    at Oregon

O.     13    Oregon State

O.     20    at UCLA

O.     27    at Arizona State

N.       3    Washington State

N.     10    USC

N.     17    at Washington

D.       1    at Stanford

 

Tucson Citizen: Chasing the Trojans

In virtually even middle of the Pac-10, expect Cats to finish sixth

ANTHONY GIMINO

Tucson Citizen

Spring ball is a wrap, and the next big college football event is the arrival of the preseason magazines.  You'll just have to wait for some of them, but I can give you a sneak peek at selected rankings for Lindy's Football Annuals.  As senior editor at Lindy's, I'm mostly to blame for all the ratings - from the team rankings, to player rankings to position rankings. Sure, it's a collaborative effort, with input from every corner of the country (and all the wonderful, small college towns in between), but I do have a very presidential-like veto power.  I had to use that to make a tweak to Lindy's Pac-10 rankings.  Parts of the Pac-10 are easy to pick. USC is first (brilliant!). Stanford is last.

Cal, on the basis of a great offense and great coaching, is second. UCLA, with 10 starters returning from a defense that smothered USC last season, is third.

That one comes with a qualifier: The Bruins have the talent and experience to be second, but if it's a close call between Cal coach Jeff Tedford and UCLA coach Karl Dorrell, the benefit of the doubt goes to the Bears.  Now, if you could combine Cal's offense with UCLA's defense, you might really have something. Actually, you'd have USC.

Anyway, here comes the hard part.  Predicting the teams through the middle of the Pac-10 requires four pieces of paper and a hat. Pick the names in any order, and you'd have about as much chance of being right as if you had every playbook, every game tape and Mel Kiper Jr. as your assistant.  It's that close.

This is how the predictions came to me from our Pac-10 correspondent:

4. Arizona State

5. Oregon State

6. Oregon

7. Arizona

The Sun Devils expect to be up there because of the coaching change to Dennis Erickson. No matter what you think of him personally, the man can coach. And quarterback Rudy Carpenter is healthy.  The Beavers finished third last season and return 18 starters, so they have a case to be higher than fifth. But the departure of quarterback Matt Moore creates some uncertainty at the most important position, and games against USC and Oregon are on the road this season.  It is at No. 6 where I used executive privilege. I bumped Arizona to sixth and, although I hated to do it, moved the Ducks to seventh.  Whichever team is picked seventh in the Pac-10 doesn't really deserve to be that low. Maybe a tie would be appropriate - after all, there was a four-way tie for fifth place last season - but I'm not into predicting ties in a preseason magazine.  So, somebody has to be seventh.

I'm a sucker for defense (Arizona's is better), plus the Wildcats romped in Eugene last season. That right there seemed to be a decent tiebreaker over Oregon. It doesn't help that both teams have an air of mystery, making them harder to peg.  Arizona has the most radically new offense in the Pac-10, banking on Sonny Dykes' imported pass-happy spread offense from Texas Tech.  Oregon added a spread offense guru as well, hiring Chip Kelly from Division I-AA New Hampshire. The Ducks put in some no-huddle schemes in the spring and vow to get talented running back Jonathan Stewart many more touches per game. Stewart and running back Jeremiah Johnson figure to play at the same time, a combination that is rife with possibilities.  That's what these middle teams are all about: possibilities.  Figure that over a nine-game conference season, each Pac-10 team will be involved in more than 1,300 plays. The difference in these tough-to-pick positions could be just a few plays here and there . . . or about 0.23 percent.  But if you think the Pac-10 is hard to predict, try the ACC. For that, though, you're going to have to buy a magazine.

Fox Sports' Adam Schein Likes Daymeion Hughes

Here is the link.

 

Quote:

 

Bill Polian plucked three players on Day 1 who will make an immediate impact in receiver Anthony Gonzalez, cornerback Daymeion Hughes, and defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock. Polian couldn't help himself in trading up to get Arkansas tackle Tony Ugoh in round two, giving up his 2008 first rounder in the process.   I am very intrigued by the Hughes pick. We are talking about the Pac-10 defensive player of the year and a guy who was just flat-out brilliant when it came to turning the opposition over.  I argued Hughes should've been a first- or second-round pick. It's ludicrous that a player falls because of a slow 40 time at the combine, when he had a body of work on Saturdays that tells you how he will perform on Sundays.  And Polian agrees.

"This is a guy who really competes out there," Polian said. "He has great hands, great ball skills, great anticipation for the thrown ball which you cannot coach. Hughes is a complete corner. If there is one hole, if you want to call it a hole and I won't, is a small speed hole, but he's been nursing a hamstring injury throughout the draft process. But when you turn on the film, believe me, the game speed is fine. We value people who can turn the ball over. We took Kelvin Hayden a few years ago because he had that quality and look what happened in the Super Bowl.  "Daymeion has the same skill sets. In our situation, as Tony (Dungy) has proved with Ronde Barber, we can play corners who don't have that blazing 4.43 speed. And even here we have had great success with Marlin Jackson and Hayden and Daymeion will fit right in."  I think Hughes will be a significant player for the 2007 Colts. That's how good he is. That's how dedicated he is in the film room and practice field.

AP: Pac-10 Football Looking as Competitive

Here is the link.

 

California

Refresher: The closest recent approximation to USC didn't quite get there again, going 10-3 but squashing Texas A&M in the Holiday Bowl.

Spring things: With seven offensive starters back, including QB Nate Longshore and maybe the nation's best WR corps, Cal should score on anybody. ... Cal has had a 1,000-yard back in each of coach Jeff Tedford's five years, and that guy in 2007 might be Justin Forsett. ... Bears spent a lot of time throwing the deep ball. ... RB James Montgomery, once a Washington commit, looks like No. 2 to Forsett after he had a 30-yard scoring run in the spring game. ... LBs Zack Follett and Eddie Young had big springs. ... Bears still looking for a CB to replace Daymeion Hughes: possibly Darian Hagan.

On tap: Bears will be primed for Tennessee opener at Cal after Vols blew them out in '06.

SF Chronicle: Cal ruggers once again have no match

Bears beat BYU for 23rd national title

John Crumpacker

In the greatest recurring theme in recent Bay Area sports history, the California Golden Bears won another national championship in rugby Saturday with a masterful dissection of a rugged and capable BYU side.   Cal steadily and efficiently built up its lead at Steuber Rugby Stadium on the Stanford campus until the score reached 32-0 with a minute to play. Brigham Young finally broke across the goal line for a try with a minute left and Cal responded with a quick try as time expired on a 37-7 victory for the Bears.  

For Cal, it was its fourth straight national championship, 16th in the last 17 years and 23rd overall since 1980. The Bears finished the season 25-1, with their only loss coming to Rugby Super League champion Old Mission Beach Athletic Club by six points.  "They had a pretty good run, didn't they?'' Cal coach Jack Clark said of his players. "This was a team that could have gone through undefeated. I'm really proud of them. I'm so pleased that when they put their guts into it, it worked out. Nobody knows how hard they work.''  Sophomore center Colin Hawley was named most valuable player of the tournament for his work against Navy in the semifinals and BYU in the final. He scored a try against the Cougars on a dash of about 30 meters and was resolute in his play on the front line.  "We could have played a lot better,'' Hawley said. "We missed a lot of opportunities, our kicking wasn't too good, but we hung on. I don't believe it was our best rugby. We just gritted it down.''  To the lay observer, however, it appeared that the Bears took advantage of the chances they had while at the same time making sure BYU's most dangerous players did not cause them harm. In particular, lightning-quick wing Vito QaQa scarcely had the ball in his hands throughout the 80-minute contest played out on a blissful afternoon before 4,417 fans.

"It's hard,'' said an exhausted Louis Stanfill, Cal's stalwart No. 8 position. "I have played on the international level and semi-pro here and with these guys. They play a high-tempo style and they hit hard. They play the way men should play. It was very satisfying.''  BYU gave up very little to the Bears in the first half and the Cougars still trailed 13-0 after the first 40 minutes. Hooker Chris Biller scored Cal's first try in the opening minutes of the game and Chris Gurecki booted through a penalty kick later for an 8-0 advantage.  Cal captain Chase Brogan came up with the game's niftiest moment when he and a BYU player were both racing for a punted ball bouncing toward the Cougars' goal line. Brogan got his hands on the ball just short of the line and touched it down for a 13-0 lead and more than a little momentum for his team.  "Just got a lucky bounce,'' he said. "Coach Clark always says to the hustler goes the reward. That really helped us and gave us a confidence boost.''  Cal got second-half tries from Kevin Kroll, Hawley and Brendan Wright and led 32-0 before BYU scored.  "This Cal team was better than the Cal team we played last year,'' BYU coach Dave Smyth said. "They're a more complete team. They were a little more creative. That's a bad thing for us.''  In losing to Cal for a second straight year in the title game, Smyth said, "I can tell you sincerely we're not going anywhere. We plan on being back here next year.''

 

ESPN: Favored Trojans will face multiple Pac-10 challenges

Here’s the link.

 

Excerpts:

 

Pac-10 success generally starts at quarterback, where little intrigue remains to be analyzed in advance of fall camp.  USC quarterback John David Booty is a leading Heisman Trophy candidate. If he falters, California's Nate Longshore could become one.

 

 

Most dynamic player: When California receiver and return specialist DeSean Jackson has the ball, he's just scary. He led the nation in punt returns last year, returning four for touchdowns. He also caught 59 passes for 1,060 yards -- 18 yards per reception -- with nine touchdowns. If the Bears start fast -- read: beat Tennessee -- Jackson could become a Heisman Trophy candidate.

 

Team that may disappoint: California coach Jeff Tedford has laid very few eggs in his five years in Berkeley, quickly transforming a moribund program into a budding national power. Oh, the Bears went belly-up in the 2004 Holiday Bowl against an inferior Texas Tech team, but other than that things have been mostly smooth. At least until that 35-18 humiliation at Tennessee that made Cal look ill-prepared for the big time and set tongues wagging on Pac-10 mediocrity. The Volunteers visit Strawberry Canyon this fall. If Cal wins, buckle up for a banner season. If it loses, things could become unsteady. A potential Achilles' heel: Six marquee starters from last year's underachieving defense need to be replaced.

 

Pac-10 Projections

Post-spring picks, predictions and prognostications:

1. USC

2. California

3. UCLA

4. Oregon State

5. Arizona

6. Oregon

7. Arizona State

8. Washington State

9. Washington

10. Stanford

 

Fun quote: “At least seven teams could make a reasonable case they are bowl worthy. Of the bottom three -- Washington State, Washington and Stanford -- only the Cardinal appear completely hapless.”

CBS Sportsline Looks Ahead to 2008 Draft

Here’s the link.

 

6. DeSean Jackson, WR, California: This junior can fly. Every time he touches the ball, the opposition has to fear the big play. He's a heck of a return man as well.

Rivals.com: Longshore Ranked 7th Best Deep Passer

Here is the link.

 

7. Nate Longshore, Jr., California: The fact that 51 of his 227 completions last year went for at least 20 yards shows that Longshore isn't afraid of throwing long. Why should he be when California boasts one of the nation's top deep threats in DeSean Jackson? Oregon State sure knows about Longshore's ability to deliver an accurate long ball. Longshore threw four touchdown passes - all at least 27 yards - in a 41-13 triumph over the Beavers last year. He also had a 62-yard touchdown pass against Arizona, a 48-yarder against Minnesota and a 44-yarder against UCLA.

Scout.com: Hurrell Makes It Two For Cal

By Jim McGill

The Cal Bears received their second commitment of the young season this week, securing the services of their first Bay Area recruit from across the bay in San Mateo. Serra (San Mateo) High School linebacker J.P. Hurrell (5-11/195, 4.58 forty, 80 tackles, 4 sacks) gave the Bears word that he was heading to Berkeley in 2008.  Hurrell was excited when he received his offer from Cal two weeks ago after previously getting his first three offers from BYU, Oregon and Washington earlier. "Coach Tedford was really sincere and straightforward," said Hurrell "and he said that even though I’m not the biggest guy around, he knows I have a lot of heart and he saw that on the highlight film and he wants me to be a part of the Bear family and I’m really excited about that.”

Read the entire article here.

 

Register-Guard: Analsyis of the Duck's Oponents

Here is the link.

 

Sept. 29, vs. California

Marshawn Lynch is gone at running back, but Justin Forsett is still around, and his average yards per carry of 6.39 last season is tops in the country among returning players, the Chronicle reported. But coach Jeff Tedford wouldn't mind another solid two-back rotation, and James Montgomery made himself a candidate this spring for such a role.

Tedford blasted his offense as spring closed, but the unit was without four starters on the line due to graduation and injuries. The Bears also auditioned replacements for graduated corner Daymeion Hughes.

Minimum of Two Cal Football Games To Air on ABC/ESPN/ESPN2

Tennessee and USC Games Locked in to Pac-10 TV Deal

BERKELEY - A minimum of two California football games have been selected for broadcast on ABC/ESPN/ESPN2, the Pac-10 announced on Tuesday. Cal's home games with Tennessee (Sept. 1) and USC (Nov. 10) will be televised nationally and will kick off at 5 p.m. (Pacific). Four other Golden Bear games have the potential to be picked up by the network through its 12 and six-day selection slots.   In addition, the Colorado State game (Sept. 8) will be aired nationally by College Sports Television. That game will kick off at 11 a.m. (Pacific) from Fort Collins.  Game times and television information for other Golden Bear contests will be released when available.

In the first five years of head coach Jeff Tedford's tenure, 47 Cal football games have been televised; in the five years prior to that, 30 Cal games were televised. National television broadcasts have more than doubled in that time. Last year, 11 Golden Bear contest were televised. The Colorado State game will mark Cal's first game on CSTV.

The 2007 Cal season kicks off on Saturday, Sept. 1 with the Golden Bears hosting Tennessee at memorial Stadium. After the road trip to Colorado State, the Bears return home to face Louisiana Tech in another inter-sectional game. Season tickets are now available at www.CalBears.com or by calling 1-800-GO-BEARS. Single-game tickets will go on sale in June.

 

Current ABC 2007 Televised California Football Games

Sept. 1 - Tennessee at California, 5:00 p.m., ABC

Nov. 10 - USC at California, 5:00 p.m., ABC or ESPN or ESPN2