Daily Cal: Cal Can't Take Advantage Of Trojans Bearing Gifts

In the final home game of the season and despite an unrelenting downpour, the Cal football team had countless opportunities to gain momentum and escape with its first victory over USC since 2003.  But the Bears were unable to capitalize on the Trojans’ gift-wrapped miscues.  USC committed the types of costly errors that usually result in a loss in front of an emotional crowd on the road. The Trojans coughed up the football four times—losing two of those fumbles—and committed some crucial penalties to keep Cal drives alive and squash offensive drives of their own.  More often than not, however, the Bears offense either stalled or committed costly gaffes of its own.  “When the ‘D’ gets stops we have to capitalize,” said wideout Lavelle Hawkins. “We didn’t do that today. We’re going to have to fix it if we’re going to beat a team like that.”  The first wasted opportunity came just five minutes into the second quarter. USC cornerback Shareece Wright lined up in the neutral zone, negating Justin Forsett’s lost fumble on 2nd-and-goal, but Cal subsequently could not reach the end zone at 1st-and-goal from the 2.  In what has become a recurring theme, the Bears stuck to the ground game up the middle and came up short three times. Cal had to settle for three points after a 23-yard Justin Kay field goal put the Bears up 10-7. Cal never led again after that point—four minutes and 25 seconds later, USC tailback Chauncey Washington burst through the Cal defensive front untouched for a 36-yard score to give the Trojans the lead.  “We’ve got to be able to punch it in when we get to the goal line,” Hawkins said.

When USC had its own struggles at the goal line—Bears safety Thomas DeCoud forced Washington to fumble at the Cal 2-yard line—Bears quarterback Nate Longshore threw an interception three plays later to negate the big defensive stop.

“There are obviously a couple of plays that Nate would like to have back,” Cal coach Jeff Tedford said.  The fourth quarter was more of the same. Since the win against Oregon, Longshore has thrown four interceptions and no touchdowns in the fourth quarter and the Bears have been outscored a combined 35-7.  It looked like the tide of Cal’s recent misfortune would turn early in the final period Saturday. The defense got another huge break just three plays in when USC quarterback John David Booty lost a fumble, but the Bears again stalled with Longshore throwing two incompletions to force a punt.  Surprisingly, the glaring weakness for Cal down the stretch was the passing game, long thought of as a reliable strength. Longshore went 5-for-15 in the second half and threw two interceptions while the Bears defense held USC to 10 points.  “There were too many turnovers late in the game,” Longshore said. “When it mattered, in the fourth quarter, I was struggling. You can’t win by doing that.”  In the end, Cal wasted a dominant rushing performance from Forsett, stellar offensive line play and a sporadic defensive effort that nonetheless produced turnovers at crucial times.

Much like 2004, when the Bears outplayed USC but could not convert from 1st-and-goal at the 9-yard line, and like last season when Cal went toe-to-toe with the Trojans for three quarters but faltered late, reflections on coming so close to victory haunted the Bears after Saturday’s loss.  “It definitely stings to know we were so close,” safety Thomas DeCoud said. “We went down the home stretch with them.”  Longshore committed two turnovers when the home stretch finally came Saturday. The first came on a fumbled snap with 5:42 left in the fourth quarter and the second put the nail in the coffin. Forsett took a screen pass 34 yards to put the Bears within striking distance, but Longshore squashed any momentum by throwing an interception on the very next play with 3:57 remaining.  Yet another missed chance for the Bears to get back in the game, maintain a chance at improving bowl positioning, regain some shattered confidence and begin to recover from three straight recent losses.  “I take the responsibility on myself,” Longshore said. “Down the stretch I need to play better to give ourselves a chance to win.”