Daily Cal: No Denying It: Longshore Delivered Loss

There are only two games left in the Cal football team’s season and finally someone is taking responsibility for the Bears’ fourth loss in five games. Certainly no one wants to point fingers, but the person who should be admitting to his own failures has finally spoken.  Quarterback Nate Longshore is owning up at last to his mistakes after a 24-17 loss to USC, and it’s about time. For the first time this season, he admitted that he was fallible, and it was a relief to hear someone say it at last.  “It’s just culmination of the loss of this season,” Longshore said about why he was taking the loss to the Trojans so hard. “I haven’t been playing well enough to win. That’s what it comes down to and I’ll be the first one to say that. Our guys have been playing hard out there. I just need to make some more plays and give us that opportunity to win.”  Despite Longshore’s lackluster play throughout the game, the Bears still had the chance to force the game into overtime. After Forsett rumbled 34 yards down the sideline on Cal’s last drive, the Bears had the ball on USC’s 36-yard line.  On the next play, senior wideout Robert Jordan went out on a hook route on the near sideline. But there was a hesitance to Longshore that has plagued him all year and that was not present in his 3,000-yard campaign last season.  There was a hesitance in his throw, a hesitance in his reaction. And when Longshore threw the ball, there was Terrell Thomas, waiting for the interception.

“I thought I threw it far enough, but obviously not,” Longshore said. “The DB made a good play. It was just another poorly thrown ball. (The rain) didn’t affect it. It was just underthrown.”  That wasn’t the only instance where Longshore could not hook up with his receivers. There were a few plays where Longshore and his wideouts clearly weren’t on the same page.  On third down during Cal’s first possession of the third quarter, Longshore’s pass wasn’t anywhere near Jordan, the intended receiver. Jordan—hailed by his teammates for running the best routes—ran an in route, but Longshore threw the ball as if he expected Jordan to run out.  In the fourth quarter, with the score tied 17-17 and the Bears inside USC territory, Longshore expected DeSean Jackson to fly down the field, and overthrew Jackson when the receiver stopped short.  And while the wideouts will say that it was their fault that those option routes didn’t work, the onus this time is on Longshore.  Both times Jordan and Jackson were wide open. And both times Longshore missed them.  “It’s just miscommunication,” Longshore said. “Again, that’s something that I need to work on with my guys. They’re doing what they’re told and it’s my fault for not completing what we’re trying to do.”  Longshore hasn’t been able to accomplish what this team has been trying to do for the last five weeks and at least two of Cal’s four losses have come literally at his hands.

Forsett did everything he could for the Bears—he gashed through the USC defense more than anyone else had the entire year.  The defense was finally stout in its play and the o-line gave Longshore ample time in the pocket. Both units certainly weren’t the cause for the loss.  Everyone seemed to leave their hearts on the field—Jordan was pumping his fist after every huddle and every snap—but Longshore was stoic as ever.  Let’s face it—version 2007 of Nate Longshore just isn’t as good as the 2006 edition.  He lacks confidence on the field. He lacks a willingness to go deep. He’s made mistakes that have cost Cal victories. Up until Saturday, he hadn’t had the courage to admit it in public.  Longshore found that courage after losing to USC, but putting the blame on himself can only do so much.  What it can’t do is get any of the Bears’ losses back. Longshore realized that he was the problem a little too late.