Minutes after his final regular-season game, Saturday's 20-13 Big Game loss on The Farm, Cal senior receiver Lavelle Hawkins had a single thought."I'll never forget this game and my drops," Hawkins said. "I really want to apologize to Cal fans and everyone who has supported us. I'm really sorry about this game." Trailing 20-13 in the game's final three minutes, Hawkins beat Nick Sanchez to the corner of the end zone, and quarterback Nate Longshore lofted a pass right over his shoulder. Hawkins, who had seven catches for 63 yards, couldn't catch No. 8 for the potential game-tying score. "It shouldn't have gotten to that point," Longshore said. "After the plays he made throughout the game, there's no way he can take the blame for that." For the third consecutive game, a Cal player or coach has emerged from the losing locker room and tried to take the blame. Longshore did it after throwing a late interception against USC, and coach Jeff Tedford did it after an uninspired showing at Washington. Now Hawkins was taking a turn.
The Bears finished the regular season by losing six of their final seven games. Once ranked No. 2 in the nation, the Bears now wait for an invite to low-tier bowl. "It's time to get ready for next season," junior middle linebacker Worrell Williams said. "It's just unfortunate that we haven't been taking advantage of opportunities. We're just killing ourselves over and over and over." Cal (6-6, 3-6) committed 10 penalties for 118 yards, turned the ball over three times and allowed consistent pressure on Longshore. "The penalties are a concern, but it came down to the pass rush," Tedford said. "They got too much pressure. We had some guys open deep, but we didn't have time to get them the ball." With Arizona State's win over Arizona late Saturday, Cal still secured a school-record six bowl berth. Depending on whether the Pac-10 gets one or two BCS invites, the Bears could go to San Francisco's Emerald Bowl or the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas.
“It's out of our control now," Tedford said. "Ending a year like this is not what you want. It would be a great opportunity to get to coach these guys one more time and have them get to play together one more time." For the most part, Cal played like a team that didn't realize it controlled its own bowl destiny Saturday. The Cardinal confused the Bears with an alternating-quarterback system, and both T.C. Ostrander and Tavita Prichard led drives resulting in 10 points. Stanford's defense limited Cal to 6 yards and zero first downs on its first five second-half possessions to extend a 3-point halftime lead to 20-10. "This season is definitely a new low for us, but I'd like the chance to bounce back in a bowl game," senior free safety Thomas DeCoud said. "We could find some redemption and finish the season the right way." The new low includes Cal's first Big Game loss since 2001, the inability to have yet locked up a sixth consecutive winning season and confusion about why it can't close out games. "We've had an opportunity to win every game we've played," Tedford said. "That's probably the most frustrating thing. We haven't been able to find a way to win. That's something that needs to be addressed." It's a season that is very reminiscent of the 1996 season, which was Steve Mariucci's only year in Berkeley. Cal started that year 5-0 and lost six of the final seven, including a , 42-38 loss to Navy in the Aloha Bowl. "It hurts that there is nothing I can do about it anymore," Hawkins said.
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