By Matt Kawahara
It was one of the worst collapses in college football history. On the cusp of becoming the No. 1 team in the country in their sixth game of the 2007 season, Cal came up three points-and about 10 yards-short against Oregon State. Hopes of an undefeated season vanished along with the energy out of Memorial Stadium as the clock ticked down to zero, the field goal unit sprinting onto the field to no avail.
And the Bears never recovered. They went into a tailspin. At the end of December the team found itself in Fort Worth, Tex., having to come back from a 21-0 deficit to Air Force in order to avoid finishing the season below .500. Sometimes that's the kind of thing that a team wants to forget. Others take it as a learning experience. In preparation for its return to the gridiron, Cal has made sure to keep last season in mind.
"I think we focused on that a lot, actually," senior center Alex Mack said. "After the season we went about what it takes to win games, going back to fundamentals, and working on all the little things that it takes to win games. It doesn't just happen. It's hard work." The Bears-stacked with raw talent in 2007-learned that lesson the hard way. It's something that they've taken to heart since the beginning of spring ball. "We know how hard we worked after last season," linebacker Zack Follett said. "It would be a major disappointment if we didn't capitalize after what happened because we've worked harder than I've ever worked since we've been here. Coaches have pushed us because of the season we had."
That new intensity showed in a fall camp that even coach Jeff Tedford acknowledged as being more physical than in years past. Loud hits and louder chants of "Offense: Score!" and "Roll call defense: Get the ball back!" spoke to the team's more vocal presence on the field. "You've got to be vocal out there," Follett said. "That's one thing coaches stress every year I've been here. It's just whether you step up and do it or not, and it's one of the things that the seniors have been working on." The catalyst behind everything is a word that every player and coach has kicked around since the beginning of camp-leadership.
"(The 2007 meltdown) definitely happened for a reason," Follett said. "The lack of leadership that we had last year kind of showed, and that's why our team kind of broke down." Seniors like Mack, Follett, Nate Longshore and Will Ta'ufo'ou have embraced their new roles as team leaders. Mack said that the transition has been eased by Tedford, who fostered that leadership by encouraging seniors to speak out and be role models for the rest of the team.
Players have responded. Tedford said during camp that the competitiveness and intensity during practice was a direct result of senior influence. In fact, Ta'ufo'ou, senior wideout LaReyelle Cunningham and sophomore defensive end Cameron Jordan all agreed that the communication between the veterans and young guys at their respective positions has been much better than last season. "I think we all took it upon ourselves to take control of our position groups as well as, if you're on offense, working with the defense," Ta'ufo'ou said. "It's not just offense and defense. It's a team thing." So the Bears approach August 30 and Michigan State as a strongly unified team rather than a collection of individual performers. When asked whether Cal is treating this season as a chance for redemption after last year's disappointment or merely a fresh start, Mack said that it's a little bit of both. As Ta'ufo'ou put it, last season is in the past; the Bears can't hold onto it, but they can learn from it. "I know I want to prove that we're still a good team, that Cal's still big-time football," Mack said. "On the other hand, we're not last year. New team, new slate, and so we come out for the first game and do what we need to. It's right there around the corner."
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