SF Chronicle: Cal's Best might be good enough to appear on Heisman voters' radar

Link.

Ray Ratto

For those California football players bold enough to wander from the party line - "This was good, but we have to do better" - the news from Saturday's 66-3 piano-wiring of Washington State at Martin Stadium was that Jahvid Best made himself a national player. And it really only took him 11 seconds to do it. But first, the bigger picture.

The Golden Bears, scoring so often that one touchdown annoyed head coach Jeff Tedford, piano-wired Washington State, 66-3. It was the most lopsided conference win in school history and the most lopsided loss in Cougars history. It was so bad that linebacker Worrell Williams admitted the coaches would have to delve a bit to find enough mistakes to make the players run on Sunday. "But they will," he said with a laugh. "They always do." Now, back to Best, who:

-- Scored from 86, 80 and 5 yards, becoming the first Cal player to score from 80 or beyond twice in a game, a year, or maybe ever (more research is needed on that last one).

-- Gained 200 yards in 14 carries over two quarters and a sliver of a third.

-- Claimed he wasn't tired after the 86-yarder, and could have run more times if asked.

This kind of statistical profligacy is exactly the sort of thing that Heisman Trophy junkies watch for, and while there are running backs with more yards (Shun White of Navy, Da'Rel Scott of Maryland and Donald Brown of Connecticut that we know of), none have reached their numbers in so few attempts or with so many potential attention-getting highlights.

Highlights, of course, being the best way to break into a conversation about a trophy that is usually given only to those who were hyped relentlessly in the preseason. Best, coming off a hip injury, got none of it, and deservedly so. Moreover, attention like that after a season like 2007 would have made Tedford even twitchier than he usually is about those kinds of things. Well, no more. You bust out 166 yards in two runs, people are bound to find you. "Any time Jahvid's in the open field, we automatically put our hands up," linebacker Zack Follett said. "By the end of this season, he's going to be a household name."

Best, on the other hand, is careful not to wander into the land of what-about-me. The first words out of his mouth when describing his first touchdown - the 80-yard bolt on the game's first play that was blocked to perfection by fullback Will Ta'ufo'ou, pulling guard Chris Guarnero and tackle Mitchell Schwartz - were, "They just opened a very big hole for me. I didn't get touched at all."

And his second, the 86-yarder on Cal's second play of the second half, was only slightly more involved. Both times, he broke through the equivalent of two holes or one parallel-parked four-door sedan and left only a trail of Cougars defenders and Field-Turf grainlets in his wake.  "I was just blocking my guy," center Alex Mack said, "and before I could look up, he was 60 yards down the field." The closest Best got to talking about the wonder that is Best, though, was when he said in describing the second score, "I wasn't tired at all. I could have run some more."

But his teammates see him as Best's predecessors saw Joe Igber and J.J. Arrington and Adimchinobe Echemandu and Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett - as the go-to guy on a team that always gets credit for its passing game. "The whole country is going to see what Jahvid is all about now," Williams said. "They'll see what he did today, and they'll be talking about him. They'll be talking about both him and Shane." As in Vereen, who had a 39-yard touchdown among his 80 yards rushing, and who is serving in the same way that Forsett served Lynch - as the very dangerous second option.

Speaking of the passing game, Tedford was more interested in grumbling about the spotty passing game, which was undistinguished at best and annoying to him at worst. Kevin Riley hit only 6 of 14 passes for 51 yards and a score, and while Nate Longshore went 7 of 8 for 53 in the third quarter, there'll be no talk about that little debate. Tedford, though, made a point to scrunch up his face and say, "We have to do a lot better than that if we want to be a contender."  In truth, though, it is the only place Tedford has a realistic complaint, because the defense stood up well to what challenges Washington State tried to offer. There will be things he will find to pick at, because there won't be another Washington State on the schedule. In fact, based on the score alone, there have been very few Washington States in Cal's entire history. The last was Baylor in 2002, which Cal beat 70-22 in Tedford's first game. Before that, there was Pacific in 1991, in an 86-24 beating that helped convince the Stockton school to later abandon football. And before that, you have to go to the era of the Mare Island Marines, the Pacific Fleet and the Olympic Club.

No, things get tougher now, starting with Maryland on Saturday in College Park. Maryland lost to Middle Tennessee State on Saturday, but it can safely be assumed that Cal won't put up another nine scores. It can be just as safely assumed that Maryland will know all about Jahvid Best. At this point, they'd have to be stupid not to.