Seventeen seconds. That's all it took Saturday night for Cal's game at Arizona to turn from promising to desperate. The Bears led 27-21 midway through the third quarter but then watched the Wildcats culminate a seven-play, 77-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by true freshman Keola Antolin. After receiving the ensuing kickoff, Cal quarterback Nate Longshore tried to force a pass to wide receiver Verran Tucker on the sideline and the ball was intercepted by cornerback Devin Ross, who returned it 21 yards for a score.
Suddenly, the Bears found themselves down 35-27 and ultimately dropped a 42-27 decision to the Wildcats.
"I don't know what happened," Cal center Alex Mack said. "I don't really have an answer. We're up by six, we're down by one, and then we're down by eight. We may have got a little tight instead of having faith things will come together." Needing to answer back immediately to slow Arizona's momentum after the interception return, the Bears instead went three-and-out on their next possession and the Wildcats immediately put together another scoring drive. Longshore, who threw for 172 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, was just 1-for-5 on the two possessions immediately following Ross' score and ultimately gave way to Kevin Riley.
"We bogged down a little bit and I felt like we needed a spark," Cal coach Jeff Tedford said of his decision to replace Longshore. "I'm not putting this loss on Nate by any means. We were a little stagnant offensively and I felt like we needed to get something going." Tedford said the quarterback situation will continue to be competitive this week as the Bears prepare for Saturday's home game against UCLA.
No more redshirt
Because of injuries to defensive linemen Rulon Davis and Kendrick Payne and a limited Tyson Alualu, the Bears were forced to burn the redshirt year of freshman Trevor Guyton on Saturday. Guyton got a handful of snaps along Cal's depleted defensive line. Alualu, who missed practice time last week with a leg infection, got fatigued in the second half and Guyton picked up some of his snaps. "We're a bit thin on the defensive line," Cal defensive coordinator Bob Gregory said. "(Guyton) made a couple of plays and did a nice job. Tyson got a little worn down as the game went on, so that's why you saw Trevor in there a little bit, to give Tyson a spell."
No payback
The Bears entered the game with high hopes of avenging their devastating loss at Arizona in 2006. When asked if the failure to do that made Saturday's setback even more disappointing, Mack said: "I'm sick to my stomach."
Extra points
Anthony Felder's first-quarter interception was Cal's 11th pick this season. The Bears had 10 interceptions all of last season. ...… Antolin became the first running back to rush for 100 yards against the Bears this season (149). …... Cal allowed 28 points in the third quarter, the most it's given up in one quarter since 2002.
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