By Gary Peterson
TO SAY CALIFORNIA's football family was thrilled after its loss to Maryland five weeks ago would be a misrepresentation of the facts worthy of a presidential debate. There were the requisite long faces, and the predictable pledges to fix what had gone wrong. But more than a few players and at least one head coach noted that losing a shot at an undefeated season in Week 3 sure beat the alternative. Last season the alternative was losing an undefeated season in Week 6 as the nation's No. 2 team — seemingly on its way to No. 1. No need to rehash how that nightmare played out, with therapy costing what it does.
Two years ago the alternative was a soul-crushing Week 10 loss at Arizona. The Bears weren't undefeated then, but they were unbeaten in conference play. Then a 17-3 halftime lead went up in smoke and, well, things were never the same. Those are the kinds of heart-breakers that'll make you think twice before dreaming big. Which is why the reaction after the first loss of this season was so interesting. It was as if the Bears were declaring, "At least now we now have nothing to lose." But they did. Saturday night, against Arizona, they proved it.
At 2-0, Cal came into Saturday's game the only undefeated team in what has been, thus far, a nutty season in the Pac-10. Beyond Washington State's breath-taking ineptitude, nothing's been for certain. For their part, the Bears rebounded from the Maryland game with wins over Colorado State and Arizona State; survived a game without starting tailback Jahvid Best; and witnessed a return to form and stature of quarterback Nate Longshore, who reclaimed the starting job from Kevin Riley.
Best returned on Saturday. Cal flew to Arizona on the wings of a bye week. What wasn't to like? For the second straight trip to Arizona: The second half. The final score — Arizona 42, Cal 27 — is a stark enough indictment of the Bears. But it only hints at their post-halftime apocalypse. For starters, they surrendered a 10-point lead to a 28-3 onslaught. They saw Best return with an uneven effort. Outfitted with a Barry Bonds-style elbow brace, he was alternately explosive and tentative. He ran 67 yards for a game-tying touchdown midway through the second half, diving unnecessarily into the end zone without regard for his tender left elbow. He left early in the third quarter, seemingly in discomfort, and was never again a factor.
The Bears saw Longshore put forth an equally uneven performance. At his best, he lofted a gorgeous 18-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Morrah. At his worst, he seemed flustered by Arizona's pass rush, throwing over or behind his receivers.
On his first throw after Cal had fallen behind, 28-27, Longshore was intercepted by Devin Ross, who raced 21 yards for a touchdown. He was replaced by Riley shortly thereafter, finishing his evening 18-of-37 for 218 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Riley was equally unimpressive. Even good things went bad. Thunder-footed redshirt freshman Bryan Anger launched several impressive punts. But he also had one partially blocked. That, naturally, led to an Arizona touchdown. Defensively, Cal was good enough to hold Arizona to 179 yards in the first half, and pliant enough to allow 213 yards in the third quarter.
So where does that leave the Bears? For starters, in fifth place in the Pac-10. True, they're only one-third of their way through their conference schedule. Also true: fifth place is a long way to fall from first. At issue is Best's elbow, which seems to hold up just fine until he's tackled. Also at issue, now and until further notice, is the quarterback situation. Riley, who won the job coming out of summer camp, looked plenty good in Cal's first two games. Neither he nor Longshore have looked very good for very long since. Cal coach Jeff Tedford sounded defiant five weeks ago, when he observed, "The only thing we can't do now is finish undefeated." They added to their can't-do list again Saturday night. A few more efforts like that and a return to the Armed Services Bowl is going to qualify as dreaming big, 2008 style.
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