By Ted Miller
Coach George Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," which is why Jeff Tedford is making sure every California player recalls or is taught what happened the last time the Bears visited Arizona. It's Nov. 11, 2006. Cal has bounced back from an embarrassing season-opening loss at Tennessee to reel off eight consecutive victories. The No. 8 Bears control their Rose Bowl destiny and fans are dreaming of their first berth in the Granddaddy since 1958. All they've got to do is beat offensively challenged Arizona, which was 4-5. Splat. Bears lose, 24-20. They lost despite owning a 17-3 third-quarter lead against a team that averaged 13.8 points per game. They lost despite outgaining Arizona 356 yards to 262.
"We couldn't get anything to go right for us," recalled Cal quarterback Nate Longshore, who threw three interceptions that afternoon. "Anything that could go wrong in a game happened." What happened to Cal?
A penalty killed a 79-yard touchdown run. Penalties killed two interceptions. A receiver fell, untouched, on the 1-yard line, and the Bears couldn't punch in the tying score, settling for a field goal. A 63-yard touchdown pass with 2:18 to play was killed after video review determined the receiver had stepped out of bounds. Said Arizona coach Mike Stoops after the game, "The football gods are smiling on us." Oh, and the Wildcats and their fans celebrated. Wildly. Loudly. In front of a group of highly disappointed Cal players trudging off the field. They tried to tear down the goal posts. "It was a spectacle to say the least," Longshore said. "It was rather interesting. But I'm sure they were excited. We remember that. We've definitely been conveying to the young guys what went on. It's definitely been a motivating factor for us on top of it already being a big game."
Not that Tedford would ever use that game and postgame experience as motivation for his 25th-ranked team, which, at 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Pac-10, is the only squad without a blemish in conference play.
"Well, I think that it is absolutely something that is on our mind," Tedford said. "This is a new team. It's different. But I think the experience last time we were there was a pretty devastating experience. It is very hard to get that type of thing out of your mind." And if some tried, here's a guess Tedford will employ the magic of video replay on a large high-definition television to remind them. Arizona probably isn't too concerned that the Bears are angry. The Wildcats (4-2, 2-1) have their own problems. They went up to Stanford last weekend to make a statement, expecting a win to put them into the thick of the conference race and perhaps earn them a national ranking and, instead, got pushed around at the line of scrimmage in a 24-23 defeat. The Cardinal piled up 286 yards rushing. They ran the ball on 10 of 11 plays on a 62-yard game-winning touchdown drive that killed 5:17 off the clock and left the Wildcats with only 25 seconds to counter. They didn't. "They really controlled the line of scrimmage," Stoops said of Stanford. "That's really where we lost the game, a good part of it anyhow." California also is a good rushing team, though it relies on speed rather than power. Speaking of speed, the Bears should benefit from the return of running back Jahvid Best, who's been out since dislocating his elbow on Sept. 27 against Colorado State. While Longshore and Tedford both had only praise for Arizona's defense -- sounding programmatic in the process -- Best said he saw some interesting things on film. "I think there are some things there that we can exploit," he said.
Who will be handing the ball to Best is a bit of a mystery, one which Tedford probably won't publicly solve until Friday or even game day. Longshore replaced Kevin Riley, who had started the previous four games, and led the Bears to a workmanlike 24-14 victory over Arizona State. While it would seem likely he'd get the call again, Longshore playfully toyed with a reporter digging for insight. "I don't get to pull the trigger on that one," he said. On the other side of the ball, Tedford called Arizona's offense "the best" the Bears have faced all year, but the Wildcats need to figure things out in the red zone and get the ball to their money players.
Against Stanford, they kicked field goals from the 2-, 5- and 6-yard lines, and tight end Rob Gronkowski and receiver Mike Thomas combined for just six catches for 61 yards. Those guys need the ball in their hands, particularly with the Cal run defense playing particularly well (95 yards per game). Of course, Stoops knows that Cal faces what appears to be a monstrous challenge in the Pac-10 this year: winning on the road. "Does anybody have a good road win this year?" Stoops asked. "We probably have the best one going to UCLA. That's just how it is." Pac-10 teams are 6-20 on the road this year -- 2-8 in nonconference play and 4-12 in conference. And Stoops is right. The Wildcats' win at UCLA is the best road win in conference play thus far. The other three came at woeful Washington State (two times) and winless Washington.
So obviously Cal can't take this one for granted, and if a painful memory fuels their focus and intensity, that's probably necessary. Longshore and his teammates can't afford to look ahead. They did that last year and things went kaput. That's why Longshore only sniffs and then quickly spits out the bait when asked how far the Bears can go in 2008. "We can go... until Saturday," he said. "That's how far we can go. Every week is the biggest game of the year."
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