It is difficult to know how a decisive but not crushing victory over a lesser ranked team works in this day and age, so Pete Carroll can maintain his bafflement about the Bowl Championship Series for at least another week. Jeff Tedford, on the other hand, knows exactly where his California Golden Bears stand this morning - on the precipice between the Holiday and Sun Bowls, and coming off their worst offensive showing in years.
How worst, you ask? Well, put it this way: The long-simmering quarterback controversy between Nate Longshore and Kevin Riley finally and irrevocably has been exposed for what it is: a plaintive cry for help.
Cal's make-or-break game for 2008 has been downgraded from USC - which beat the Bears 17-3 at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Saturday night - for the Rose Bowl to Oregon State in Corvallis for the Holiday, Tedford's Christmas home-away-from home for much of his tenure. And in keeping with the central theme of the season - Don't Bother Naming the Quarterback Because They Seem to Be the Same Guy - the identity of the starting quarterback for Oregon State is a mystery, perhaps even to Tedford. "I truly don't know yet," he said as he confronted his first touchdown-less game at Cal. "We had guys open, we had some chances to do things, but you see the team they're up against. When we got guys open, they didn't stay open for long, and running the ball ... well, I didn't see many creases out there." Indeed, USC has allowed only one touchdown in its last 23 quarters (354:41, for you stat geeks). Cal's best chance came on a 27-yard touchdown pass to Shane Vereen that was called back because of one of the game's 18 penalties, an ineligible receiver, that stalled the first drive of the second half - the Riley half. It was the bright spot of Riley's performance, but at this point, picking one over the other is such a haphazard skill that even the diehard fans now understand what Tedford has been up against all year.
Longshore and Riley each got a full half to try to solve the Trojans' defense, with predictably similar results: none. Despite 10 USC penalties that prolonged drives throughout the evening, the quarterbacks managed between them a mere 35-yard Giorgio Tavecchio field goal roughly midway through the second quarter.
"I never felt like we couldn't move the ball," Tedford said, seeking out the silver lining with something resembling a vengeance, "but it's hard to get the rhythm you're looking for when it's so hard to run the ball, and when we're missing the open guys we do have." Weirdly, Cal still could connive its way into the Rose Bowl, but it takes a heap'o believing to make it believable. Indeed, the least bizarre of them would be for SC to figure a way past four of the following five teams - Alabama, Texas Tech, Florida, Oklahoma and Texas - and get into the national title game again.
And based on how much trouble the Trojans had moving on Cal's stern defense, and how unimpressed both the humans and non-humans who comprise the BCS will be by this result, that one seems even less conceivable than ever. Cal's issues, though, are more fundamental than that. Though the defense impressed almost every USC offensive player polled after the game, with remarkable performances from nearly everyone involved, the offense was nearly inert, gaining a Tedford-low 165 yards. Longshore's numbers were desultory - 11-for-15 for 79 yards - but Riley's were a cornea-searing mess - 4-for-16 for 59 and an interception that was more luck than design. A lot of the problems were caused by the Trojans. A lot more weren't. Worse yet, the running game was not to be found - 26 carries, 27 yards (61 before the sack-yardage adjustment). Jahvid Best, still limited by an injured foot, gained only 30 yards in 13 carries, and Vereen managed all of 3 in five.
It is unlikely that Oregon State, Stanford or Washington can do as well to the Golden Bears. Oregon State ranks second in yards and third in points, but Stanford and Washington are both in the lower half of the conference. Then again, there is also no margin for further error, not if Cal still has dreams of second place in mind. Coming off its best defensive and worst offensive game in years, the Bears have to reorder their big-picture priorities and make Saturday in Corvallis their biggest game of the year. The goal, repetitively enough, is the Holiday Bowl - and they should be grateful it is still there for them to attain.
3 comments:
IN my mind Riley is still the go to guy based on the last game. Riley had at least 1 TD pass which was sadly called back and he had 1 interception. Longshore on the other had two interceptions that were called back by USC penalties and no TD. I would still stick with Riley at this point.
Could see a case the other way: Go with Nate, wholesale, to give him his senior season because Riley's not shown he's a better man. See what he can do while healthy, reasonably rested, and (wonders!) with a whole week of practive with the first team.
If he throws two proximal interceptions again, yank him for good and make Brock the backup. But Nate's played better, and it is now or never for him.
Did you see the two interceptions Nate threw? He just got lucky that they were called back due to stupid USC penalties. But if they stood up as two interceptions, there would be no question who should start next game.
I see your point about having a healthy Riley at QB. However, can we really win with Longshore? we can't always depend on a strong defense.
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