SF Chronicle: Bottom line: Cal comes up a winner with nine victories

By Jake Curtis

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Bowl games are about bottom lines.  There is no next week, no chance to make up for missed opportunities or mess up what has been accomplished. No one is listening now if there are excuses to be made for failures or qualifications to diminish accomplishments. There is always next season, but that adds no detail to the picture drawn this season.  The image left by the bowl-game performance is the one that colors the entire season. Last season, the Bears slapped a pretty face on what was a disastrous season by edging an overmatched Air Force team in its bowl game.

This time, the Bears wrapped the season in a bow by winning what was virtually a home game against a team that traveled across the country, had lost its final two regular-season games to finish 4-4 in the mediocre Atlantic Coast Conference, and had to use a freshman quarterback limited by a shoulder injury making his second collegiate start because the regular starter had been suspended. And the Bears won because that Miami freshman (Jacory Harris) committed a turnover in the final four minutes that gave Cal the ball at the Hurricanes' 2-yard line.  The bottom line is that Nate Longshore threw the game-winning touchdown pass, forcing critics to quietly grumble and shrug their shoulders after he had spent the previous 57 minutes and 23 seconds keeping Miami in the game and drawing boos from the crowd.

Longshore was an enigma. Two years ago, he was outstanding, prompting the Sporting News to rate him the nation's No. 5 quarterback heading into the 2007 season. Midway through last season, he lost it, an ankle injury sending him on an inexplicable, never-ending downward spiral. He started just three games this season in coach Jeff Tedford's never-ending search for a reliable starting quarterback, something essential for any team with top-20 aspirations. Longshore went the whole way Saturday, only the second time this season a Cal quarterback played the entire game, but aside from a 74-yard completion - about 64 of which were covered by Verran Tucker's running - Longshore was a mere 9-for-20 for 47 yards.

Longshore is a stand-up guy, admirable in nearly every sense of the term student-athlete. You'd love to have him as your friend, your boss, your babysitter, your co-worker, your senator or your bodyguard if your life depended on him. You might not want him as your quarterback in 2008, though. But - and buts are big in bottom-line discussions - Tedford never considered replacing Longshore, and Longshore threw that game-winning scoring pass.  "We made the plays when we needed to," Tedford said. It's a cliche, almost a copout when no explanation is readily available, but it is the biggest difference between consistent losers and consistent winners. Longshore ends up looking like a poised, clutch performer, and Tedford ends up looking smart for keeping his faith in Longshore.

The bottom line is that Jahvid Best will be one of the preseason front-runners for the Heisman Trophy next fall. The fact that he rushed for 698 yards in his final three games and averaged over 8 yards a carry for the season will be repeated countless times between now and August.  What will be noted less often is that fullback Will Ta'ufo'ou is a senior and will not be back next year. No one is more aware than Best that Ta'ufo'ou's lead blocking played a major role in Best's eye-popping stats. Best needs that crack of daylight to make plays, and Ta'ufo'ou provided it. The final bottom line is that Cal wound up almost exactly where it was expected to finish. The Bears were picked to finish fourth in the Pac-10, and they finished fourth. They were ranked just outside the Top 25 in preseason polls, and they probably will finish just outside the Top 25.

Their defense, currently third nationally in takeaways, and Best got them to the 9-4 mark. Skaky quarterback play prevented anything more than expected, and that position will be the focus of the offseason. But again Tedford presented the bottom-line argument: "It's not easy to win nine games."

It's only the fifth time since 1950 Cal has won nine or more games in a season, and three of them have come in the past five years. The fact that they did it this time without a passing threat makes it rather impressive if you think about it.