Matt Zenitz
The Golden Bears have won five bowl games in Tedford’s seven years as head coach, posting two 10-win seasons over that span. Now, Cal hopes to take the next step. The Golden Bears haven’t won the Pac 10 or received a major bowl invite since 1958, but the expectations are as high as ever that this could be the year they break through and make a run at the BCS. It all starts with Saturday night’s season opener against Maryland. California comes into the season ranked 12th in the country and was picked to finish second in the Pac 10, behind only USC.
“I know it’s a cliché but it really is week to week,” Tedford said. “It’s not really the long term [I worry about], it’s really the short term. So, first and foremost is Maryland, and that’s the only thing on our mind.” Aside from obviously wanting to start off the season on the right foot, the Golden Bears have a score to settle with the Terrapins after last year’s 35-27 loss in College Park. While the Terrapins are a much different team this time around, returning just nine starters from last year, California is pretty much the same, only with a year more experience. “We have the potential to be a great football team and this first game is going to be a true test,” said Golden Bears quarterback Kevin Riley, who threw for 423 yards and three touchdowns in last year’s loss to Maryland.
“Maryland’s a good team,” he added. “It’s going to be a game that comes down to the fourth quarter and we’ve just got to be ready to play.” While Riley had some success through the air against the Terrapins, running back Jahvid Best was kept in check, rushing for a meager 25 yards on 10 carries, his lowest output of the season. Despite the numbers, it was actually California’s passing game that held the offense back from reaching Its potential in 2008. Excluding the Maryland game, Riley completed just 48 percent of his passes last season.
Meanwhile, the speedy Best scampered for a Pac-10 best 1,580 yards, averaging 8.1 yards per carry with 16 total touchdowns. Best’s backup, Shane Vereen, also proved to be a capable playmaker, rushing for 715 yards and four touchdowns in limited action. With the running game in place, the pressure is on Riley and a talented but unproven group of receivers to provide a threat through the air, in order to keep defenses from loading up to stop Best and the Golden Bears’ ground attack. If last year’s game is any indication, however, Riley has the capability to make the Terrapins’ defense pay if it over-commits to stopping the run. “I think in camp we’ve worked hard on improving our passing game,” Riley said, “and getting a little balance to our offense, to open up some holes for Jahvid and Shane Vereen.
“We have great athletes on the field and they’ll make plays. You’ve got to concentrate on our run game pretty hard so when that pass does come, there’s always a chance for a big play.” Combining the offense’s potential with a talented and experienced defense, Riley and Tedford know that the talent is in place for a run at the BCS. However, instead of focusing on long-term goals, California is first focusing on a little payback and on using Maryland as a springboard into what it hopes will be a breakthrough 2009 season. “We can play better than we played last year at their place,” Tedford said. “It comes down to how we’ve prepared, how we execute, how we hang onto the football.”
Said Riley: “We’ve got big expectations for our team this year. We’ll see. That first game, we’re going to see how [good] each team is.”
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