John Crumpacker
Although he showed up for fall camp with his hair styled to resemble the curious cant of celebrated green cartoon icon Gumby, Cameron Jordan has his serious face on as he prepares for his senior football season at Cal. "I want to wreak havoc in the backfield," Jordan said. The benign and flexible Gumby, meanwhile, was not known to have wreaked any havoc in his career. From his defensive end position in Cal's 3-4 defense, much is expected of Jordan in 2010, now that the star of the Bears' defensive line, Tyson Alualu, has moved on to the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars after posting 65 total tackles (11 1/2 for losses), 7 1/2 sacks, three passes batted down and two forced fumbles last season.
"That's a whole bunch of tackles to make up for," said Jordan, built along the lines of Weight Room Gumby at 6-foot-4 and 283 pounds. "It gives me room to step up. I'm definitely going to better my stats this year. I want to become a better defensive end." In 2009, Jordan had 48 total tackles (22 solo, 9 1/2 for losses), six sacks and one fumble recovered. As a group, Cal's defense is excited about the aggressive mandate of new coordinator Clancy Pendergast, taking over for the more cautious Bob Gregory, now at Boise State. "It's a lot more blitzing, more aggressive," Jordan said. "I'm definitely enjoying it. Blitzing four or five (players), it frees me up for one-on-one. If I get one-on-one, I'm happy. The more people you blitz, the more the offensive line has to worry about."
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