Jake Curtis, Chronicle Staff Writer
It took Oregon State coach Mike Riley less than a second to answer the question: Is the defense's goal against Cal to force the Bears to throw the ball deep? "Yes," Riley said. The Beavers crowded the line of scrimmage, used tight man-to-man pass coverage and dared Cal to try to beat the Beavers by going over the top. Needless to say, the Bears couldn't do it in Saturday's 23-20 loss at Memorial Stadium. Cal quarterback Joe Ayoob, harried nearly every time he tried to pass, was 13-for-39 (33 percent) for 219 yards and two interceptions. More significantly, he was 2-for-11 for 15 yards in Cal's final three possessions, after the Beavers had taken a three-point lead. "I don't think I played very well when I had to," Ayoob said, "and as a result we lost." Cal coach Jeff Tedford paused a long time before responding when asked to assess his quarterback's play. "It was a very good learning experience, I'm sure," he said finally. "We need to be sharper at quarterback." The Bears' disappointing passing performance came against an Oregon State team that ranked last among all 119 Division I-A teams in passing defense. That's primarily because the Beavers yielded so many long passes, also ranking last nationally in yards allowed per completion (16.3). "We thought we could throw the ball downfield," Ayoob said. So did Tedford. Riley was willing to find out.
"The thing you have to do is stop the run against them or you don't have a chance," Riley said. Cal ranked fifth nationally in rushing before Saturday, averaging 271.2 yards a game. However, the Bears rushed for just 75 yards against the Beavers, their lowest rushing total since Oct. 18, 2003, against UCLA. Cal's leading rusher, Marshawn Lynch, had just 58 yards, ending a streak of 18 consecutive games in which Cal had a 100-yard rusher. Lynch, who lost two fumbles, didn't play in the second half. "They almost made us a one-dimensional team," Ayoob said. Tedford's multifaceted offense never had been one-dimensional, until Saturday. Having no running game makes things tough on a quarterback. It's even harder when he's banged up, and Ayoob finished the game with injuries to his shoulder, knee and ankle, although he refused to blame his problems on that. It's also difficult when field position is so poor, as it was for Cal in the fourth quarter, and when your offensive line has so many players out with injuries. Three starting linemen missed significant time Saturday, and what had been the offense's biggest asset was suddenly a liability. Oregon State blitzed on nearly every play, putting Ayoob under constant pressure. "They were bringing guys from everywhere, the sides, the middle, the sidelines, everywhere," Cal center Marvin Philip said. The pressure produced mistakes, and the Bears committed five turnovers, the most since Tedford arrived at Cal four years ago. "We were lucky to even be in the game with five turnovers," Ayoob said. With Nate Longshore out for the season, Cal has no alternative to Ayoob. There is still hope Tedford can make progress with Ayoob, whose 50-percent completion rate is the lowest among Pac-10 starting quarterbacks. It may be instructive to note that Aaron Rodgers also had a horrible game against Oregon State in his first season as a Cal starter, completing 9-of-34 passes for a measly 54 yards and an interception. That was two years ago and was the last time Cal lost at home before Saturday. The next time he faced Oregon State, Rodgers went 12-for-16 with three touchdown passes in a 49-7 rout last season.
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