By Scott Wolf, Staff writer
Maybe if Aaron Rodgers needed surgery to remove tissue in his throwing elbow last January instead of Matt Leinart, California would feature a veteran quarterback while USC started a newcomer. Instead, Rodgers is a reserve with the Green Bay Packers while Leinart makes his 36th career start today. If that turn of events wasn't enough to deflate what many thought would be No. 1-ranked USC's most dangerous game of the season, another blow occurred on Sept. 4, when Golden Bears quarterback Nate Longshore broke his leg in the season opener. Longshore's departure threw Cal's future into the hands of junior college transfer Joe Ayoob, who threw 10 consecutive incompletions after replacing Longshore and proved that Bears coach Jeff Tedford is mortal when it comes to immediately transforming quarterbacks.
"He has been up and down, he has had some rough times," Tedford said. "He has come out some games and done a nice job, it was great to see how he brought us back during the Washington State game, he threw two late touchdown passes to pull off the win. "He is still progressing and still learning, it is a hard situation in his first year in the Pac-10, playing great defenses and getting used to the speed of the game and a new offense and all those kinds of things. Each week is a new lesson for him. Consistency is something he is still striving for." So is Cal (6-3, 3-3), which lost three of its past four games, and limps into today's game at Memorial Stadium as a much less imposing opponent than it appeared in August. The biggest problem is Ayoob's inability to quickly adapt to Division I football. Tedford turned Kyle Boller into a first-round pick and made a seamless transition with Rodgers, another JC transfer who stepped in and beat USC in one of his first college starts.
But Ayoob has hardly been a success story, with 10 interceptions in 10 games and a dreadful 10-for-26 performance for only 88 yards against Oregon last weekend. "He has been forced into it, to have to play," USC coach Pete Carroll said diplomatically. "But he has done a nice job with this opportunity being new to the program." Conversely, Carroll has got no worries offensively with Leinart 703 yards ahead of last season's pace (2,771 overall). The Heisman Trophy winner has completed 66 of 88 passes in USC's past three games with 11 touchdowns and one interception.
On top of that, USC (9-0, 6-0) adds tailbacks Reggie Bush and LenDale White along with wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett, making it hard to imagine another Strawberry Canyon upset. "I feel like I play my best football in hostile environments," Bush said. "Everyone is against us and you just have a small section of fans for us. We always want to shut the crowd up early, unless it's our crowd." Although Cal held USC to 23 points last season, it will be challenged to repeat that feat today.
"Our defensive coordinator did a nice job of game planning (last year), but you're never going to stop them," Tedford said. "You just hope to control them in some way. USC is more powerful this year. It is going to be a big test to try to control them or at least try to slow them down a little bit."
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