Stockton Record: Ayoob rattled, ready to roll?

Bob Highfill

Record Staff Writer

Joe Ayoob sat slumped in a metal chair dressed in a striped shirt and slacks. His forehead had been rubbed raw by the padding inside his helmet and his eyes were bloodshot. The junior quarterback at Cal spoke quietly to reporters and sounded as unsure about himself as he appeared to be on the field following the Bears' 35-10 loss to No. 1 USC last Saturday at sold-out Memorial Stadium. "There's no excuse for that game at all when you miss passes early," Ayoob said. "You've got to keep playing and fighting." Ayoob was confused and erratic against the Trojans' improving defense. Back-to-back poor performances have taken a toll on his confidence. He will try to snap out of his slump Saturday in the 108th Big Game at Stanford 5-4, 4-3 Pac-10. "My confidence is a little shaken," he said. "But you have to put everything in the past behind you and look to the future." Ayoob's future for the remainder of the season wasn't clear after his dreadful performance. Cal coach Jeff Tedford hinted that he might start Steve Levy against the Cardinal. "We'll make that decision this week," Tedford said after his team lost for the fourth time in the past five games. "We have to evaluate everything and see how that goes." Ayoob completed 9 of 19 passes for 98 yards with no touchdowns and four interceptions against the Trojans. In the Bears' previous game against Oregon, Ayoob competed 10 of 26 passes for 88 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions. He has thrown six touchdowns and 11 interceptions over his past four games, and Cal ranks last in the Pac-10 in passing offense. "When you start pressing, like it was obvious when it started happening, that becomes a confidence issue," Tedford said. "He's very competitive and very tough, but we need to work harder on fundamentals to hopefully get his confidence back." Tedford said Ayoob's footwork must improve, that he isn't standing tall in the pocket and setting his feet. "When things aren't going right, the best thing is going back to fundamentals," said Tedford, who has groomed current NFL quarterbacks Trent Dilfer, David Carr, Joey Harrington and Kyle Boller. "We have got to work harder on trusting those fundamentals." Ayoob, the nation's top-rated junior college quarterback last season at San Francisco City College, was thrust into the starting role when freshman Nate Longshore broke his ankle in the season opener against Sacramento State. Ayoob was consoled in the locker room by his teammates after the USC game. One of his receivers, former Edison High standout Lavelle Hawkins, was quick to defend his former junior college teammate. "You can't really blame everything on Joe," Hawkins said. "There were times when Joe threw a good ball and we might have dropped it, or there were times when the line might have missed an assignment and one guy comes loose. It's hard when you have 350-pound guys coming at you trying to make a completion. It goes back to all of us. It kind of irritates me when folks keep jumping on him because it's not all his fault."