It was spitting a little rain Saturday during Trojan Warm-Up on the big stage at the Peristyle end of the Coliseum. It cleared up for the game, and, as expected, the Trojans steamrolled winless Washington. But the pre-game drizzle in LA was nothing compared to the non-stop rain in Berkeley.
Memorial Stadium was a quagmire, and despite being good weather for a Duck, the Golden Bears prevailed 26-16. This Jeff Tedford-coached Cal team is an uncharacteristically defensive-minded bunch, allowing Oregon to convert on only 5 of 23 3rd and 4th downs combined and held the Ducks to 290 total yards.
The quarterback situation for Cal is confusing. Tedford has changed starters twice and has been splitting first team practice between Senior Nate Longshore and Sophomore Kevin Riley all year. Riley has started 6 games, including Saturday, while Longshore has started 2 games. That rotation paid off when Saturday starter Riley suffered a first quarter concussion. Longshore, who has been booed plenty in his Cal career, was good enough to get it done completing 13-27 for 136 yards with a TD pass.
Not everybody in “The Bear Nation” is happy with the rotating QB situation. Columnist Lowell Cohn in the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat is not a fan of Longshore.
Longshore has a history. He is a guy who throws interceptions, and not just any interceptions. He throws a pick at the worst possible time, the pick that loses the game and breaks the Bears’ hearts. When he came into play most of the Oregon game, it’s like a live grenade took over. He could blow at any minute and leave hopes and dreams splattered all over the field.
As for Riley, he writes that, at best, he is a 2nd tier signal-caller.
You need two QBs when one is really good and the starter and you have a second banana who comes in when No.1 gets whacked. But that’s not how it works at Cal. Tedford has two No.1 QBs. Or maybe that’s not it. Maybe he has two second bananas. Or maybe it’s not that, either. He has two quarterbacks you’d label 1B. In other words, he does not have a legit starter and although he tries to play past that fact, it is a serious flaw in a football team.
Cal is now #21 in the BCS, and they have been successful mostly because of their defense, 23rd nationally (USC is #1), and the Bears are especially good against the pass with the 3rd-best pass efficiency defense. As a team, the Bears lead the nation in interceptions with 17, and Freshman Sean Cattouse and Junior Syd-Quan Thompson have 3 apiece. In 5 of 8 games this year, Tedford’s defense has held opponents to less than 300 yards.
The star of that Bear defense is Senior LB Zack Follett who is the school’s career leader in sacks, tackles for loss and forced fumbles. He had 11 tackles and 3 tackles for loss against Oregon. Sophomore LB Mike Mohamed leads the team in tackles with 59, and he registered 14 against the Ducks. Sophomore DE Cameron Jordan added 10 tackles with 3 for a loss on that sloppy field.