The Mystery of Cal Golden Bears Football
Are Bears Choking? Or Could It Be That They're Just Not Very Good?
Once 3-0, the Golden Bears head into their bye date with a 3-2 record. Overwhelmed by Oregon, undone by USC, Cal is no longer ranked, its Pac-10 title chances are shot, and the season is a loss or two away from completely unraveling.
It wasn't so shocking that Cal lost to Oregon and Southern Cal in its last two games. The Ducks, after all, are No. 13 in the nation, and the Trojans are No. 7. What's disturbing is has how the Golden Bears lost.
The Bears were outscored 72-6. They managed a grand total of zero touchdowns. Their quarterback Kevin Riley completed only 37 percent of his passes. Their star running back, Jahvid Best, rushed for over 100 yards, but needed both games to do it. Their highly touted defense got shoved around mercilessly.
So what's going on? Is Cal a talented team that's not playing up to its potential? Or were the Bears just being made out to be a lot better than they actually are?
A case can certainly be made for the latter. Cal started 2-0 by beating up mediocre Maryland and FCS school Eastern Washington. In their third game, the Bears defeated a pretty decent Minnesota team on the road, 35 21, but the Golden Gophers exposed some of Cal's weaknesses.
Perhaps most notably, they showed that Best could be stopped. The running back made huge headlines by scoring all five of his team's touchdowns in that game, but what people seemed to forget was that he was shut down in the second half.
His final two TDs were both 2-yard runs, and they only happened after Riley completed a couple of big passes. Riley failed to hit such throws against the sturdier defenses of Oregon and USC – even when they were stacked up to stop Best.
Riley Taking Most of Heat for Cal's Struggles
Riley has been the main object of scorn over Cal's defeats, and his recent passing statistics do bear that out. He was 12-for-31 for 123 yards in the 42-3 loss at Oregon, and 15-for-40 in the 30-3 defeat vs. USC.
The senior happens to be more of a game manager than a playmaker. If the running game's working, and there's time to throw, he can be very effective. Give him a double-digit deficit, a hefty pass rush and the responsibility of carrying an offense, things go awry.
Yet everything can't be blamed on Riley. The Cal offensive line has been getting whipped. And the Bears have yet to establish a consistent receiving threat.
Cal's Top Offensive Threats Play Same Position
Other then Best, the only other Cal offensive player who really scares anybody is Shane Vereen, who happens to play the same position as Best.
Both are good receivers as well as talented runners Best is tied for the team lead in receptions with 11, Vereen has eight, and each have one TD reception – which is as good as any of the wide receivers.
So a logical objective for coach Jeff Tedford and offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig would be finding a way to keep both Best and Vereen into the lineup at the same time. If there's one thing Cal needs, it's another offensive weapon.
But even if the Bears ignite the offense, will they be able to stiffen a defense that's been trampled for 971 yards in the last two games?
Bears Fail to Make Big Stops
Cal was unit was cut up by both Oregon and USC, the latter managing a season-high 283 passing yards. Some of the woes can be blamed on the Cal's offensive problems, which kept the defense on the field for long stretches. But the Bears didn't make many big stops, either.
USC and Oregon were a combined 13-for-30 on third-down conversions for a healthy 43 percent clip. Before that, Cal's opponents had been converting only 31 percent of their third downs.
Much had been expected from a veteran Cal defense, which returned standouts like lineman Tyson Alualu, linebacker Mike Mohamed and cornerback Syd'Quan Thompson from last year's team.
But last year's defense was only good, not great. And as a team, the Bears were 9-4 – which is good, but not great. It wasn't like they were contending for the national title. Their season was, in fact, widely considered a disappointment.
Cal Is Not a Top 10 Level Team – Not Yet
Returning a lot of starters from a 9-4 campaign doesn't automatically mean a team is going to win 11 or 12 the next season. That's what pollsters forgot when they ranked Cal so high early in the campaign.
The Bears are basically at the same level they were last season – pretty good, but not Top 10 good. They're a talented team that probably could have used a few more games of fine tuning, but had the misfortune of having to play Oregon and USC back to back early in the season.
The Ducks and the Trojans are two of the nation's best teams, and Cal can still join that group, too. If the Bears win their remaining seven games, they'll be 10-2, with a chance to tack another victory in a bowl game. That would be notable improvement from 2008.
And it is possible. There are certainly tough matchups, but their most difficult two-game stretch of the season is over. All the Golden Bears can do now is move forward; starting with their Oct. 17 game at UCLA.
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