Cal vs. USC: The big letdown
Don’t know about Hotline readers near and far, but I’m depressed about this Cal-USC situation.
I wanted it to be the game of the year in the Pac-10 and one of the two or three biggest of the year nationally. I wanted it to be the biggest game Cal’s played in a half-century.
I wanted both teams to be undefeated and ranked in the top-five. I wanted the Rose Bowl to be on the line. I wanted there to be major BCS implications. I wanted to see two Heisman candidates making their cases on national TV.
Instead, we get No. 12 against No. 24.
Instead, we the teams that were ranked No. 2 (USC) and No. 3 (Cal) in the country just over a month ago now have that many losses each — two for the Trojans and three for the Bears.
USC is tied for third in the Pac-10, still in the Rose Bowl race but not in control of its own destiny.
Cal is tied for fifth, needing so much help to get to Pasadena it’s not even worth mentioning unless the Bears win Saturday.
There’s not even a Heisman candidate on the field.
USC quarterback John David Booty was playing poorly, broke his finger and disappeared from the race.
Cal receiver DeSean Jackson … does he even play for Cal anymore? Oh, yeah — he’s the guy who seems to argue for pass interference on every play. (Half-joking on that: Jackson has had a good season with a few great moments.)
I wasn’t rooting for a Cal-USC mega-collision because I’m a fan of either team, and I wouldn’t have cared who won.
But as a fan of college football in general and a watcher/chronicler of Bay Area college football specifically, I wanted to see a game that meant EVERYTHING. Now we get a game that only means SOMETHING.
Granted, SOMETHING is not NOTHING:
It’s still Cal vs. USC, the two best programs in the Pac-10 over the past five years.
It’s still Tedford vs. Carroll, offensive wiz against defensive mastermind.
It’s still two ranked teams, still has Rose Bowl implications, still means a ton to both teams.
But SOMETHING sure ain’t EVERYTHING.
What happened? (I’ll get to the “why” in a minute.)
On Oct. 6, USC was undefeated and ranked No. 2, Cal undefeated and ranked No. 3.
That evening, the Trojans were stunned by Stanford in the greatest upset in college football history — a 40-point underdog with a rookie quarterback beat the nation’s best program on its home field, where it hadn’t lost in six years.
The following week, Cal rose to No. 2 and, after LSU lost, was hours from being No. 1. But the Bears stumbled against Oregon State when Tedford bypassed a tying field goal with 14 seconds left and backup QB Kevin Riley was tackled in-bounds, ending the game.
Then Cal lost the next week, Oct. 20, at UCLA.
Then both teams lost on Oct. 27, Cal at Arizona State, USC at Oregon.
So here they are: the Bears have three Ls, the Trojans two. And there’s still a month to go. Unreal.
Turns out, this is probably the fifth-most important game of Cal’s season, behind Tennessee, Oregon, Oregon State and UCLA. Doubly unreal.
That’s the “what happened,” but how about the “why”? In general …
Both teams have been derailed by a variety of issues, including bad breaks and opponents who turned out to be better than anyone thought when the season began.
No question, injuries to the starting quarterbacks, Booty and Nate Longshore, have played a huge role in the events. Longshore was not available against Oregon State and hasn’t fully recovered from that sprained ankle.
Booty broke the finger during the Arizona Stanford game, which contributed to his subpar performance (and USC’s five turnovers), and his replacement, Mark Sanchez, couldn’t get it done at Oregon.
It’s no coincidence that the two teams atop the Pac-10 standings, Oregon and ASU, have had healthy quarterbacks all season (except for the end of their game last weekend when Dennis Dixon went down with a minor knee injury).
I also think Carroll and Tedford and their staffs have made a blunder or two.
Carroll should have gotten Booty out of the Stanford game instead of letting him continue to play (and play poorly) with the broken finger.
Also, the Trojans did not have Sanchez as prepared to play subsequent games as they should have, given his three years in the program.
Tedford should have taken the tying field goal against Oregon State, rather than letting Kevin Riley try for the end zone with 14 seconds left and not timeouts. When two of the four outcomes of a single play (TD, INT, sack, tackle) lose the game for you, you kick.
Also, the Bears probably should have been more creative and aggressive defensively in a few of those losses.
But mostly, the mega-collision between Cal and USC is no longer possible because those things rarely materialize.
So much can go wrong over the course of two months, and there are so many potential pitfalls — especially in a tough conference like the Pac-10 — that you almost never see two undefeated teams from the same league on the second Saturday of November.
It happened last year in the Big Ten (a week later than this) with Ohio State and Michigan, but that Big Ten wasn’t as good as this Pac-10 and those teams didn’t have to go weeks without healthy starting quarterbacks.
So what we’re left with Saturday in Berkeley is an important game between two ranked rivals trying to make the most of seasons that didn’t meet expectations.
That’s not nothing. But it’s not everything.
I think every one of these pre-season “premier” matchups of this week have lost their luster:
West Virginia - Louisville
Michigan - Wisconsin
Florida - South Carolina
Arkansas - Tennessee
The Pac10 has been shaken up, but don’t forget the BigEast, BigTen, and SEC as well — its been a surprising season thus far.
Hey I’m just mad I didn’t sell my Cal-SC tickets while they were worth $1,000 each! I’m kidding, there’s no way I was going to miss this matchup. It really did have HUGE game written all over it and I was looking forward to it. Now it’s a game for the Emerald Bowl? (look away)
It’s just another unpredictable PAC 10 game. The only thing for sure in the PAC 10 is that U. of Oregon is the best team in the league & probably the best team in the country.
USC 31 Cal 17 Oregon rests this week & then runs the table. Oregon beats LSU in the National Championship Game. The End.
c’mon Eugene.
I’m not convinced Oregon is better than Cal with a healthy Longshore. I’m not sure they are better than USC with a health Booty.
Oregon caught a huge breat by playing USC at their place with Sanchez.
6 weeks ago, Oregon lost to Cal at their place with a healthy Longshore playing just 3 quarters. Cal’s demise this season was due to Longshore’s injury, his inability to heal from that by 10/13, the subsequent losses and big loss of confidence that came with that, and a shaky D (& D. coordinator Gregory) that has not improved at all during the course of the season.
Oregon’s D will give up points. It has this season and will continue to do so. Dixon can be flustered and throw picks, he did it against Cal I expect it will happen in at least 1 other game this season.
I think LSU vs. Ohio St. for the chamionship and Ohio St. winning. If Oregon gets to New Orleans I don’t see them scoring much against the Ohio St. stout D.
Go Bears but expecting a loss this weekend. The lights are shining very bright and Cal usually doesn’t play well under those conditions.
The Bears have great athletic talent and they need all the support of their fans on Saturday. They need to feel the energy of the crowd which will undoubtedly help their confidence. I am sad to see all of our half-a$$ fans and empty seats in Memorial Stadium. We have so much potential yet every game since Oregon State we have failed to fill seats with Cal fans. I think that’s a big factor for why we always choke when we get on the national stage…because we don’t have fans that will continue to support us no matter what the critics say. Unlike our rivals to the South (USC and in the SEC) Cal doesn’t have die hard fans who come to every game no matter how good or bad their team plays. Let’s change this…for the love of football!!!
I’m calling out to all the California Golden Bear fans we need every ounce of fandom you’ve got this Saturday. This is the last home game of the season. Let’s make it a W. Let’s get LOUD!! Real LOUD!! GRRRRRAHHHH!! Let’s show all those skeptics that we don’t care what they say and, most importantly, let’s show our continued support and love for the California Football program. It’s time we had some die hard fans.
Woj,
Cal’s victory over Oregon was basically a fluke. Oregon was going to tie them late in the game if not for a bonehead move. Oregon at home in overtime-no problem. Momentum had changed to the Ducks side. Oregon would have won in overtime! Ohio State will lose to Michigan.
Hey Go Bears! What are you talking about? WSU was the only game at CAL since the OSU lose. We had 54,000 fans after losing 3 straight. Even with the win, that game put people to sleep. It’s sold out this weekend! Let’s hope that the offense remembers how they played on opening day.
Can you imagine if Stanford hadn’t pulled off the miracle at USC and CAL hadn’t folded vs OSU and UCLA? The PAC10 would be the only thing that everyone in College Football would be talking about right now! ASU vs CAL would have been 2 undefeated teams on the same day that Oregon upset an undefeated and #1 ranked USC. Today we would have a 4-way tie atop the PAC10 with Oregon, USC, ASU and CAL all with a single loss and ranked in the top10. Wow! How close was this season to nirvana for the PAC10? We’d be saying … SEC? SEC? Please!
Cal had better beware of the Stanford cardinal. Several weeks ago Stanford had no chance-Now it’s probably 50-50 who will win.
Eugene - OU is great, it’s ranked high AND yet it lost to Cal straight up. There was no fluke.
The last play of the game was only to TIE the game, it wasn’t for the outright win. People seem to forget that OU didn’t “almost win” but it “almost tied” the game. Big big, difference.
For the record, Booty broke his finger in the Stanford game, not the Arizona game. Carroll left him in and he threw four interceptions.
Calbear, I love it. Dreamin, dreamin. If, if and buts were sugarcane and candycanes. It would be christmass everyday.
How would you like to play, So. Carolina, Fla., Kentucky, Auburn and Alabama in a row. Week after week. Before that play Va.Tect Strong competition.
Do you think Ohio St would be undefeated,if they played in the SEC? Better yet. do you think any team can go unbeaten playing in the SEC.
I must say, I was looking forward to the Cal-USC game.
Still think Cal can salvage the season with a win. Win out and win in the bowl game. This should be a respectable top 10 finish.
Round and round about OSU… I’m losing my cool about this…
I heartily disagree with Jon on the last play of the OSU game: With 14 secs left, you throw to the endzone or away at least once. It’s massively better than just settling for OT. Bird in the hand versus two in the bush. Riley just made a dumb rookie mistake, and Tedford screwed up by not getting in his ear ahead of time and warning him about that dumb rookie mistake possibility. Oh, and has anyone forgot that for OSU, like the rest of the season, WE DIDN’T HAVE OUR KICKER?
If anything, our defense lost that game by letting OSU get ahead by 10 points. I’m sick of Bob Gregory and his risk-it-all-on-the-offense ‘bend but don’t break’ defensive “philosophy.” Memo to Bob: IT’S NOT WORKING.
Oh and Eugene, you’re right that Oregon is great and all, and I personally would love to see them in the NC game (but against LSU in Louisiana? Ouch), but I have to agree with Milo: the Ducks were only going for the tie. Sure the advantage would have been to Oregon for OT, but OT’s never guaranteed (which is also why I think it was right not to kick for OT against OSU). We’ll never know, because it didn’t work out that way, and that’s football. At least Cal fans can sympathetize with you, have lost their next game in a similar, down to last play gut-wrenching fashion.
Well, whatever, it ain’t for the NC, but I’ll be at Memorial this Saturday, screaming my bloody head off for the Bears, no matter how far up or down they get.
Eugene-
You are losing credibility fast when you say the Cal-Stanford game is a 50-50 proposition. I expect Cal will win on many merits, better coaching, better players, better scemes especially offensively, etc.
I’d expect the Ducks to lose to Oregon St. before Cal loses to Stanford. Dixon could easily throw 3 or 4 picks in that game. He did it against Cal and Ore. St. has a better D than does Cal.
Cal beat Oregon straight up in your pond. ESPN was there with your legions of fans too. Predicting Stanford over Cal this year calls into questions anything you’ve said to date. Go Bears.
Woj,
I’m sure USC didn’t really think they were going to lose to Stanford either. Wake up to the reality of a possible Stanford upset. (better coaching & better offensive schemes is a joke) I agree they do have better players. The way Cal is playing a lot of inferior teams could beat them.
PS: Knock off the credibility crap! I forgot more football than you will ever know-trust me on that!
Cal certainly has the offensive talent to compete with any team. But it appears the team lacks leadership.Why? Did Lynch provide the leadership last year which appears to be sorely lacking this year? It is also troubling that Longshore has regressed as a quarterback.Isn’t Tedford supposed to be good at developing quarterbacks?