USC Recap

“Everyone understands what a special group they have on defense,” Tedford said. “You can’t beat yourself in situations, have penalties, get a touchdown called back, especially when you play a defense like that.”

Tedford’s quote pretty much encapsulates everything there is to say about Saturday’s game, so I’ll leave it at that.

…

Alright, I’ll throw in a few more thoughts, although Coach Tedford said most of what there was to say. I said last week that Cal would have to play its best game of the season in order to pull out the upset against the Trojans, and Saturday’s effort was far from perfection.

I’m not going to throw out any inane comments about how Saturday’s game was a game we SHOULD have won. The truth is, there was a reason why USC was favored to win that game, and win it by a lot. They feature the most athletic players, and some of the best coaching staffs in the country. They remain in discussion of being one of the top teams deserving of being the national title hunt discussion.

With that having been said, Cal was absolutely capable of winning that game yesterday. The game was never really out of reach until the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. Moreover, Cal had plenty of opportunities on which they were never able to capitalize. However, there were too many mistakes, too many penalties, too many questionable play calls, and an overall lack of cohesion of offense that squandered whatever chances Cal had to win that game despite a strong defensive and special teams performance.

A few thoughts:

Offense Catches up with the Bears
Whatever hopes Cal had in winning the game went down the drain as soon as it became apparent that Cal wasn’t on their game offensively. The Bears were only able to manage 165 total net yards, and were held to their lowest scoring total in…a long time.

For all intents and purposes, most of Cal’s deficiencies can be sourced back to a banged up Cal offensive line that was unable to consistently open up the holes for a running game, or consistently give their quarterbacks enough time to open it up in the air. Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen combined for just 33 yards on the ground, and both quarterbacks combined for just 138 yards.

What was most frustrating about Saturday night’s loss however wasn’t so much Cal’s struggles against USC’s premier defense. That could have been expected to a certain extent. What was the most painful to watch however, was just how often Cal shot themselves in the foot. Cal had 8 penalties for 50 yards with most of those penalties being false start penalties by the offensive line that put Cal in many third and long situations throughout the game. It’s tough enough to move the ball against USC. It’s nearly impossible when you nearly double the number of yards you have to gain to do so.

Speaking of penalties, no other play exemplified just how much Cal shot themselves in the foot than the TD pass to Vereen that was called back after Jeremy Ross lined up incorrectly on the line of scrimmage. Oy vey. Even after that play however, Cal still had a great shot at evening up the score after a pass interference penalty gave the Bears a first down on USC’s 15 yard line. Riley was intercepted in the endzone however, and that would be the closest Cal would get all night.

Cal had three different shots in the third quarter to put some points on the board. A Syd’Quan punt return to the 34 yard line and a fumble recovery in Trojans territory gave the Bears plenty of chances to put some points on the board. But the aforementioned penalties, a tough night for the Bears’ offensive line, and lack of cohesion in the passing game prevented any of that from the get go.


Defense Should Be Proud
I know my saying this isn’t going to help anyone on Cal’s defense feel any better today, but Cal’s defense should be proud of themselves today. Those guys played their hearts out and matched up with one of the elite teams in the country. While some media pundits will talk about USC’s inconsistency on offense, Cal showed they were up to the task of stopping USC from going buck wild on them, and held USC to just 10 points until the closing minutes of the game.

By the way, that was not a TD catch. Shame on the officiating team for not reviewing the play. You also would have hoped that someone from the coaching staff in the booth could have caught that a tad sooner.

Anyway, I digress.

Sure, it was hardly the defense’s best showing of the season, and some sloppy tackling contributed to USC racking up 411 total yards, which is never anything to write home about. Still, the defense was the sole reason Cal was still in the game late into the fourth quarter by preventing one of the nation’s top scoring offenses from putting up too many points.

I was particularly encouraged by how Cal stiffened up when USC got in Cal’s territory and on third down, keeping the Trojans to subpar 4-11 conversion rate. It may not always have been fun to watch, but holding the Trojans to 17 points was still a win for this defense. Again, not that this provides any solace for the team.

Longshore vs. Riley
Sigh. I don’t even know what more to really say about this. Is there still a QB Controversy? Blah. I guess. I don’t know. I really wish it were a case where both QBs were playing really well, with one QB just playing that much better. Unfortunately this isn’t it.

Longshore played better than Riley. But in all honestly, neither played very well. Longshore went 11-15 for 79 yards. Longshore’s stat sheet looks better than his performance would indicate, with two interceptions negated due to USC penalties. However, the offense while at times stagnant, was still efficient and able to move—at times.

Riley went 4-16 for 59 yards and an interception. While the offense appeared to be a bit more explosive with Riley in, he did miss appear his receivers on a number of occasions. While there were a number of drops, several of those were on Riley as much as they were on the receivers, with Riley overleading his receivers, or throwing behind them right into a crushing hit. Riley was also sacked 3 times during the game.

The QB switch made some sense, I suppose. Longshore wasn’t playing too poorly, but with USC’s pass rush, you obviously wanted a more mobile QB back there. However, it’s hard to imagine that Nate would have played that much poorly than Riley in the second half. Regardless, it’s a lot easier to talk about the right time to have made a switch (if at all) in hindsight. Not sure either QB could have really gotten the job if they had a full game under their belt, but it’s tough not knowing for sure.


Tough Loss but Looking Ahead…
No one will deny that this was a tough loss. Again, it wasn’t so much the fact that Cal lost, but how they lost, with many missed opportunities.

However, now isn’t the time to begin moping or for a fan base to write off a season simply because the Rose Bowl is again out of the team’s grasp. The Bears face a tough and very confident Oregon State team this upcoming weekend for second place in the conference and a very respectable Holiday Bowl, which will undoubtedly match them up with a highly ranked Big 12 team (Oklahoma State, Missouri, or Oklahoma anyone?).

The Bears are still searching for an identity on offense. Considering how banged up the offensive line is, I’m not sure where to begin. Playing with better discipline and avoiding any costly penalties is a start. But Cal will need to reestablish a running game that has gone into hiding the previous two games, and developing some chemistry in the passing game.

Otherwise this “tough loss” feeling will turn into a gut-wrenching one very soon.