Worst Opponent QB Performances in the Tedford Era

"For the second goddamn time, that was a Bear, not a Bruin!"

In an off season with some serious questions for a rebuilding Cal secondary, I thought I’d indulge myself a bit by looking at some of the best secondary performances during the Tedford Era.

But as I began building my list, I realized it wasn’t always the secondary that was responsible for some miserable opponent quarterback outings. Linebackers came up with huge interceptions, forced turnovers, and some times it was the Bears’ defensive line that would come up big with creating pressure.

And quite frankly, some times opposing QBs just had really, really bad days.

So I thought it’d be a bit more entertaining to look at some of the worst outings by opposing quarterbacks while Tedford’s been the head coach for the Bears. And by worst, I mean pure ineptness whether by just their standards or on an objective quarterback rating level.

[Note: I didn’t include performances by FCS quarterbacks in this discussion, because…well c’mon.]

#5 - Greg Cicero (Baylor) 2002
On August 31, 2002, the Tedford era at Cal started off with a bang. Baylor QB Greg Cicero just happened to be stuck in the crossfire.

The sixth year senior had battled his way back up the depth chart to get the starting nod against the Bears who had gone 1-10 the previous season.

Cicero’s first pass of the game was intercepted by James Bethea, which promptly led to a Golden Bears score. Despite finishing 6-9 for 64 yards, his other two incompletions would both be interceptions returned back for touchdowns. One of the more memorable ones came when Cicero’s goal line pass bounced off Baylor receiver Shane Williams’ hands and into the arms of Cal linebacker Matt Nixon who returned 100 yards for the score.

Cicero would eventually get benched in favor of Aaron Karas, who fared much better, going 14-27 for 211 yards, but also got picked off as well, bringing the Golden Bears’ interception number up to 4 for the day.

#4 Andrew Luck (Stanford) 2009
This was a tough one to figure out. Sure the numbers were lousy with the heralded freshman having completed just 10 of his attempted 30 passes for 157 yards. But on a pure statistical level, a number of quarterbacks have fared far worse against the Bears during the past several years.

It is my contention that Luck coming in at fourth on this list is because it had been a while since I’ve seen a quarterback be as ineffective as Luck was in comparison to what he was capable of.

Let’s face it, Luck was in the freshman of the year discussion in his first year as the Cardinal signal caller and had been crisp and efficient in most of his previous outings.

But put him into his first rivalry game experience, even in his own home stadium, and Luck sure looked rattled.

He was largely ineffective, much of it due to the pressure the Bears were able to get on the freshman, despite not recording any sacks.

In my Big Game Recap last year, I wrote, “…the Bears did a great job of flushing Andrew Luck out of the pocket, and generally disrupting his rhythm. On a number of occasions, you could tell he threw the ball much earlier than he or his receivers wanted, because he felt the pressure coming. One might recall a specific play that Luck tried to zip the ball to Toby Gerhart on 3rd down because he was trying to avoid the sack. Gerhart hadn't even turned around his head.”

Luck’s biggest gaffe came though, when the Cardinal had marched down the field late in the game, largely on the shoulders of Stanford RB Toby Gerhart, and had the potential game winning TD in sight. Luck missed a wide open receiver in the middle of the field though, and ended up getting picked off by Cal linebacker Mike Mohammed to seal the win for the Bears.

Epic Fail.


#3 Rudy Carpenter (Arizona State) 2006
Rudy Carpenter had to have come in to Memorial Stadium feeling pretty good. Carpenter had beaten out incumbent quarterback Sam Keller for the starting QB position in a controversial and tumultuous battle that would eventually help lead to both head coach Dirk Koetter and Keller’s departure from the school.

But to hell with that, it was now the Carpenter show. And why not?

Carpenter had one of the best freshman seasons ever in the Pac-10, posting gaudy numbers, a stellar QB rating, and an impressive 17-2 TD to interception ratio. Things were looking good for Rudy.

But it was a far different story for Carpenter at Memorial Stadium that year. Despite starting well by tossing a halfback screen to Ryan Torrain for a touchdown on the Sun Devils’ opening drive, the rest of the game would be a near nightmare for the sophomore QB.

Carpenter was hassled by Cal’s defense for much of the game, getting sacked five times on the day, and fumbling twice as a result of hits by Cal linebacker Zack Follett (an experience he would relive again a few years later).

His production in the air was also migraine inducing, throwing four interceptions, including an acrobatic over the shoulder pick by Syd'Quan Thompson (shake those dreads!). Carpenter could be visibly seen throwing his hands up in the air after that interception in a sign of complete exasperation. It was as if he were saying, “You freaking kidding me?”

Two of Carpenter’s interceptions would be returned from scores, most notably one in which Cal cornerback Daymeion Hughes evaded defenders and ended up hurdling and horse kicking Carpenter on his way into the endzone.

What a crap day.

#2 Kevin Craft (UCLA) 2008
It was a rough year for Kevin Craft. The junior college transfer found himself thrust into the starting quarterback spot after the Bruins’ top two QBs Ben Olsen and Patrick Cowan went down with season-ending injuries during camp.

Oh Craft tried all right. But it seemed that despite his best efforts he spent more time on the sidelines getting verbally reamed by Rick Neuheisel than tossing the pigskin into the endzone.

Craft hoped for a watershed moment against the Bears, but ended up getting taken to the woodshed instead.

The Bruins had a promising start after UCLA receiver Terrance Austin returned the opening kickoff to the Cal 35 yard line. But Craft nixed that idea after his first pass of the game was picked off by Marcus Ezeff at the 50 yard line.

The next drive didn’t look any better for the Bruins after two more incompletions, a false start, and a sack by Mike Mohammed. In fact, Craft wouldn’t complete a pass for the entire first quarter until his 18 yard pass and catch with Taylor Embree for a first down at the beginning of the second quarter. It looked then like Craft was starting to feel it.

A whopping two yard bullet to Kahlil Bell.

13 yards to Taylor Embree. First down!

Kevin Craft was blooming as a quarterback right before our eyes. He—nevermind, he was picked off by Ezeff again, this time with the interception going back for a 69 yard touchdown return.

Slick Rick was pissed.

You think interceptions are going to phase Kevin Craft? Hell no. Craft went right back to work completing 5 consecutive passes and driving the Bruins all the way to the Bears’ 18 yard line. Knocking at the goal line though, Craft was picked off for the third time, this time by Sean Cattouse at the 12 yard line to kill any chance at scoring.

It pretty much went on like this for the rest of the game. His coup-de grace however, was when he was picked off by Mike Mohammed for his second pick six of the game that ended any chance of a comeback late in the fourth quarter.

Craft would go on to throw two more incompletions before being yanked by backup QB Chris Forcier who threw the only touchdown of the game for Bruins on the ensuing drive. That easy, eh?

Craft finished less than 50% of his passes against the Bears, going 17/35 for 206 yards. While his yardage was a respectable number, Craft finished with no passing TDs and a whopping 4 interceptions, two of which were returning for scores. It was a miserable day for Craft and the Bruins offense that also managed only 16 net rushing yards on the day.

#1 Entire Washington State QB Depth Chart 2008
I know this isn’t fair. And probably disappointing at number one.

But it is what it is.

In the biggest blowout in Cal football history, the Bears dismantled the rebuilding Washington State Cougars (who still haven’t been rebuilt yet) in a 66-3 thrashing. WSU Coach Paul Wulff was desperately looking for some type of answer at the QB position, without burning the redshirt from talented freshman Jeff Tuel.

He would find none though, as all three quarterbacks who took the field for the Cougs that day had forgettable efforts.

Gary Rogers threw for the most yards with 78, but also only completed 10 of 21 passes, with no TDs and 2 interceptions. Rogers was also sacked twice.

Kevin Lopina tried his hand, and came away with a 3-7 performance for 32 yards and an interception and a sack.

Mark Lobbestael completed neither of his two passes, and one was picked off as well.

The final combined stat line for three quarterbacks read a dismal 13-30 for 110 yards and 4 interceptions. You just can’t beat that.

Hmm, perhaps I shouldn’t have counted Washington State in my list along with the FCS schools either.

So what did you think? Agree or disagree? I’d love to hear your thoughts.