Emerald Bowl Recap

(According to Emerald Bowl Director Cavalli, this trophy weight 90 pounds.)

Hey all, sorry for the delay in getting the Emerald Bowl recap. The last few days have been a bit non-stop, and I needed a good full day to recover from the Bowl game.

But Cal fans who were in the Bay Area over the weekend were in for a real treat in terms of bowl festivities and having a bowl game right here in the Bay. It brought a tear to my eye to see so many Cal fans take over San Francisco at once. Sniff.

The game itself was a fun to watch, despite the lack of offensive production by either team through most of second and third quarters. The game was also probably an example of a game where either team was probably thinking, “We should have killed that team.” Really, a handful of plays could have swung the game sharply in either direction.

Cal fans were most likely ready to lament the Bears’ inability to punch the ball in from the one-yard line, the questionable running into the kicker penalty, or Tavecchio’s missed field goal late in the game. Miami fans on the other hand were almost certainly equally distressed with Harris’ interception and late fumble that led to Cal’s winning score.

Naturally, as a Cal blogger, I fall under the camp of belief that Cal probably should have won by a bit more, especially had we had a more consistent passing game, but I did think going into the game that we would win by 6, so I wasn’t too much off the mark with the Bears’ touchdown victory.

Let’s get to a few points.

Best is yet to come?
What more can be said about the conference’s leading rusher? Jahvid Best has been absolutely spectacular, particularly in the second half of this season. And he was in prime form on Saturday, running through, around, and most often right by Miami defenders. Best was the most consistent offensive attack for the Bears, rushing for 186 yards on just 20 carries and two touchdowns.

Anyone else even think that number is a bit low compared to what Best has done in recent weeks? Yeah, it’s become THAT ridiculous.

("Heisman? We're aiming for the National Championship!")

The difference this time is that Miami was a legitimate defense. While giving up big yardage on the ground in the closing games of the season, the Canes were certainly no Stanford or Washington, and it’s impressive to consider what Best was able to do on the ground against Miami.

I’ll cover this a bit more when I do some end of the year review posts, but I have seen very few backs able to make the kind of cuts at the speed at which Best runs. It’s a constant ankle breaking fest out there. Best has that ability to make opposing defenses look silly. Great for the Bears, trouble for everyone else.


Longshore’s Long Day
There’s not much about Nate Longshore’s performance last night that would get too many Cal fans very excited. Longshore was shaky for most of the evening, often missing a number of open receivers on a handful of passes. Longshore finished the day with a pedestrian 10-21 passing for 121 yards and a touchdown.

One has to give credit to the Miami defense. I don’t think many fans expected the ‘Canes to be as fast as they were. Passing lanes closed quickly, pressure came early and often, and receivers had difficulty getting open. Despite that, the offensive stagnation for most of the game was the result of Longshore’s struggles connecting with his receivers, missing on a few critical passes that would have kept drives alive.

At the same time, Longshore avoided any back breaking turnovers, and never gave up costly yardage on any sacks, other than tripping over his right guard’s foot at the goal line.

With that said, I thought it was a bit interesting to note the way Nate finished his career at Cal. For all of the knocks against Longshore and his fourth quarter TD:INT ratio, Longshore’s final collegiate career pass was the game winner in the closing minutes of his final bowl game. Who would have called that at the beginning of the season?

Way to go Nate.

Defense Tells the Story of the Season
Much like the rest of season, Cal’s defense stepped up and kept Cal alive through most of the game. The Bears held Miami to 17 points, and 313 total yards while also forcing two turnovers.

On the ground, the Canes were held to 119 net rushing yards, averaging just 3.7 yards per carry. No Miami player gained more 63 yards on the ground or rush for any scores.

Cal gave up a few more passing yards however with 194, with both scores coming through the air. However, with Miami having attempted 41 passes, Cal’s secondary did an admirable job holding the Canes to just 4.7 yards per attempt and did a fantastic job breaking up passes, and generally disrupting the passing game.

The defensive star of the game was very clearly Zack Follett who had a monster day recording nine tackles, 4 for a loss, and two sacks including the game changing play late in the game in which Follett rushed passed Miami’s right tackle to clobber Miami’s QB Jacory Harris, forcing the fumble which DE Cameron Jordan recovered at the two yard line.


It was a great way for the senior to finish his star-studded career at Cal, and his performance moved him into first in the conference for tackles for a loss at 23. Oregon’s Nick Reed would need 3.5 tonight against Oklahoma State to unseat Follett from the top spot.

O-Line and FB Dominance
Credit has to be given to Cal’s offensive line which dominated the line of scrimmage. The Bears didn’t allow a single sack, and paved the way for 217 total rushing yards. Watch any of Best’s runs again in slow motion and you’ll see the line completely take over and pave huge holes for the Best and Vereen.

I was particularly impressed with RT Donovan Edwards who has made some pretty big strides since being abused during the Oregon State game. Edwards demonstrated some nice athleticism in moving laterally by pancaking some Miami defenders on a number of halfback passes. Will Tau’fo’ou also was his reliable dominant self, as you could see him visibly destroy a few defenders on a handful of rushes.

Goodbye 2008

Overall, one had to feel good about the win. It wasn’t as much of a dominant victory as some would have hoped, considering the proximity of the game’s venue, but it was an exciting, solid win over an up and coming team of great national recognition.

You could tell the entire team as well as its coaching staff was as genuinely excited as I have ever seen them be after a Cal win, and why not? Hopefully, the game goes a long way to cementing the forward momentum the program has going into the 2009 season, in terms of team chemistry and confidence, as well as recruiting efforts. Those in attendance had an opportunity to watch the Bears play a classic in front of an essentially home crowd, with a chance to send the senior class off as winners. You can’t ask for much more.

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Bear Bits: Longshore Starting, SF Mayor Wager, Weather Forecast

Nate Longshore Named Starter

If you haven't already heard the news (which last time I checked was being displayed on ESPN's News Ticker), Nate Longshore has been named the starter for tomorrow's Emerald Bowl Matchup against the Miami Hurricanes.

Tedford has stated that Longshore is finally healthy, after injuring his shoulder at the Oregon game, and has been having as good of a two weeks of practice as he's had all year.

HydroTech over at CGB reports seeing Kevin Riley walking with a noticeable limp, so let the conspiracy theories in the triangle that is the QB situation with Tedford, Longshore, Riley (Mansion still says hello) commence.

Either way, it's looking unlikely that Riley will get much playing time based off any such reports, and any comments by Tedford, so most Bears fans will have to get ready to root on Nate and the Bears.

Mayor-to-Mayor Wager

SF Mayor Gavin Newsom has made a friendly wager with Miami's mayor over tomorrow's game's outcome.  Newsom is putting some Napa wine and sourdough bread on the line, while Miami's mayor is throwing up...oranges.

Yippee ki yay.

How about something fun like exporting all the homeless people from the winning team's city to the losing team's city for a year?  

Weather Forecast

After raining heavily all week, Bears fans should be in store for a dry game.  While there is still a small chance of rain, let's all hope the football gods are Cal fans tomorrow.  As much as the Oregon game was fun, I can really only do that once a year.

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Emerald Bowl Statistical Breakdown

vs.

Typically, I do a “simple” Keys to the Game Feature when breaking down an upcoming Cal game. Since we have a little bit more time before the bowl, I thought I’d do a comparison, primarily statistical, with Cal and Miami. I may still do Keys to the Game feature later in the week, but you know, with it being the Holidays and all, well you know.

Opposites on Defense
Miami is an incredibly young team, featuring a plethora of true and redshirt freshmen as starters, with the general theme being “we’ve got the potential to be great next year.”

Both Cal and Miami have posted some similar numbers on the defensive side of the ball. Miami has 82 tackles for a loss on the year versus Cal’s 80. Miami also has 30 sacks on the year against Cal’s 33.

Overall, UM finished 24th in the nation total defense, giving up 313.2 yards per game, while California finished just behind the ‘Canes at 25th in the nation with 315.4 yards per game.

That’s about where the similarities end though.

Miami finished 56th in country, and second to last in the ACC conference in scoring defense giving up 24.2 points per game.

Cal on the other hand, gave up on average 20.2 points per game, good for 26th in the nation and 2nd best in their conference.

Struggling Secondary
Miami’s secondary only notched 4 interceptions on the year, tying Fresno State for last among 118 schools. However, the ‘Canes pass defense was ranked 13th nationally, only giving up 169.3 yards per game through the air.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Cal’s secondary was content to give up a number of yards through the air, finishing 42nd in the country with 192.9 passing yards per game. However, the same secondary finished the regular season 3rd in the nation in interceptions with 23, the best mark in over 55 years for the Bears.

If the disparity in interceptions wasn’t shocking enough for you, the most striking difference between the two secondaries is the difference in passing efficiency defense. While Miami posted a decent 117.75 rating (42nd nationally), Cal’s secondary was the 5th best in the nation in this category, posting a low 97.06 rating on the year.

(Oski's better.)

Rush Defense
Miami’s defense faltered heavily down the stretch this past season, particularly in the running game. After winning five consecutive games in October through November, the Hurricanes gave up a whopping 691 rushing yards in their final two losses to Georgia Tech and NC State.

Miami’s rushing defense finished the regular season ranked 70th in the country, and 8th in the ACC, surrendering 143.83 yards per game on the ground, giving up 3.73 YPC.

Miami’s last two performances make it interesting to see how their rush defense will match up against a Cal rushing offense that put up a gaudy 718 yards and 7 touchdowns in their final two games against Stanford and Washington. Jahvid Best alone had 512 of those yards and 6 touchdowns.

On the flip side of the ball, Cal’s rush defense is ranked 26th in the country, and 3rd in their conference, only giving up 122.5 rushing yards per game for a 3.17 YPC average.


Similarities on Offense
At an initial glance, both teams offensive statistics would indicate that teams are fairly different on offense. Cal features the nation’s 22nd most potent offense, averaging 33.3 PPG. Conversely, Miami ranks 47th with 27.9 PPG on the year. Miami is also ranked 88th in the country in total offense with just 327.1 yards per game, while Cal fared a bit better at 45th in the country with 379.2 yards per contest.

However, on the offensive side of the ball, both teams actually share a number of similarities in terms of personnel situations and specific unit production.

Not to be outdone by Cal’s swapping back and forth between RS Soph Kevin Riley and senior Nate Longshore, Miami rotated two quarterbacks throughout the season: RS Frosh Robert Marve and true freshman Jacory Harris. While Marve has started every game this season, Harris has come in on a handful of drives each game. Marve has been suspended for the bowl game due to missing far too many classes, so look for Harris to play most, if not all of the game.

These QB rotations have resulted in Miami, like Cal, putting up similarly mediocre passing numbers this year. Miami is ranked 76th in the nation with 197.0 passing yards per game, with a 118.54 passer efficiency rating. Cal follows just behind them in passing yards, ranking 78th with 195.5 yards per game, but a slightly higher 121.08 rating.

The biggest difference between the two passing games though, is the TD:INT ratio, with Miami going an eyebrow-raising 20:19, and Cal featuring a far better ratio at 24:10. As much as Cal’s passing game has struggled this year, both Riley and Longshore have been pretty good in this regard.

Brand New Receiving
Also like the Bears, the ‘Canes broke in a brand new receiving group, with the difference being that Miami’s group was headlined by a number of true freshmen. That group is led by true frosh Aldaarius Johnson, and also features other true frosh Travis Benjamin, Thearon Collier, Laron Byrd, Davod Johnson. That’s a lot of freaking true freshman. At least a handful of Cal’s inexperienced receivers have been in the program for a few years.

Initially, when I looked at Miami’s individual receiving numbers, I immediately thought, “Man these guys really aren’t all that great.” And then I looked at Cal’s numbers, and thought, “Man, neither are we.”

Look at the numbers below.


Neither team has a single receiver with more than 30 catches on the season, while rival conference teams such as Oregon State and UCLA, or Clemson and Virginia all have at least four. These numbers are necessarily indicative though of the talent on both teams, rather being revealing about the youth and experience at the receiver position, as well as the inconsistency at the QB position due to the musical chairs situations at both schools.

Continuing with patterns of similarity, both offensive lines have allowed a similar number of sacks, (Cal’s 25 against Miami’s 23). Both have also given up comparable numbers in tackles for loss, with Cal allowing 77 and Miami surrendering 69.

The Difference is the Run
The differences in both offensive squads however, begin to appear when talking about each team’s respective rushing attacks.

Miami’s running game only features one real threat in sophomore Graig Cooper. Cooper features some nice burst averaging 4.89 YPC, but hasn’t put it all together for huge chunks of yardage on the season with 778 total rushing yards, to go with his 4 TDs.

As a team, Miami has only managed 130.08 rushing yards per game (78th in the nation), with a 3.96 YPC.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, or a Cal fan, you already know what Cal is capable of doing on the ground, but just to recap for the sake of a general comparison: Cal ranks 30th in the country in rushing for 183.67 yards per game, averaging 5.44 yards per carry. The Bears feature the Pac-10’s leading rusher in Jahvid Best who has 1394 yards on the season through just 11 games, sporting an absurd 8.01 YPC and 13 touchdowns. His backup (if you can even call him that) Shane Vereen also has a respectable 679 yards on the year, finding paydirt 4 times on the year and averaging 5.07 YPC.

Still not seeing the difference in running games? Let’s just put it like this:

Cal’s backup Shane Vereen has nearly as many yards as Miami’s leading rusher (679 vs. 778). Cal’s 3rd string back Tracey Slocum (yay!) has more yards than Miami’s backup Derron Thomas (125 vs. 111).

Next!

Miscellaneous Categories

• Cal is one of the best teams in the country in turnover margin, posting a shiny +14 on the season. Miami on the other hand, is near the bottom of the totem poll in this category, (102nd out of 120 teams) with -9 on the year.
• On Special Teams, frosh WR Travis Benjamin leads the team in kickoff returns, gaining 477 yards on 21 returns, averaging 22.71 yards per return (80th). Cal’s Jahvid Best has 378 yards on 13 returns, averaging 29.08 (8th in the country).
• Benjamin is also 25th in the country in yards per punt return, averaging 11.53 on 15 returns for 173 yards. Cal’s Syd’Quan Thompson is listed just above him at 23rd with 12.29 yards per return on 28 returns for 344 yards.
  

In Closing
All in all, both Miami and Cal are pretty similar statistically in some categories, while being completely different in others. The Bears have generally put up better numbers though, and should still be the favorites on Saturday.

Again, that’s why you play the game though. The game isn’t won on stat sheet folks.

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Recruiting Update: Siddoway, Quinn, and Carroll?

Cal continued to pick up steam on their recruiting trail by getting verbal commitments from a few more big prospects. And when I say big, I literally mean big.

OT Charles Siddoway
The biggest headline from the weekend for the Bears comes from their commitment from Oregon OT Charles Siddoway. And again, by big, I mean big. The 6’6 320lb Siddoway is a 4-star recruit according to Scout.com, and is regarded as the 18th best offensive tackle prospect in the country. He is also considered to be the top prospect out of the state of Oregon, and is at the top of many lists for the Northwest region.

(image via Scout.com)

Siddoway had been recruited heavily by Oregon and UCLA until both teams had halted their recruiting efforts after expressing a lack of need at the tackle position. Siddoway had also been recruited by Alabama before committing to the Bears on Thursday.

As it stands now, Cal has grabbed commitments from the top prospects in both Oregon and Washington, in Siddoway and DT Deandre Coleman, which is a reflection of the superb job that Runningback Coach Ron Gould has done in the Northwest area.

Scout has a story regarding Siddoway’s commitment here.

FB Sean Quinn
Cal also handed out a somewhat unexpected scholarship to FB Sean Quinn over the weekend, which Quinn gladly accepted. I only say unexpected because Cal has typically not handed out scholarships to FB recruits, usually only offering them to walk-ons who prove their spots on the team.


Quinn became too tempting of a prospect to pass up upon however, with the Santa Clarita native garnering interest from a number of other schools such as Hawaii and USC.

Athletically, Quinn might be the most physically gifted FB to come to the Bears in some time. The 6’0, 240 bruiser of a back is rated 3 stars by Rivals.com, and 2 stars by Scout.com, and fills a void left by departing senior FB Will Tau’ou’fou. Quinn also reportedly runs a 4.6 forty (ridiculous for a FB) and is a workhorse in the weight room.

The Bear Insider has an in-depth article here.

ATH Randall Carroll?
Finally, another interesting story follows USC Commit Randall Carroll. Carroll is rated the 7th best WR in the nation by ESPN, but his athleticism makes him a fit a multitude of positions. Carroll is the fastest prospect in the West, winning in the 100-metter (10.43) and 200-meter (20.91) in the CA state finals a year ago.

Anyhow, Carroll committed to the Trojans during his junior year, but made it clear that he was leaving his recruitment open. As it stands now, Carroll was quoted saying that his mom wasn’t high on USC and that former OC Steve Sarkisian leaving for Washington made his commitment to USC shaky right now.

Carroll apparently blew off a meeting UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel, and has visits planned with Florida and Georgia in the coming weeks, as well as another visit with the Trojans. In all this, Cal has stayed pretty high on his list.

Time will tell where he ends up. Ahem. Hopefully, it’s Cal.


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Recruiting Update: Deandre Coleman Commits

Big Time Recruiting News. Cal received a commitment from defensive tackle Deandre Coleman last night. Coleman is a 4-star recruit according to Rivals.com, and is considered the 8th best defensive tackle prospect in the country, and the top prospect overall out of Washington.

The Seattle native will bring a sizable physical presence to the defensive line, listed at 6’4, 295 lbs. He will also be another Bears recruit to play in the US Army All-American game next month.

Coleman had given actually given Cal a soft verbal commit during the summer, before committing to Washington in August. The buzzkill that was Washington’s season was one of the factors that Coleman reconsidered however, and had also been recruited by schools such as LSU and Washington.

Coleman’s commitment adds to a notable list of what might be Coach Tedford’s most impressive defensive class yet.


Last week, Cal had received commitments from JC recruits DE Ryan Davis from Norwalk, CA and LB Jerome Meadows from San Jose, CA. Both bring great size to this year’s defensive class, with Davis listed at 6’4, 257 lbs., and Meadows listed at 6’3, 240 lbs.

The Bear Insider continues to have great, non-subscription articles following these recruits. You can find an article about Davis here, and one about Meadows here.

Welcome Coleman, Davis and Meadows!

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