Cal Crumbles Against Utah

The following is a live journal composed during the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl between Utah and California. All time listed are Pacific Standard Time.

PREGAME

4:45 – Hmm. A Pac-10 team facing a Mountain West team in a bowl with an unnecessarily complicated name. Weren’t we just here last night?

4:50 – Seriously, don’t be surprised if the end result is similar to the Oregon St./BYU game. The last time Cal played, they got blown out by Washington and Tedford’s Golden Bears have been notorious for phoning it in at the end of the season if there is nothing substantial to play for.

FIRST QUARTER

5:04 – Before you can say the full name of this bowl, Utah comes up with a big play; Jordan Wynn threw a short pass to his running back, Eddie Wide, who turned it into a forty-five yard gain.

5:08 – Cal, after seeing their defense settle down and stop Utah after their big play, counter with a long gain of their own; Shane Vereen has done a great job filling in at running back after Jahvid Best’s horrific injury.

5:10 – That play where Best got injured is still stomach-churning; he was very lucky to only suffer a concussion—it could have been a lot worse.

5:17 – Both teams have pulled a big play out of their respective back pockets, but other than that, neither offense has been able to sustain a drive. The Golden Bears, though, will have an easier time breaking through if they keeping winning the field position battle like they have been so far.

5:22 – Vereen’s cut back was a great move, but real credit has to go to Cal’s offensive line for some fantastic blocking which opened up that hole; it didn’t help that Utah had a player in the secondary slip and fall.

7-0 Cal

5:27 – Who needs motivation when the opposing quarterback stares down his receiver like that? That pick-six by Eddie Young makes two Bear touchdowns in the last eleven seconds.

14-0 Cal

5:30 – Shaky Smithson gashes Cal with a big return; on that play, the Bear special teams looked really…no, this writer isn’t going to do it—that would be an amateur level pun.

5:34 – The Utes go no-huddle on 4th and 1 and get it easily; more teams need to prepare themselves for that situation in such fashion. Going no-huddle gives the defense little time to make substitutions and get set.

5:35 – The right foot was still on the ground when Kendrick Moeai gained control of the ball—this call should stand.

14-7 Cal

5:40 – Off-topic, but questions needed to be asked regarding Mayweather/Pacquiao: Why do the boxers themselves have the power to demand what type of blood testing should be conducted before fights? Aren’t there higher-ups to determine these types of things? Is something as petty as this really going to wipe out the most anticipated bout in years?

END FIRST QUARTER. CAL LEADS 14-7.

SECOND QUARTER

5:46 – Mike Patrick is giving Kevin Riley credit for not throwing that ball? Mike, the Cal quarterback took a six yard loss when he could’ve just chucked the ball into the stands.

5:53 – The Bear secondary needs to start performing better; their line has done a good job of stopping the run so far, but the Utes are finding their stride in the passing game, which isn’t supposed to happen if you don’t have a potent rushing attack.

5:55 – The Cal coverage wasn’t that good on that pass—the big hit at the end that jarred the ball loose from David Reed just made it look better.

14-10 Cal

6:01 – “It’s beginning to look a lot like last night…”

6:04 – The Utah offense is doing everything the Cal offense isn’t in this quarter: Mixing up play-calling, using play fakes effectively, and keeping pressure away from the quarterback.

6:07 – “…Cal has fallen down…”

17-14 Utah

6:13 – That was a clean hit by Utah safety Robert Johnson—good no-call by the officials.

6:18 – There’s that shovel pass again, and it was equally effective for the Utes; the Bear linebackers all got caught going the wrong direction and Wide dashed right past them.

6:21 – “…A team out of the ol’ Pac-10, embarrassing once again…”

24-14 Utah

6:27 – “…with underthrown balls and poor play calls abound!”

HALFTIME. UTAH LEADS 24-14.

6:36 – The déjà vu is real…very real. A Pac-10 team got out to an early lead before disappearing completely and allowing a Mountain West team to overtake them. What happened to Shane Vereen? He has been responsible for most of Cal’s offense, yet he became more non-existent as the half stretched on. Meanwhile, old, reliable Kevin Riley is getting outplayed by a freshman quarterback who is picking apart the Bear secondary despite the lack of a reliable running game. Have the BCS computers been watching the events of the last two evenings? Well, no, because they don’t have eyes, but if Utah finishes the job, then the powers that be are going to have to take notice.

THIRD QUARTER

6:52 – Cal’s first drive of the second half: 3 plays, -1 yards, and a clear showing of a lack of halftime adjustments.

6:56 – That flag almost surely means an illegal formation—this one’s coming back. It’s worth noting, though, that the Bear defense had enough trouble with the Utes’ straight-up offense, but now they might have to deal with wacky formations on top of that.

6:59 – Jeremy Ross should have let that punted ball go—it was pretty much a guarantee that it was going to bounce into the end zone. Instead, he makes a fair catch inside the five yard line, which will force Cal’s inept-looking offense to go the entire field for points.

7:04 – It’s nice to see Riley is playing like his usual self tonight—overthrowing a wide open receiver in the flat in that instance. When are the Bears going to get Vereen more involved? While the rest of the Cal offense hasn’t been doing anything, Vereen is averaging six yards per rush; put the game on his shoulders—he can take it.

7:11 – Another 4th and 1 for Utah, but they take much longer this time to snap the ball and Cal stuffs it; why didn’t the Utes go no-huddle again?

7:16 – The Life of Kevin Riley: Even with nine defensemen in the box, he either misfires or has the ball dropped when he’s able to put it in the numbers.

7:17 – If it wasn’t evident that Cal’s offense stopped caring before, there’s the clinching evidence—your defense makes a huge stop deep in their territory and you fumble it right back after two incompletions.

7:19 – At least the Bear defense still believes they can win—that’s two stops near the red zone, but the Utes did get three off the turnover.

27-14 Utah

7:22 – See? Vereen has to be your go-to-guy.

7:24 – “The Theisman Race,” Mike Patrick? What, is that some kind of contest where the winner is the quarterback who suffers the most severe injury?

7:25 – Riley is hitting his throws and his receivers are catching the ball—the stars must have finally aligned.

7:26 – Fittingly, Vereen finishes off that drive with a touchdown; it was his big run at the beginning of the drive is what finally got things going again for the Cal offense. It’s been awhile since this has felt like a game.

27-21 Utah

7:29 – It’s a first down anyway, but the officials should have given Utes receiver Aiona Key another yard on that play; he stretched the ball another three feet before he was down.

END THIRD QUARTER. UTAH LEADS 27-21.

FOURTH QUARTER

7:33 – Great move by Reed after receiving that swing pass; he faked a Bear defender out of his shoes and that left a lot of green in front of him.

7:36 – That draw play isn’t working for Utah anymore; either get away from it or run a different variation.

7:37 – The hook-and-lateral is always fun to watch, and even though Cal prevented a first down, that was a good time to call it because no one could have seen that coming. If Utah had only needed a more manageable amount of yards on that third down, then the drive would probably still be going; nonetheless, their lead is back to two scores.

30-21 Utah

7:44 – Tough spot for Jeff Tedford; it’s 4th and 3 near midfield and his team is down two scores with nine minutes left. Either option—go for it or punt—would be an understandable choice, but both are also likely to breed intense scrutiny should Cal end up losing.

7:46 – Whether that was actually kick-catch interference on the Bears or not, Ross should not have been that close to the Ute return man anyway; he had plenty of time to get clear after Smithson gave the fair catch signal.

7:52 – No tough spot here for Kyle Whittingham on 4th and 2; his team is up two scores with seven minutes to play and have a great chance to pin Cal deep.

7:53 – “It’s beginning to look a lot like last night…”

7:56 – Off-sides and defensive pass interference when the offense is on their own 1 yard line? Way to bail out your opponent, Utes.

7:57 – Cal, obviously in a charitable mood, gives five of those yards right back on a false start and then gives up a sack.

7:58 – “…a win for the Mountain West…”

37-21 Utah

8:03 – Riley being Riley.

8:12 – Not quite a garbage touchdown for Cal; a successful two-point conversion makes this a one-score game.

8:14 – “…and the least that they can expect is a little bit more respect…”

37-27 Utah

8:18 – “…from the B…C…S!”

GAME OVER. UTAH WINS 37-27.

FINAL THOUGHTS

In regards to Cal, this should come as no surprise. As much as Jeff Tedford has done for the program, his teams have become poster children for choking in big games and fizzling out at the end of the season. It’s a real shame because the Golden Bears have had no shortage of playmakers this decade, but, other than Aaron Rodgers, they have not had a guy under center that can get the ball to them. Kevin Riley has one more year of eligibility in Berkeley and if he wants to remove the negative stigma around him, then he’d better work hard on his accuracy.

Welcome to the further uprising of the Mountain West Conference. The so-called “little guys” are 3-0 thus far in this 2009-10 postseason with two more very winnable games still to come. Jordan Wynn had his way in the passing game—completing 26 of 36 passes for 338 yards and three touchdowns; a lot of young quarterbacks, having just thrown a pick-six, would have crumbled in such a predicament, but the freshman recovered to show everyone why Utah’s future looks a bright as their present and recent past. However the rest of the postseason plays out, the MWC has shown why they belong with the big boys.

Too bad ‘B.C.S.’ also stands for “Biased Christmas Scrooges.”