QB news, injury update, links

QB Nate Longshore‘s availability (sprained left ankle) for the Oregon State match-up will be a gametime decision, according to Coach Jeff Tedford. Apparently, backup QB Kevin Riley has been taking about 75 percent of the first team snaps in practice and is looking pretty confident.

Regarding the other injuries: LB Zach Follett should be back in action on Saturday, FB Will Ta’ufo’ou (knee) is questionable, DB Marcus Ezeff (quad) who made the winning tackle of the Oregon game is a gametime decision, and DE Rulon Davis (foot) and PK Tom Schneider are still out.

Also, here are a few miscellaneous links of interest:

• ESPN has a midseason review of the Pac-10, naming Cal the “biggest surprise” as a national title contender, RB Justin Forsett as the conference MVP, and Coach Tedford the conference’s coach of the year.
• ESPN’s NFL draft guru Mel Kiper thinks Longshore is the #1 junior quarterback, WR/PR DeSean Jackson is an “obvious” first-round pick, and WR Lavelle Hawkins should be a third-rounder.
• The Sacramento Bee has a feature on CB Syd’Quan Thompson and LB Worrell Williams — apparently, Marshawn isn’t the only mama’s boy.
• The sports center lawsuit is finally wrapping up, and the lawyers made closing arguments earlier today.
• DeSean was interviewed by KRON 4’s Gary Radnich yesterday — he is a confident, charismatic guy who seems to have really won Radnich over.

TV update: Oregon St (VS), UCLA (ABC)

Today, ABC announced that it will televise the Cal-UCLA game on Oct. 20 with a 12:30pm kickoff. The game should have regional coverage similar to the Oregon game.

And, if you missed the news last week, the Oregon State game will be televised by Versus on Saturday at 4pm.

Cal rises to #2, USC falls

Despite the bye week, Cal has risen to #2 in all polls (AP, USA Today/Coaches, Harris) after USC’s meltdown loss to Stanford yesterday. The Bears are maintaining a narrow margin of only a few points over #3 Ohio State (who beat then-#23 Purdue pretty convincingly) in all of the polls.

In other news around the conference, UCLA was humiliated by a horrible Notre Dame squad and Arizona State escaped with a close victory over Washington State.

What does this all mean? Cal will be in the national championship game in January if the Bears keep winning — and the results of weekend give me confidence that success on the road there is becoming a likely reality. USC showed vulnerability in a stunning loss to a terrible team, while UCLA and Arizona State (two of the tough road games ahead) both appear very beatable. Even if Cal suffers a loss in the difficult remainder of the season, the hopes of a BCS game for the Bears are looking bright.

Chat with Nate, vote for DeSean, Cal #1

QB Nate Longshore will be featured on an ESPN live chat today at 10:30am (in about 30 minutes). Follow the link to ask him a question or see what he has to say.

Also, WR/PR DeSean Jackson was nominated for the AT&T All-America Player of the Week award, and we can help him win by voting before 9pm tonight:

He is one of four nominees this week and in order for him to win the honor, fans must text message VOTE to 87654 by 11:59pm ET this Wednesday. Jackson was selected by ESPN based on his performance against the University of Oregon.

This also gives DeSean Jackson the opportunity to potentially be nominated for the AT&T All-America Player of the Year in December.

Finally, it’s been pointed out that Cal is currently #1 in the ESPNU Allstate Standings (determined by fan vote). Over 100,000 votes have been cast and Cal takes the top spot, above USC and LSU [/dco]. While it’s likely that this was caused by the LSU fans leaving USC off the ballot and the LSU fans leaving USC off the ballot, it shows that Cal is a consensus contender for the national championship among fans around the country.

Cal in the news

In his weekly Forde-Yard Dash, ESPN analyst Pat Forde mentions Cal and Jeff Tedford as three of his points, expecting the team to enter the November 10th match up against USC ranked at least 3rd in the nation:

California (4). Ranking: third in all major polls. Dash ranking: third. Highest ranking since: 1952. Cal’s leading passer that season was Bill Mais, who completed 30 passes on the year. That’s just two more than current QB Nate Longshore (5) completed in the Saturday triumph at Oregon.

Why the Golden Bears are there: They’ve come through when the nation is watching, beating Tennessee handily in the biggest game of the opening weekend and then winning at Oregon in the biggest game last Saturday. They’ve also scored a minimum of 31 points in every game and rank third nationally in turnover margin. And in case you ever doubted the importance of turnovers, know this: four of the top five teams in that department, and seven of the top 17, are undefeated.

Also, in Mark Schlabach’s On (and off) the Mark, he gives positive marks to Cal, in particular LB Anthony Felder, DeSean Jackson, and Marcus Ezeff.

Jackson to #3 in the Heisman Watch

In this week’s Heisman Watch released this morning, WR DeSean Jackson moved up into third place behind Arkansas’ Darren McFadden and Kentucky’s Andre Woodson. Todd McShay writes:

DeSean Jackson, WR/RS, Cal
Cal’s thrilling victory at Oregon propels the team to a No. 3 ranking and Jackson right back in the Heisman mix. The junior receiver hauled in 11 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns. Jackson was limited — partially due to a sprained thumb — to only 67 receiving yards in the previous two games (Louisiana Tech and Arizona) combined, making his performance Saturday that much more dramatic. Is there any doubt that Jackson is the nation’s most electrifying playmaker? Not from where I stand, at least.

While it is still early in the season and the door is still open for any and all candidates to make it to the final few, more publicity and airtime right now will only help his campaign.

EDIT by ERIC: Meanwhile, well-respected blogger Heisman Pundit just placed Jackson at #6 in his predictive Heisman rankings – I think Jackson will need more big games to become a real contender to win.

Cal #3, Jackson Pac-10 PotW

The Bears have reached their highest ranking since 1952: #3 in the AP, USA Today/Coaches, and Harris polls. As discussed in the post-Oregon post, Cal’s victory and the losses of last week’s #3, #4, and #5 propelled the Bears to the third spot, immediately behind LSU and USC (with USC now #2 in the AP).

Meanwhile, DeSean Jackson has received the honors for the Pac-10 Player of the Week (offense) for his amazing performance on Saturday (see video highlights, GameDay interview):

Jackson, a senior from Long Beach, Calif., provided the big plays on offense in California’s 31-24 road win at Oregon. Jackson pulled in 11 receptions for 161 yards (14.6), both career highs, including two touchdown passes covering 25 and 31 yards. In addition to Pac-10 player of the week honors, he was named national Offensive Player of the Week by the Walter Camp Foundation. It marked the second Pac-10 player of the week honors for Jackson this year, having previously been named for special teams work in California’s win against Tennessee.

LB Anthony Felder and P Andrew Larson were also nominated for the award.

EDIT 10/2: Jackson has also received the USA TODAY Player of the Week honor:

California wide receiver DeSean Jackson had 11 catches for 161 yards in a defeat of No. 12 Oregon to earn this week’s USA TODAY’s Player of the Week honor. Jackson scored twice on receptions of 25 and 31 yards as the No. 6 Bears stayed unbeaten with a 31-24 victory. Jackson won the award with the support of college football editor Erick Smith and Gannett News Service columnist Mike Lopresti. Fan voting sided with Illinois wide receiver Arrelious Benn.

Memorial Stadium a scary place for opponents?

According to ESPN’s Bruce Feldman, Cal’s Memorial Stadium is the 10th scariest place to play in the nation.

10. Cal, Memorial Stadium
Autzen Stadium is probably noisier than Cal’s Memorial Stadium, but there is a little magic to this quirky place. Since 2003, the Bears have faced five ranked teams at home and knocked off four, including an upset of USC in 2003 by a then-unranked Cal squad. Of course, Jeff Tedford deserves plenty of credit for that, too.

This mention shows Cal’s growing home field advantage. Though not normally mentioned as a difficult place to visiting teams to play, Cal continues to have great home seasons each year. Hopefully that trend continues this season with USC at home.

Cal defeats Oregon, 31-24

In a tough, well-fought battle, the #6 Bears survived a relatively low-scoring showdown in Eugene, Oregon. With both teams coming in averaging well over 40 points per game and questionable defenses, it was expected to be an offensive showcase. During the first half, however, both defenses stepped up, and neither offense was able to find their rhythm. It wasn’t until the final minutes of the second quarter that Oregon was able to find the end zone for the first touchdown of the game.

The second half, however, was more of the shootout that everybody expected. DeSean Jackson had a breakout performance, catching 11 passes for 161 yards and 2 touchdowns. Once again, DeSean managed to fake out the Oregon secondary. On his first touchdown, he faked an inside route, then cut outside for a wide open 25-yard strike. On his second, he caught a short pass, stutter stepped, then exploded down the sideline past the defender. It was great to see DeSean come out and play like a true Heisman candidate. Equally important was Justin Forsett. Despite a slow first half, he managed 101 yards on 25 carries, including 2 touchdowns.

The biggest question most people in the country had about Cal so far this season was whether the defense could hold up against a top-ranked team. This game should go a long way towards silencing that crowd, as Oregon came in ranked 6th in the nation for total yards, 4th for rushing yards, and 7th for points scored. The Bears held them to only 24 points, half of their average 48.5. During the first half, and especially during the fourth quarter, the defense came up huge, coming up with the first two interceptions against Dennis Dixon this year, the first of which set up the go-ahead touchdown. Then came the biggest play of the game, the goal-line forced fumble with only 22 seconds to play.

On the offensive side of the ball, Cal struggled to find their rhythm during the first half, managing to score only 3 points. The O-line seemed to have a little difficulty controlling the line, as nearly each of Forsett’s touches had first contact behind the line of scrimmage. They looked much improved in the second half, as initial successes in both running and passing the ball forced Oregon’s defense to honor and protect against both aspects of the offense.

The scariest point in the game came with only about six and a half minutes to play in the game. With the score tied at 24, Nate Longshore was drilled from the side, his legs buckling sideways underneath him. It brought back flashbacks of two years ago to when a similar tackle took Longshore out for the season. He came out of the game for the rest of the drive, had his ankle taped up, then came back on the next possession. Despite being in the game, his ankle was still clearly bothering him, as he even had trouble with the kneel-down on the very last possession. Both Lavelle Hawkins and Robert Peele were also banged up during the game. Next week’s bye couldn’t come at a better time, as hopefully the extra week of rest will allow all the players to recover from injuries.

With so many upsets this weekend, and the win coming on ABC with the ESPN College GameDay crew in tow, Cal should be moving up in the polls. Oregon may also not move down very far. Here’s what happened in the top 10 this weekend:

• #1 USC squeaked out a 27-24 win over unranked Washington
• #3 Oklahoma lost 24-27 to unranked Colorado
• #4 Florida lost 20-17 to unranked Auburn
• #5 West Virginia lost 13-21 to #18 South Florida
• #7 Texas was routed 41-21 by unranked Kansas State
• #10 Rutgers lost 34-24 to unranked Maryland

The last time that 5 of the top 10 teams lost occurred back in 2003. Look for Cal to be moving up to #3 in the polls this week, and for LSU to gain ground on USC after their shaky victory. Also look for DeSean to move back up in the Heisman watch after his stellar performance, perhaps even as far as #3 behind Darren McFadden and Andre Woodson.

Links:

• ESPN Recap and video highlights
  
• Ezeff’s hit boosts Bears’ national title hopes – Mark Schlabach
• Final Analysis: California-Oregon – Mark Schlabach

Today’s test in Eugene

Here we go, with today possibly the biggest test of the season. Here’s some reading material while we wait for the game.

• Jon Okane’s injury/personnel update: Matt Malele is back, but Zack Follett, Will Ta’ufo’ou, Rulon Davis, Tom Schneider are definitely out. Closed practices this past week.
• ESPN’s video simulation of the game: Cal 42, Oregon 35. Scouts Inc picks the Ducks 38-35. Feldman also picks the Ducks 45-35, saying Oregon is the west coast version of West Virginia (note: Mountaineers fell this weekend)
• TBIOOF’s Cal-Oregon preview: this will be a war, a game so close that “penalties and turnovers will mark the winner.”
• RBBID has two responses to an Oregon’s blog analysis.
• Bears’ Necessity details a free method to watch the game online.
• ESPN’s feature on Cal’s offense being more than a “one-man show.

And just for fun, spotted signs on ESPN GameDay:

• “Les Miles, More Tedford”
• “54,000! Disappointed Fans!”
• “SEC: Soft, Easy, Conference” / “SECond to the Pac-10”
• “Fact: Dwight Schrute likes the Ducks”
• … more to come?

GO BEARS.