Bears torch Sun Devils early and hang on for win

October 4, 10:01 PMCal Bears ExaminerRob Calonge

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Cal Bears Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Postgame Recap

Even though Jeff Tedford had opened up his quarterback competition, many insiders expected that Nate Longshore would only get some mop-up time if the situation called for it.  As far as anyone outside of the coaching staff was concerned, Kevin Riley was still the starting quarterback.

It wasn't until a little under an hour before game time that it was announced that Longshore would be starting for the Bears.  Tedford hasn't been happy with Riley's play over the past two weeks and he wanted to make sure that his team wasn't playing from behind against a preseason Top-25 team.

I felt we'd been starting a little bit slow, so I wanted to switch roles a little bit and let Nate have an opportunity to start the game. For all of our games, we haven't started real fast offensively. We've had big runs, but we've missed some plays in the passing game. So I wanted to change it up a little bit and see if we could create a spark.
- Head coach Tedford on why he started Longshore over Riley at QB

Longshore, despite his negative plays, has not had much difficulty moving the offense.  In the season opener against Michigan State, he sparked the offense when he came into the game only to throw an interception in the end zone.  It was that knack for finding the opposing defenders at inopportune times that led the Senior to the bench.

Tedford and the Bears got exactly what they'd hoped for from Longshore.  On the very first drive of the game, he drove the offense down to the Sun Devils' four-yard line.  That drive stalled and the Bears settled for a David Seawright field goal.

It was evident that Longshore was going to be safe with the ball on that drive.  At the four on second-down, Longshore refrained from looking to the middle of the end zone where he had an open receiver for the touchdown.  When Longshore has been bitten by the interception, he's been trying to hit the receiver over the middle, but on this play he chose to throw the ball out of bounds.

We took the first drive and went down. I would have liked to get a touchdown there, but it was great to have a long drive like that and come away with points. I thought we were playing well in all three phases of the game.
- Tedford on the first drive

After a fumble by Arizona State, Longshore and the Bears started from ASU's 41-yard line.  Five plays later, Longshore threw a 19-yard strike to LaReylle Cunningham for the touchdown and an early 10-0 lead.

Two drives later, the first Cal drive of the second quarter, Longshore would throw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Morrah and the Bears would take a 17-0 lead.

Cal would score only one more time.  In the third quarter, Longshore hit Nyan Boateng for a 19-yard touchdown pass.  The touchdown put the Bears up 24-7, and they would hold on to win 24-14.

For the day, Longshore was 17 for 28 for 198 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.  The interception came when he was throwing a screen pass to Shane Vereen, but the tailback got caught up in the blocking and was clearly not where Longshore expected him to be.

It was a great game. The O-line did their job all day. I felt like the offense played well overall even though we struggled in the second half.
- Vereen on the offensive performance

Vereen was being polite.  A mixture of average run-blocking and some poor play-calling helped to inhibit Vereen's game.  The line is a work-in-progress with injuries and the swapping of the offensive tackles.  Vereen ran 27 times for 94 yards on the day for an average of only 3.4 yards-per-carry.  He also had five catches for 51 yards to lead the Bears in receiving.

It was the second time this season that the Bears were unable to crack the 100-yard barrier in rushing.  As a team, Cal ran 33 times for only 79 yards for a 2.4 yards-per-carry average.

I hate to see the offense stall, but that's more opportunities on the field. The day we were having out there today was nothing but fun. We go three and out, but oh well, we go out there and get a sack or interception.
- Defensive captain, Zack Follett on having to hold Arizona State in the second half

The defense for the Bears was unstoppable for most of the day.  The Sun Devils quarterback, Rudy Carpenter, came into the game as the Pac-10's most efficient quarterback.  He didn't look like the top passer in the conference on the day, as the Bears intercepted him twice, sacked him three times, and hurried him all day.

Longshore looked like the best quarterback on the
field Saturday (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Cameron Jordan, filling in for the injured Rulon Davis, sacked Carpenter twice in the first quarter and was instrumental in keeping the Sun Devils from running the ball.  Follett also recorded a sack in the fourth quarter for the Bears on a crucial third-and-six play that caused a fumble, forcing the Sun Devils to punt.

Arizona State didn't help themselves most of the game with penalties and turnovers.  Besides Carpenter's interceptions, the Sun Devils fumbled five times losing one for a total of three turnovers.  ASU also had seven penalties for 45 yards on the day.

In the first quarter, an offsides penalty on third and one, gave the Bears a first down that led to their first touchdown of the game.  On the Bears second touchdown-scoring drive, a 15-yard pass interference penalty allowed the Bears to move near mid-field.  Most of the other penalties prevented the ASU offense from completing drives.

The Cal secondary was tough to beat.  Carpenter played with fire, throwing to the side that Syd'Quan Thompson was on and was shut down on nearly every attempt.  Thompson was so good during the game, that Carpenter wouldn't look to his side in the fourth quarter.  Thompson's bookend, Darrian Hagan, helped limit the Pac-10's top passing offense to only 165 yards on the day.  Chris Conte and Sean Cattouse recorded interceptions on the day and both came at times that the Sun Devils were moving the ball easily down the field.

The biggest weakness for the Bears this year has been their kickoff coverage unit.  The coverage part of the unit has been too bad, but instead it's been finding a kicker to do the job.  After being removed in the season opener, kicker Giorgio Tavecchio has found little opportunity to redeem himself until Saturday.  A sure sign that he did redeem himself is that there isn't an instance to point him out.  Because of the good kickoffs, the Sun Devils often found themselves starting drives within their own 30-yard line.