Cal Bears give early holiday present to fans against Washington Huskies

December 6, 11:30 PMCal Bears ExaminerRob Calonge

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In my pregame article, Cal victory over the Huskies not only holiday gift for Bears Backers, I rattled off a list of 10 things that I thought would be good gifts from the football team to all Bears fans.  I honestly never imagined that it was possible to fulfill the entire list, but little did I know it actually was.  The Bears destroyed the Washington Huskies today by a score of 48-7 on the strength of a new Cal rushing record by Jahvid Best.

We've all seen how special Best can be, but it wasn't until posting 311 yards and four touchdowns against the Huskies that he became a legitimate Heisman candidate for the 2009 season.  In fact, to be honest with you, I became completely sold after watching him unveil moves that I had never seen him do.  He was powerful, elusive, and of course fast, but it was something else that he showed today that made such a big believer out of me - championship determination.

Now, I'm not saying that Best hasn't shown a willingness to do what it takes to win, but he showed a new level of play that may be unparalleled by any college back over the past decade.  The record he broke was 54 years old, and had he stayed in the game for the rest of the third quarter (he came out halfway in the third), he might have 'bested' the NCAA FBS record of 441, by Ladainian Tomlinson.

So let's take a look at the list to see what we didn't get today:

1. A Zack Follett blind side sack - CHECK!  With about 2:40 left in the first quarter he crushed Washington quarterback, Ronnie Fouch, resulting with a fumble and a recovery by Mike Mohamed at the Huskies' 15-yard line.  The Bears got a field goal from that, giving them a 10-0 lead at the time.
2. A substantial Nate Longshore appearance - CHECK!  Longshore came in at the beginning of the second quarter and played until the score was 45-0.  He completed 5-10 for 84 yards and a touchdown.
3. A long touchdown run - CHECK!  Don't take my word for it, look at the Jahvid Best touchdown show here!
4. Every senior plays - I think every senior played, but I can't be sure.  Alex Stroud got his first, and probably only, catch of his Cal Career though.  So let's call this a CHECK!
5. A Syd'Quan interception - O.K., that didn't happen, but since Darian Hagan got two, we can make it a half-CHECK!
6. Sean Young makes a highlight reel - That didn't happen either.  He was nearly on the receiving end of a touchdown, but I'm sure you've heard the saying about horse shoes and hand grenades...right?  Well, there's always the Emerald Bowl (which by the way, Cal will be going to on December 27.)
7. 60 full minutes of Cal Football - That's a definite CHECK!  We may not have seen it from the first team, but we did see it from the WHOLE team.  Great game for all of the Bears that played.
8. A Jeff Tedford in-game smile - CHECK!  Somewhere between the second and third touchdown by Best...somewhere.
9. Every underclassman declares they'll be back next year - That is yet to be determined.  These sort of commitments come around or after the bowl game.
10. One (positive) play to remember the game by - CHECK!  Best did this several times.  My favorite play had to be his last touchdown run.  I think it was his last one.  There were so many, I can't remember now.  Follett's sack was also pretty memorable.

Not bad, seven and a half out of 10, with the other two and a half yet to be determined.  Either Miami or Florida State will face the Bears in the Emerald Bowl.  If Cal plays like they did today, either of those teams could be in for a long day.

FINAL 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T WASHINGTON 0 0 7 0 7 30 CALIFORNIA  10 21 14 3 48

1st Quarter
	TD	12:40	JAHVID BEST 60 YD RUN (GIORGIO TAVECCHIO KICK) Plays: 2 | Yards: 62
	FG	1:22	GIORGIO TAVECCHIO 23 YD FG Plays: 4 | Yards: 6
2nd Quarter
	TD	8:57	JAHVID BEST 1 YD RUN (GIORGIO TAVECCHIO KICK) Plays: 2 | Yards: 8
	TD	7:00	JAHVID BEST 20 YD RUN (GIORGIO TAVECCHIO KICK) Plays: 3 | Yards: 57
	TD	0:05	CAMERON MORRAH 6 YD PASS FROM NATE LONGSHORE (GIORGIO TAVECCHIO KICK) Plays: 5 | Yards: 89
3rd Quarter
	TD	13:57	JAHVID BEST 84 YD RUN (JORDAN KAY KICK) Plays: 2 | Yards: 83
	TD	9:49	SHANE VEREEN 2 YD RUN (JORDAN KAY KICK) Plays: 6 | Yards: 69
	TD	2:50	TAYLOR BEAN 2 YD RUN (RYAN PERKINS KICK) Plays: 15 | Yards: 65
4th Quarter
	FG	11:33	JORDAN KAY 36 YD FG Plays: 5 | Yards: 16

Quotes -

I didn't even know I was close to it.  We just feel like no matter where we are on the field, if we block and do our assignments, we can run it on people.
- Best on breaking the school single game rushing record

I was proud of the way they played. They were very serious when we came out and hit the field. There were very few mistakes on offense as far as turnovers are concerned. The defense came up big. I was proud of the way they stayed focused and played today.
- Jeff Tedford on the play of the Bears

He was connecting with the seniors. We've been with him for the past four years and it was our last time going through the tunnel. The team camaraderie [was strong]. All the younger guys fought for the seniors and the seniors fought. It played out exactly how I wanted to play out. Just go out there, do our jobs, and let the young guys go out so we could relax the second half.
- Zack Follett on how Tedford motivated the players prior to the game

I hear that we may play an ACC opponent, so that will be good to redeem myself [after the Maryland loss]. I really don't care who we play. I got another game to play, one more chance to give what I got to all our fans out there.
- Worrell Williams on playing in the Emerald Bowl prior to the Bears accepting it

YEAH!!  WhooHooo!!  Go Bears!!
Oops...that was some of my Bear Backer friends