EXPOSED! Turtles outpace the Bears

September 13, 3:03 PMCal Bears ExaminerRob Calonge

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Riley was only average in Maryland Saturday

Blame it on the long road trip, blame it on the early start time of the game, or you could even blame it on the youth of the team. However you sum it up, if you don't lay blame on the lack of focus the Bears had, your words become shallow.

The previously 23rd-ranked California Golden Bears once again took their show on the road with expectations that they'd come home victorious, but instead they ran into the buzz saw that was the Maryland Terrapins.  You may remember that I warned about a letdown after last week's whipping of Washington State, and that warning proved to be a foreshadowing of the game.  The Bears shouldn't be ranked next week after losing to the Terps 35-27.

It took three quarters before the Bears began to wake up on the day as they spotted the Maryland Terps to a 28-6 lead going into the fourth quarter before making a valiant attempt at a comeback.  For most of the game, the defense couldn't get off of the field while the offense had trouble staying on it.

Cal's potent rushing attack was nearly non-existent.  They rushed for 69 yards on 23 carries.  The offensive line wasn't very good about holding their blocks while running backs Shane Vereen and Jahvid Best struggled to find room to run all day.  Nearly every running play, the Terps gave the illusion that they had twice as many players on the field, leaving the Bears to always be at least one blocker short.

The lack of running game put tons of pressure on quarterback Kevin Riley.  Riley went to the air an astounding 63 times, completing 33 passes on 58 attempts with one interception and getting sacked five times on the day.  When a quarterback is passing that often, he needs his receivers to catch the ball and his line to give him time.  For most of the game, he got neither of those things on a consisten basis, causing Riley to force passes and rush plays.

On Cal's first possession, Riley threw an interception that was returned to Cal's 14-yard line and set up Maryland's second score, leaving the Bears down 14-0 in the first quarter.  The Bears would take their next possession and drive down within scoring position, only to stall at Maryland's 10-yard line and settle for a David Seawright field goal.

On the defensive side of the ball, it was just as sloppy.  The Bears gave up 6 of 12 third-down conversions, with just as many coming on 3rd and long as well as 3rd and short.  Maryland's 297 total yards on the day are deceiving as they scored touchdowns on their first three possessions with little or no resistance from the Bears.

Maryland's Da'Rel Scott rushed for 89 yards on 19 carries before leaving the game with a shoulder injury in the middle of the third quarter.  If that wasn't bad enough, his replacement, Davin Meggett came in and rushed for 82 yards on only 13 carries.  Meggett, the son of former New York Giant David Meggett, was running through holes so large that he could've walked through them for a 5-yards-per-carry average.  On the day, he averaged 6.3 yards per carry.

The Terps quarterback, Chris Turner, was nearly perfect on the day.  He threw for 156 yards on 15 for 19 passing with two touchdowns and no interceptions while being sacked four times.  Whenever they needed a big play, Turner would drop back to pass and find an open man.  He also seemed to have all day to find that open man for most of the day.

Offense and defense weren't the only problems on the day.  The Bears missed one field goal and had problems with kickoffs most of the day.  One kickoff went out of bounds, allowing Maryland to start their drive from their own 40, which they turned into their third touchdown minutes later.  On the day, Maryland's average starting position was the 40-yard line.

The total and complete collapse of the Golden Bears is surprising coming on the heels of such a complete game from the week before.  The Bears will need to go back to the drawing board and get their problems resolved quickly or else they could be in for a long season.  When a team beats you as bad as the Bears were beaten on Saturday, there's plenty of reasons and blame to go around.