Bears Host Trojans in Final Home Game

About a month ago, the entire college football world was anticipating the game that is going to take place tonight at Memorial Stadium.

It looked as if USC would still be the No. 1 team in the country and that Cal, fresh off a victory against Oregon, would at least be ranked No. 3.

However, in the month of October, the now-No. 12 Trojans and the No. 24 Bears lost a combined five games, and what was supposed to be the game of the year is just not.

But don’t tell Cal coach Jeff Tedford that the game has lost its importance.

“This is still a big conference game for us, maybe it doesn’t have the national attention or the weight,” Tedford said. “If we would have played it four weeks ago, it probably would have had a lot more weight of course but that’s the national thing.”

Both teams have fallen hard from their lofty rankings.

The Bears (6-3, 3-3 in the Pac-10) ascended to No. 2 in national polls for the first time since 1951 before dropping three consecutive games—a first in Tedford’s career.

At the same time, the Trojans (7-2, 4-2) were the No. 1 team in the country.

But unexpected losses to Oregon and Stanford dropped the Trojans off their perennial pedestal.

“We really didn’t get over the hump (at the midway point of the season), we let a game get away against Stanford and then we ran into a tough game up in Oregon,” USC coach Pete Carroll said. “We have not been as sharp through the middle part of the calendar.”

One of the reasons why the Trojans have dropped a couple of games may be the injury to quarterback John David Booty.

Booty broke his middle finger against the Cardinal. He was subsequently benched for the Trojans’ next three games.

Booty returned last week, went 19-for-33 for 157 yards and two touchdowns and should be starting Saturday.

“The offense is a little less complex when (backup quarterback Mark) Sanchez is in the game,” linebacker Worrell Williams said. “Obviously when Booty is in there, they can open up the playbook. We’re preparing as if Booty is going to be in there.”

Booty’s return only adds to an offensive puzzle that includes the third-best rushing attack in the Pac-10.

While USC boasts 179.7 rushing yards per game, the Trojans top running back, sophomore Stafon Johnson, is only 10th best in the conference and has been hobbled or absent the last five games with a strained foot.

Still, the team boasts a stable of backs that goes nine deep.

“I’m not sure how that’s going to affect us on defense,” senior defensive tackle Matt Malele said. “You just hear a lot on the radio and T.V. about the depth that they have at tailback.”

While a stacked running game and the return of Booty may have the Cal defense concerned, Carroll said he was also concerned about the Bears offense.

It was not long ago the senior tailback Justin Forsett was the Pac-10’s leading rusher. A few games where he has not hit the century mark in rushing yards has brought him to second.

But Carroll said the running game isn’t the only thing that concerns him.

Even though quarterback Nate Longshore has been tabbed as the starter while nursing a sore ankle, the receivers he throws to—Lavelle Hawkins, DeSean Jackson and Robert Jordan—might be the most experienced receiving corps that the Trojans will face this year.

“They have one of the most explosive groups of receivers that we’ve seen,” Carroll said. “This is a very loaded offense and we’re very weary about them.”

But the onus might be on Forsett, who carried the ball a season-high 32 times last week against Washington State.

Tedford has been known to start his offensive gameplan with the run, but Forsett isn’t fretting that. The senior said that he has been waiting for this game for a very long time.

“It would mean a lot,” Forsett said. “We definitely want to win. That would be most important, especially with all the stuff built around it.”

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