Cal’s Bowl Hopes To Be Decided on The Farm

The last few years, while Stanford plummeted to the bottom of the Pac-10 and the Cal football team continued its steady, meteoric ascent, the Big Game’s importance was limited to tradition and the historic rivalry.

Not this year.

The Bears and Cardinal renew their rivalry in the 110th Big Game at Stanford Stadium tonight at 4 p.m., and as Cal offensive tackle Mike Gibson is well aware, a bowl berth may be on the line.

“We still have a chance to play in a great bowl game, that’s enough motivation for us,” Gibson said. “They beat USC and they played close with a lot of good teams.”

The Big Game lost much of its luster over the past few seasons because of the Bears’ outright dominance. Senior tailback Justin Forsett may appreciate the significance of the rivalry now, but admits he was clueless when he first came to Cal.

“I knew nothing about it,” Forsett said. “I’m not gonna lie.”

It looks as though the Big Game is becoming relevant again.

The Cardinal stole back a lot of the Bay Area spotlight with a 24-23 victory over then-undefeated USC and renewed optimism under first-year coach Jim Harbaugh.

While the Bears still maintained the spot as the dominant team in Northern California for half of the season, after losing five out of six Cal will likely get shut out of the bowl picture with a loss against Stanford and an Arizona win over Arizona State.

Instead of going into crisis mode, coach Jeff Tedford has noticeably increased the intensity of practice over the past two weeks and focused on fundamentals.

“I thought they responded well to it,” Tedford said. “We came out and did some basic technical drills about blocking and tackling.”

It is not only Tedford’s mindset that has changed. Some players have taken on more leadership responsibilities since the loss to Washington, perhaps because of the harsh realization that they will play their last Pac-10 game tomorrow.

“Some of the leadership on the team, we should’ve stepped up and started getting after players like Tedford did,” Gibson said.

With DeSean Jackson—who will be in the lineup—suffering from a thigh contusion, and tailback Jahvid Best out for the rest of the season with a hip injury, a win in the seniors’ last regular-season game is far from a sure thing.

The Cardinal has also faltered in five of its last six games, however. It has lost four in a row, including its last two against cellar-dwellers—Washington State and Notre Dame.

Regardless, Tedford is not convinced that Saturday’s game will be a cakewalk.

“You can tell they play with passion,” Tedford said. “I think that’s something they’ve tried to instill over there and it looks like it’s (rubbed) off.”

In the past, the Bears have been the ones playing with noticeable passion. Tedford’s teams pride themselves on establishing the run and winning the battle in the trenches, but that’s been far from automatic over the past six weeks.

“Everybody who plays Cal knows what we’re about,” Gibson said. “We’re a blue collar team. That’s something I think we’ve lost a little bit.”

The blue-collar work ethic under Tedford led to five straight wins in the Big Game. Tedford has never lost against Stanford, and the Bears are inching closer toward eclipsing the Cardinal’s record seven-straight Big Game wins from 1995-2001.

But this year, Stanford’s productivity on offense and defense is significantly higher than last season. Perhaps most importantly, the Cardinal has managed to pressure the quarterback so far with 35 sacks, good for ninth in the nation after averaging a Pac-10-low 1.3 per game last season.

“I look at the size and speed of their defensive line and they’re very athletic,” Tedford said. “They have a lot of talent up front.”

Cal’s own defensive line is still a glaring question mark. Defensive end Rulon Davis is still day-to-day, and starting defensive tackle Matt Malele missed practice time this week tending to a family emergency. This does not bode well for a Bears squad ranking last in the Pac-10 in sacks and seventh in rush defense.

Despite these issues, Tedford has been more fiery than usual out on the practice field, perhaps an indication of the magnitude of tomorrow’s game.

“He’s been a little bit more passionate,” safety Thomas DeCoud said. “When adversity hits it brings out your true character.”

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