Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Utes dispose of Cal 37-27 in Poinsettia Bowl

Heading into its game at Washington, Cal still had the chance to end up in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego, a prize usually reserved for the second place team in the Pac-10.

But Cal lost to Washington and ended up in San Diego for a different bowl: The San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. Worse yet, the Bears could not finish their season with a win, falling to Utah 37-27 in a game that was only close for a few plays in the first and fourth quarters.

"It was really a snowball effect," said running back Shane Vereen, who started in place of the injured Jahvid Best. "We were on track in the beginning and then we just lost our execution."

Utah used every trick in its book, including the Wildcat formation, halfback passes, flea-flickers, double reverses and copious amounts of bubble screens. Most of the plays worked, as Utah racked up 389 yards of total offense and controlled the ball for more than 35 minutes. The Utes' true freshman quarterback, Jordan Wynn, overcame an early interception and finished with 338 passing yards and three touchdowns.

"We think a lot of Jordan Wynn," said Utah coach Kyle Wittingham. "He's unflappable. Ice water in his veins."

But Cal's defense played well enough to win Wednesday night, even if the box score doesn't show it. The offense looked slick and in sync in the first quarter as Cal took a 7-0 lead, but the Bears followed that up by going nearly the entire second quarter without a first down. The only other score for the Bears in the first half came on an interception return for a touchdown by linebacker Eddie Young, just seconds after their first touchdown. Soon Cal's 14-0 early lead had evaporated as Utah's offense heated up.

"There was so much time left, especially with how explosive our offense can be," Wynn said. "It was early in the game and we knew we had to get back into it, and we did."

Heading into halftime, Utah led 24-14 and had all the momentum it could possibly need.

Cal's woes continued in the third quarter, when the team did not get another first down until almost 12 minutes had elapsed. The Bears finally broke through with a touchdown at the end of the quarter, but only after Utah had successfully rattled off 27 unanswered points.

Despite all of their problems, the Bears only trailed by six heading into the fourth quarter. After another Utah field goal, Cal faced a nine-point deficit with less than 11 minutes until the final gun. The comeback attempt was all but dashed when Stevenson Sylvester returned a Kevin Riley interception for a touchdown with 5:27 remaining.

The season ends with Cal losing back-to-back games after compiling an 8-3 record following upsets of Stanford and Arizona. After the game, the players were predictably upset.

"By far man, this is the worst feeling I've had since I've been here," said senior fullback Brian Holley, who played his last game as a Golden Bear.

"This is going to sting for a while," said coach Jeff Tedford.

Senior tackle Mike Tepper also played his last game for Cal, but was significantly less despondent than his teammates. Still, he called the team's final 8-5 record "not good enough," and challenged Cal's fan base to raise their expectations.

"You need to push the football team to be the best that's possible," Tepper said. "To those people who don't believe that 8-5 is a bad season, that's incorrect."

Best, who was a Heisman hopeful early in the season, has likely played his last game for the Bears, but his very productive backup, Vereen, will be back. So too will Riley, who has now been under Tedford's tutelage for four years. Tepper believes there is enough talent to win a national championship next year, even though Bears fans will live with a Pac-10 championship and a Rose Bowl berth.

For now, the 51st season without a Rose Bowl appearance has ended, and Cal fans will have to wait for the 52nd to try again.

No comments:

Post a Comment