Holiday Bowl Recap

Cal 45, Texas A&M 10
Finally, a damn win for the Pac-10. After three sad showings from the Ducks, Sun Devils and Bruins, the Bears actually won a big game and showed the Big 12 what Pac-10 football is really about. Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett both ran for over 100 yards, Nate Longshore barely let a pass hit the ground and Desmond Bishop and Co. punished Stephen McGee and the rest of the Aggie offense.

I really thought that 275 pound Jorvorskie Lane was going to get more than seven carries for A&M, but evidently Dennis Franchione didn’t feel the same way. Cal is used to seeing quick tailbacks like Mike Goodson in the Pac-10, not Rosie O’Donnell-type beasts like Lane. So why did Goodson get twice as many carries? I don’t know. Lane never went down on the first hit and usually was dragging a couple Bears behind him before hitting the ground. But they leaned on Goodson and never tired the Cal defense enough to break off any big plays. Goodson ended up with 62 yards and Lane had 36, which wasn’t enough to set up much of a passing game. Cal’s defense didn’t dominate the Aggies’ offense, as they gave up 349 yards, but they limited the big plays and stopped A&M three times on fourth down. They also laid out some big hits, particularly on Stephen McGee, with Daymeion Hughes and Desmond Bishop doing the most damage. McGee popped right back up, but never could get the Aggies back into the endzone after scoring on their opening drive.

The big story was the Bear ground game, which totaled 241 yards and accounted for five of Cal’s six touchdowns. Lynch ended up with 20 carries for 111 yards and 2 TDs while Forsett had 124 yards and a score on only 8 attempts. Basically, the Bears offensive line ripped open huge holes in the Aggie “Wrecking Crew” and gave Longshore time to pick apart their secondary. He averaged almost 10 yards per pass and completed passes to eight different receivers in route to leading Cal to almost 500 yards of total offense. It was a quintessential beating, with 31 straight points to end the game. This is what Cal should have done against Tennessee. At least they saved some face for themselves and the Pac-10 with this game.