It was a surreal scene after Saturday’s game. The media was instructed to wait for coach Jeff Tedford and players in a designated area. Little did we know it was within earshot of the Cal locker room. We found out soon enough when we suddenly started hearing shouting nearby. It was Tedford, giving his team a tongue-lashing.

I’ve never been privvy before to the dynamics of Cal’s locker room after a game. But my guess is Tedford usually isn’t as demonstrative as he was Saturday. He lit into his team, taking the blame himself and imploring his players not to let this happen again.

As a coach, Tedford seems to be more concerned with the technical side of the game than the emotional side of it. Not that there is anything wrong with that or one way is better than the other. That’s just his style. There have been times during Cal’s struggles in the second half of the season where Tedford has been asked if the team needs more vocal leaders, or if it needs some players to start playing more angry, etc. Tedford hasn’t seemed to concerned with such elements. He’s simply said that’s not the personality of his players. He believes that if the players executed technique and the game plan better, there wouldn’t be as much need for that other stuff.

That’s why I thought it was so eventful that Tedford displayed such emotion after Saturday’s game. We’ll see how the players respond to it. Obviously, there’s not much season left now. Some believe that perhaps Tedford or his players should have gotten angry earlier. Maybe the Bears needed a loss as ugly as Saturday’s to finally get mad.

Obviously, it wasn’t the defense’s finest hour. It’s one thing to play poorly. It’s another to be physically manhandled by an opponent, especially one that hasn’t demonstrated that it can be that dominant at other times during the season. It certainly was an uninspiring performance, and a little surprising too because it seemed like the defense actually had been improving in the past two games.

Cal held its usual short conditioning workout Sunday night. Defensive coordinator Bob Gregory called the mood “somber.” Gregory obviously was incredibly disappointed with Saturday’s effort. He said he was “shocked” by his unit’s performance and said it was a “meltdown” in every phase imaginable. I’ll have more on Gregory and the defense in Tuesday’s paper.

Tedford talked to his players about who they are, what statement do they want to make as the season ends, etc. He said the last one or two games will be a chance to show what this 2007 team is made of. In most bye weeks, the younger players get a lot of the reps. Tedford said that won’t be the case this week, that guys who play will continue to get most of the reps.

Tedford said wide receiver DeSean Jackson and running back Justin Forsett won’t do much this week. Jackson suffered a thigh contusion Saturday and Forsett’s ankle flared up again late in the game. Forsett has been battling that ankle injury all year long.

Don’t be surprised if freshman Jahvid Best is shut down for the rest of the year. Best missed Saturday’s game with a hip injury and is on crutches. Cal still doesn’t have a definitive diagnosis. Best has undergone multiple tests and they are being evaluated. But usually when guys get tests and it takes a while to determine the diagnosis, it’s not good news. Best is arguably the most important player to Cal’s future, so you can bet the coaching and training staff will be cautious with him.

Here’s a link to photographer Jose Carlos Fajardo’s weekly slideshow:

As disappointing as Saturday’s loss was for the Bears, most people would have probably figured Cal may have had a hard time beating the Trojans before the season. Granted, USC clearly isn’t the team everybody thought it would be, but based on what we have seen this season, the Trojans still likely are the better team. The fact that they are still nationally ranked and were favored in Saturday’s game speaks to that.

Still, as the game moved into its final stages Saturday, you got the feeling Cal was right there on the same level as USC. Neither team dominated the other. Each team was able to run the ball well in the soggy conditions. Neither team could get much of a passing game going. Each team committed crucial turnovers.

That’s what made Saturday’s loss a little more hard to take for the Bears, especially for the seniors. The Bears had the game tied in the fourth quarter and appeared to have seized the momentum.

Obviously, there has been a lot of negative feedback about Nate Longshore and the passing game. It does seem a little disturbing that this late in the season that the quarterback and receivers aren’t on the same page. On three different throws, a receiver appeared to break in a different direction that Longshore expected. After each play, Longshore and coach Jeff Tedford appeared to have an animated discussion on the sideline. After the game, Longshore took full blame for those plays and the rest of the team’s performance on offense. He said the receivers were doing their job on those plays, which implies Longshore made the wrong reads. That’s something that obviously shouldn’t happen with an experienced quarterback.

Also, Tedford said Longshore’s second interception slipped out of his hands because of the wet weather. Longshore said he simply made a bad pass. I’m not sure if Longshore is just trying to face the music and avoid making an excuse, but obviously the wet weather does make it hard to throw the ball as effectively as usual.

That is one of the couple of things I will say in Longshore’s defense. It’s not like John David Booty tore it up either. The Trojans didn’t have much of a passing game themselves. I think both teams’ aerial attack struggled in the wet weather. I will also say that we shouldn’t forget that USC entered the game ranked third in the nation on defense.

That being said, Longshore certainly made some poor passes, and again, the miscommunication with the receivers is a bit disturbing. Longshore did make a good read on the touchdown pass to Lavelle Hawkins that tied the game. Yes, Hawkins had to stretch to make the catch, but Longshore did put it in a place where it couldn’t be intercepted.

Despite Chauncey Washington’s career night in rushing, I thought Cal’s defense actually played pretty well. A lot of Washington’s yardage came on big plays sprinkled in throughout the game, and then he just wore the Bears down with 62 yards on the game-deciding scoring drive. The rain may have had something to do with it, but Cal obviously held Booty and the passing game in check.

I think the last two regular season games will say a lot about the legacy the 2007 team leaves behind. Saturday was the Bears’ last real chance to show the world it is an elite team. Wins over Washington and Stanford won’t do that. But what they will do is demonstrate that Cal still wants to have the best season possible.

Here is the link to the slideshow from Saturday’s game, done aptly as always by our staff photographer, Jose Carlos Fajardo.

Saturday’s game had to have observers wondering what has happened to Cal’s offense. It’s hard to believe this is the same team that just over a month ago had to win by outscoring its opponents. Against Washington State, the Bears looked like a team that had to rely on their defense to win, a laughable thought earlier in the season.

But Cal’s offense played that way. The Bears simply chipped away for yardage and controlled the ball and the clock. The big play, which used to be what the offense was predicated on, was nonexistent until Justin Forsett’s pivotal 44-yard run late in the fourth quarter that gave Cal a 20-9 lead.

There were no long pass plays to DeSean Jackson or Lavelle Hawkins. There were no explosive runs by Jahvid Best. There was just a team methodically picking up yardage, enough to allow its defense to go to work and win the game.

But the good news about the offense’s workmanlike performance is that is actually helped the defense. One of the problems with the defense that the coaching staff has been lamenting all season is that it’s on the field too much. Well, with the Bears controlling the ball for almost two-thirds of the game, Cal’s defense was well-rested throughout. That may be one of the reasons the defense played by far its best game of the season.

Another reason: Zack Follett. There were such high expectations for Follett heading into the season, but it’s been hard for him to get into the swing of things since suffering a neck stinger in the third game against Louisiana Tech. He played his best game of the season Saturday, recording six tackles and a sack with three pass break-ups. He was all over the field ruining Washington State’s best-laid plans. Follett adds a dynamic to Cal’s defense that makes a significant difference.

It’s hard to know what will happen this Saturday against USC. Before the season, this was supposed to be the game of the year in the Pac-10. As we all know, it hasn’t worked out that way. On one hand, the Bears barely beat the ninth place team in the conference on Saturday, and they were at home. On the other hand, we’ve seen Cal beat Tennessee and Oregon, so we know what the potential is. It seems one thing is for sure — the offense will have to produce more than it did against the Cougars to give the Bears a chance against the Trojans.

If Cal is able to beat USC, it could make for an interesting look at the Pac-10 standings. If Arizona State beats UCLA and Oregon State beats Washington, there will be a four-way tie for third place in the conference. Suddenly, the Bears would be in better position to go to one of the Pac-10’s better bowl games. It seems as though third place would still be the most realistic goal for Cal, which would put the Bears in the Sun Bowl. But if Oregon somehow makes it into the BCS title game, the other teams would up a notch and it would be Holiday Bowl again for Cal.

But that’s getting way ahead of ourselves. Even if the Bears are able to beat USC, it would still depend on what other teams do, and Cal itself would have to take care of business against Washington and Stanford.

Well, obviously a lot has happened over the past three games that has changed Cal’s season dramatically. After each of the first two losses, there was a sense that although players were down, there was still hope that a big prize at the end of the season was still in reach. You can’t say that anymore.

I’ll be interested to see what players have to say at tomorrow’s weekly press luncheon. Nobody on this team has ever lost three in a row. How well will the Bears stay motivated? What’s the most realistic bowl game they can get to?

I know there are a lot of questions and concerns. Let’s start off with the quarterback situation. Several people have asked why Jeff Tedford didn’t replace Nate Longshore with Kevin Riley on Saturday. My take is that Tedford believed Longshore, even with his gimpy ankle, still gave Cal the best chance to win. Yes, Riley showed flashes during his performance against Oregon State, but let’s not forget that Longshore is a veteran quarterback who has won his share of games at Cal. And this game was on the road. Riley played his game at home.

There’s no question that Longshore’s interceptions in the fourth quarter were pivotal. Were they a product of his bad ankle? Possibly. He was being pressured on both plays and it seemed to effect his throwing mechanics. Tedford speculated that since Arizona St. was doing a good job pressuring him in the second half, Longshore may have been in a hurry to get rid of the ball.

Tedford wasn’t asked directly if he thought of putting in Riley (don’t forget that the game ended very late and there wasn’t much time for the press to ask questions because of deadlines). But Tedford did say that he asked Longshore how he was feeling and Longshore said he was OK. Obviously, we all could see that Longshore was hurt to some extent. His definition of “OK” must have meant he was well enough to play.

The maddening thing about Saturday’s game was that Cal got off to such a strong start on both sides of the ball and then had it all go downhill midway through the second quarter. The Bears blitzed on third down on each of the Sun Devils’ first two possessions and each time it resulted in a sack of quarterback Rudy Carpenter, the second time causing a fumble which Cameron Jordan returned for a touchdown. Cal blitzed on another third down late in the first quarter and it forced an incompletion by Carpenter.

But after that the Bears couldn’t get as much heat on the quarterback. There were a few times they came close, but Carpenter either eluded the pressure or got a pass off in time. Cal’s defense also appeared to wear down late in the game, probably a product of being on the field too long. It resulted in several missed tackles and some good running by Arizona St. running backs Keegan Herring and Dmitri Nance.

Tomorrow should provide an update on the health of Longshore and defensive end Rulon Davis. Davis looked strong early on in his return from a four-game absence because of a sprained foot, but went down again in the second half. He was wheeled to the locker room on a cart after the game.

Yes, Nate Longshore’s interception at the end of Saturday’s game was devastating, but overall the Bears had to be happy how he performed coming back from his sprained right ankle. He was on the mark for 22 of 34 completions for 232 yards and three touchdowns, although he also threw three picks (the final one essentially was meaningless with Cal trailing by nine with time winding down).

Longshore’s effectiveness was due in large part to the offensive line’s ability to protect him. Obviously, the line struggled to create running room for the Bears’ ground game, but it was clear the Bruins were focusing on stopping Cal’s rushing attack. Longshore and the Bears took advantage.

It was telling to listen to some of Cal’s defensive players after Saturday’s game. Many of them spoke of it being “gut-check” time. Once again, the Bears allowed an opponent to put together sustained drives against them. And even though the numbers show that it wasn’t the defense’s worst performance, some of that was because of the unforced mistakes UCLA made on offense. Penalties, overthrown passes and some questionable coaching caused some of the Bruins’ drives to stall.

The discourse coming from Cal’s players shows the difference between winning and losing in terms of attitude. The Bears didn’t necessarily play any worse on defense than in some other games this season, but it obviously becomes more magnified in a loss. Whatever the reason, it’s probably a good revelation for the Bears, because their defense is not playing at a championship-caliber level, and it hasn’t for most of the season.

I know this is not breaking news, but the implications of Cal’s loss at UCLA on Saturday was just another reminder that college football desperately needs a playoff system. What does it say to the players that the goals they have for a season can essentially be dashed before they reach November?

This is not to say that Cal definitely would even be included in a playoff this year, but listening to the players talk about playing for pride or playing the role of spoiler because they had lost two whole games just doesn’t seem right.

Our current system makes it so teams are knocked out of the national championship race after two losses, sometimes one. Cal could win its last five games and still have no hope of playing in the BCS title game. For a lot of teams, this argument is irrelevant. Many teams aren’t national championship-worthy to begin with and are simply trying to have the best season possible and go to the best bowl game possible.

Maybe Cal isn’t national championship-worthy either, but let’s not forget that two weeks ago the Bears were the No. 2 team in the nation. They’ve beaten quality teams such as Oregon and Tennessee. But because of the current system, their ultimate goal of playing for a national championship has been dashed.

That’s not saying the players still shouldn’t be motivated to have as successful a season as possible. The Bears could still get to 10 wins and perhaps finish the season in the top ten. But it just doesn’t seem right to see tears in the players’ eyes when the season is only about halfway over, because they know they can’t reach their ultimate goal.

This will be an interesting week for Cal’s coaches and players. We will see if they can re-evaluate their goals in a healthy manner. The challenge for the coaching staff is to make sure the players understand what is still left to play for. This is especially important because the Bears have another tough challenge ahead at Arizona State this week. Another loss there could really test the mental toughness of the Bears.

One thing coach Jeff Tedford was asked was if Kevin Riley should have thrown the ball away Saturday even after he crossed the line of scrimmage. Riley said after the game he feared there would be a clock run-off, but that wouldn’t have been the case. Tedford said there would have been a five-yard penalty but the clock would have stopped until it was placed back in play.

Another thing that may have got lost is the mobility that Riley exhibited on a few plays that allowed him to avoid a sack or buy some time to find a receiver. The highlight, of course, was his reality-defying pass completion to tight end Craig Stevens in the third quarter. With OSU defensive end Dorian Smith dragging him to the turf, Riley threw sideways into double coverage but still somehow completed it to Stevens for a 23-yard gain.

“I knew he had some mobility,” Tedford said. “The one to Craig, you’re not sure anybody has that ability. He had the guy hanging all over him, he’s falling down sideways and throws the ball. You don’t want to live on those type of plays. It worked out that time.”

Cornerback Brandon Hampton had a funny response when I asked him what effect losing the starting quarterback right before kickoff might have on the team’s psyche. He said he didn’t even know Riley was starting until the Bears took the field for the first play from scrimmage.

Hampton and Worrell Williams, the two defensive players I talked to Sunday night, both gushed about Riley’s performance.

“He’s here for a reason,” Hampton said. “I know in practice he shows signs of being good. He played pretty well. I was proud of him for his first game. I wasn’t disappointed at all. Whether you’re a veteran or it’s your first start, you’re going to make bad choices. (The final play) wasn’t necessarily a bad choice. It just wasn’t the right choice.”

Williams: “Kevin Riley did an awesome job. I can’t say enough about what he did. I think if he ever gets in another game, he’ll look like a much better Kevin Riley. And he looked awesome in that game. I got a whole bunch of calls from people saying that they loved him. They loved his reads, his gutsiness, and his mobility.
“We turned the ball over or something and I looked him in the face and said, ‘you’re not doing anything wrong. Just keep doing what you’re doing. We believe in you. The defense is going to rally behind you.’ I thought he went out there and did an awesome job.”