Kickoff - Arizona at California (Saturday, Nov. 14)
California (6-3, 3-3 Pac-10) plays its final home game of the season against No. 17 BCS/No. 18 AP/No. 19 USA Today Arizona (6-2, 4-1 Pac-10) at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 14 (4 p.m. PT). The game will be televised nationally on Versus.
Cal had a three-game winning streak snapped with a 31-14 home loss to Oregon State in its most recent contest. The Golden Bears also have lost standout TB Jahvid Best for at least the Arizona game with an injury sustained on a scary fall in the second quarter against the Beavers on Nov. 7. Trailing 14-0, the Bears drove 15 plays and 81 yards over 7:33 in an impressive drive that was capped off by Best's 7-yard TD run. But when Best leaped in for his 16th touchdown of the season, he was hit and landed hard in the end zone. Best, briefly knocked unconscious, was attended to by medical personal on the field before being transported to Highland General Hospital in Oakland. He remained at the hospital overnight for observation and tests before being released on Sunday. CT scans and x-rays came back normal.
Arizona has been one of the nation's hottest teams of late and currently sits in second place in the Pac-10 only one-half game behind league leader Oregon. The Wildcats are coming off a three-game home sweep of Stanford, UCLA and Washington State, and have won four of their last five. Arizona opened its Pac-10 action with an impressive 37-32 road win at Oregon State. The Wildcats' only two losses of the season have come at Iowa (ranked No. 4 and undefeated until losing to Northwestern last Saturday) and Washington. The Wildcats lead the Pac-10 in total offense (448.6 ypg) and rank second in total defense (298.6 ypg).
Cal-Arizona Series Notes
The all-time series between Cal and Arizona is tied, 13-13-2. Cal has won four of the last six overall, including three straight in Memorial Stadium. Both teams have won each of their last two contests against the other on their home fields, most recently with Arizona's 42-27 victory in Tucson last season. Cal was a 45-27 winner the last time the teams played in Berkeley in 2007. Saturday's game marks the first time the Bears will play a ranked Arizona team since 1998. For more information on the Cal-Arizona series, see page 30.
Cal Falls Out of AP and USA Today Rankings, BCS Standings
Cal dropped out of the latest AP and USA Today rankings, as well as the BCS Standings, released on Sunday, Nov. 8, after falling 31-14 to Oregon State last Saturday. The Golden Bears did not receive votes in either poll. Cal had been No. 20 in the BCS the previous week and No. 23 in both the AP Top 25 rankings and the USA Today poll. Cal was the nation's No. 12 team in both the AP and USA Today rankings in the preseason and had risen six spots to No. 6 in both on Sept. 20 after a 3-0 start before falling out of both polls for four weeks after back-to-back losses at Oregon (Sept. 26) and vs. USC (Oct. 3). Cal was unranked in the first BCS Standings released Oct. 18 but made its debut the following week at No. 24.
Cal in the 2009 National Rankings
Date AP USA BCS Date AP USA BCS
Preseason 12 12 --- Oct. 11 NR NR ---
Sept. 8 10 10 --- Oct. 18 NR NR NR
Sept. 13 8 7 --- Oct. 25 NR NR 24
Sept. 20 6 6 --- Nov. 1 23 23 20
Sept. 27 24 19 --- Nov. 8 NR NR NR
Oct. 4 NR NR ---
Simply The Best - Cal's Jahvid Best
TB Jahvid Best has been one of the nation's top running backs through the first nine games of the 2009 season and is one of 16 semifinalists for Maxwell Award given to the nation's top college football player. Best, who will miss this Saturday's game vs. Arizona due to an injury sustained last Saturday vs. Oregon State, has 867 rushing yards on 141 carries for an average of 6.1 yards per attempt and 96.3 yards per game. He needs just 133 yards to give Cal a 1,000-yard rusher for the eighth consecutive year. Best also has 16 touchdowns overall (12 rushing, 4 receiving), moving to within two TDs of the all-time record (18, Duke Morrison, 1922) and within one of the modern-era school mark (17, Lindsey Chapman, 1993). His 12 TDs on the ground are only three shy of the single-season record of 15 he equaled last year. Best set a single-game school record with five rushing TDs, to go along with 131 yards on the ground on a career-high 26 carries at Minnesota on Sept. 19. Best is among NCAA and Pac-10 leaders in several categories, including a scoring average of 10.67 points per game that ranks tied for second in the Pac-10 and tied for third nationally. He is also fourth in the Pac-10 and No. 28 in the nation in rushing (96.33 ypg), and No. 14 in the conference in total offense with the same per-game average. In addition, he is eighth in the Pac-10 in all-purpose running with an average of 122.00 yards per game (1098 total - 867 rush, 213 receive, 18 kick return).
Jahvid Best Rushing at Cal
Year G Att Yds TD Long Avg Avg/G
2007 10 29 221 2 64 7.6 22.1
2008 12 194 1580 15 86 8.1 131.7
2009 9 141 867 12 93 6.1 96.3
Totals 31 364 2668 29 93 7.3 86.1
2009 Jahvid Best Game-By-Game (Att-Yds-TD)
Game Rush Receive Game Rush Receive
Maryland 10-137-2 2-23-0 at UCLA 18-102-1 2-51-1
E. Wash 17-144-1 2-19-1 WSU 13-159-2 1-27-1
at Minn. 26-131-5 3-17-0 at ASU 18-63-0 7-61-1
at Oregon 16-55-0 2-14-0 OSU 9-29-1 1-(-4)-0
USC 14-47-0 2-5-0
Jahvid Best in the Cal Career Record Book
Rushing Touchdowns
1. Russell White (1990-92) - 35
2. Chuck Muncie (1973-75) - 32
3T. Jahvid Best (2007-Current) - 29
3T. Marshawn Lynch (2004-06) - 29
Touchdowns
1. Duke Morrison (1920-22) - 42
2. Russell White (1990-92) - 40
3. Chuck Muncie (2004-06) - 37
4. Jahvid Best (2007-Current) - 35
100-Yard Games
1. Marshawn Lynch (2004-06) - 17
2T. Chuck Muncie (1973-75) - 15
2T. Russell White (1990-92) - 15
4. Justin Forsett (2004-07) - 15
5. J.J. Arrington (2003-04) - 14
6. Jahvid Best (2007-Current) - 13
Rushing Yards
1. Russell White (1990-92) - 3367
2. Marshawn Lynch (2004-06) - 3230
3. Justin Forsett (2004-07) - 3220
4. Joe Igber (1999-02) - 3124
5. Chuck Muncie (1973-75) - 3052
6. Paul Jones (1975, 77-79) - 2930
7. Jahvid Best (2007-Current) - 2668
All-Purpose Running Yards
1. Deltha O'Neal (1996-99) - 4998
2. Russell White (1990-92) - 4943
3. Marshawn Lynch (2004-06) - 4574
4. Chuck Muncie (1973-75) - 4194
5. Jahvid Best (2007-Current) - 4045
Scoring
1. Doug Brien (1991-93) - 288
2. Duke Morrison (1920-22) - 277
3. Jim Breech (1974-77) - 260
4. Tom Schneider (2004-06) - 257
5T. Mark Jensen (1999-02) - 244
5T. Robbie Keen (1987-90) - 244
7. Russell White (1990-92) - 242
8. Chuck Muncie (1973-75) - 224
9. Jahvid Best (2007-Current) - 210
Offensive Output Has Been Key to Winning
Cal's fate has largely rested on the performance of its offense this season. In the team's six wins Cal is averaging 43.8 points per outing, while the club is scoring only 6.7 points per contest in its three losses. The team started the campaign with back-to-back 50-point games in victories over Maryland (52-13) and Eastern Washington (59-7) to mark the first time the Golden Bears had put together consecutive 50-point contests since the 1973 club accomplished the feat with a 51-6 victory over Army on Sept. 29 and a 54-49 win against Washington on Oct. 6. Cal had never before opened a season with back-to-back 50-point games and its combined 91-point margin of victory was also the largest in the first two games in school history. In addition, Cal defeated Washington State, 49-17, on Oct. 24 to fall just one point short of its first season with three games of scoring at least 50 points since the 1922 squad accomplished the feat. Cal has won its last 27 games when the Bears score at least 30 points, including five this season. The Bears are averaging 487.8 yards of offense in their six victories, compared to 243.7 in the three losses. Overall, the Bears' 406.4 yards per game of total offense marks the sixth time in the last seven years that Cal is averaging better than 400 yards per game of total offense. Cal has gone over 400 yards of total offensive six times in 2009 and been over 500 twice.
Comparing Cal's Offensive Stats in Wins, Losses
Category Wins Losses
Points Per Game 43.8 6.7
Rushing Yards per game 234.3 67.3
Passing Yards per game 253.5 176.3
Total Offense per game 487.8 243.7
Big-Play Bears
The Cal offense has posted 55 plays from the line of scrimmage of at least 20 yards in the first eight games of 2009. The Bears have had 37 different passing plays go at least 20 yards to 10 different receivers (WR Marvin Jones - 9, TE Anthony Miller - 6, WR Jeremy Ross - 5, WR Verran Tucker - 4, TB Jahvid Best - 3, WR Nyan Boateng - 3, TB Shane Vereen - 3, FB Brian Holley - 2, WR Jarrett Sparks - 1, WR Alex Lagemann - 1). On the ground, Best has accounted for 12 of the 18 runs for 20 or more yards, while Vereen and TB Covaughn DeBoskie-Johnson have two each, and TB Isi Sofele and Ross one apiece. During one stretch, Cal scored 11 consecutive touchdowns on plays of at least 20 yards (all six at UCLA, first five vs. Washington State). Of the 11 touchdowns, seven came on plays of at least 40 yards and five on plays of at least 51 yards. The string of long scores also included a 68-yard interception return by LB Mychal Kendricks at UCLA and a 76-yard punt return from Ross against WSU.
Riley Co-Leads Pac-10 in TD Passes
QB Kevin Riley co-leads the Pac-10 with 14 touchdown passes thanks mostly to an impressive stretch during Cal's most recent three-game win streak (at UCLA, Washington State, at Arizona State), when he completed 53-of-85 passes (62.4%) for 785 yards and eight touchdowns with only one interception to compile a 168.64 passer efficiency rating over the period. He put up his biggest numbers of the season in Cal's most recent victory at Arizona State (27-44-351-2 TD). Riley's play is critical to the Bears success as evidenced by the numbers he's put up in the team's three losses at Oregon and vs. USC and Oregon State. In those three games, Riley was a combined 46-of-105 with one touchdown and two interceptions for an 84.90 passer efficiency rating. Overall, Riley is fourth in the Pac-10 in pass efficiency (135.5 ypg), and fifth in total offense (228.3 ypg) and passing yards per game (222.8 ypg). Overall this season, he is 145-of-261 (55.6%) for a career-high 2,005 yards and has only three interceptions.
2009 Kevin Riley Game-By-Game Passing
Game C-A-I-Yds-TD Game C-A-I-Yds-TD
Maryland 17-26-0-298-4 at UCLA 14-23-0-205-3
E. Wash. 13-20-0-148-1 WSU 12-18-1-229-3
at Minn. 16-25-0-252-0 at ASU 27-44-0-351-2
at Oregon 12-31-0-123-0 OSU 19-34-1-200-1
USC 15-40-1-199-0
Mohamed Remains Pac-10 Tackles Leader
LB Mike Mohamed continues to lead the Pac-10 in tackles with a total of 81 and an average of 9.0 stops per game. Mohamed has led or co-led Cal in tackles in five of the last six contests. He has double-digit tackles four times this season, including a season-high-tying 12 on three occasions and at least seven stops in each of the last seven games and eight of nine contests overall. He also had a pair of interceptions at Minnesota and is the only Cal player with more than one interception in 2009. Last year, he tied for second on the squad with 87 tackles despite playing mostly as a reserve.
Jones Paces Team in Receiving
WR Marvin Jones leads the team in receptions (23), receiving yards (390) and receiving touchdowns (5). Jones had the biggest game of his career at UCLA on Oct. 17, when he set new personal highs for both receptions (4) and receiving yards (89), and recorded the first multiple-touchdown game of his career with a pair of first-half TD grabs.
Anger Strong over Last Four Games
P Bryan Anger has averaged 46.3 yards per punt over 24 attempts during the team's last four games with nine of his last 24 punts going at least 50 yards. He averaged 50.0 yards per punt at UCLA Oct. 17, including a season-long 72-yarder, and 53.0 ypp at Arizona State Oct. 31. Overall, Anger has 13 kicks of at least 50 yards and has had 17 boots land inside the opponent 20-yard line. The 2009 Ray Guy Award candidate has racked up honors of late, winning a College Football Performance Award as Punter Performer of the Week (10/17), CFPA Punter Performer of the Week (10/31) and the Pac-10 Special Teams Player of the Week (10/17).
Three-Game Winning Streak Snapped
Cal's second three-game winning streak of the season (at UCLA, Washington, at Arizona State) was snapped with the team's 31-14 loss to Oregon State at Memorial Stadium last Saturday. The Bears opened the campaign at 3-0 with home victories over Maryland and Eastern Washington before a road win at Minnesota. The pair of three-game winning streaks marks the first time the Bears have won at least three games in a row twice in a season since the 2004 club won its first three games before losing once, and then peeled off seven straight victories to close the regular season.
Rushing Game Bogs Down in Last Two Contests
Cal has been held to an average of 48.0 rushing yards per game in its last two contests, including a season-low 39 in the Bears' most recent outing vs. Oregon State after a then season-low 57 yards in their previous game at Arizona State. The 2009 Bears had been averaging 216.0 yards per game through the first seven contests but are now down to an average of 178.7 yards rushing per game. The 2004 (256.8 ypg) and '05 (235.2) Bears both led the conference in rushing, marking the first Cal team to accomplish that since 1958, and were both over 200 yards per game, which broke a 28-year drought of hitting the mark. Cal has had 200 or more rushing yards four times in its first eight contests (vs. Maryland, vs. Eastern Washington, at UCLA, vs. Washington State) this season with a high of 342 against Eastern Washington and another 300-yard plus effort vs. Washington State (309).
New Television Streak Started
Cal's string of 38 consecutive televised contests was broken on Oct. 24 when the Cal-Washington State game not televised, but the Bears have started a new streak with telecasts of their two most recent games at Arizona State (ABC) and vs. Oregon State (FSN/CSNBA/AFN). Prior to this year's Washington State contest, the last time a Cal football game had not been telecast live was at Washington State on Oct. 14, 2006. Cal has had every game during a season televised only twice in school history, in 2007 and again in '08. To date, 10 of Cal's 12 regular-season games have been picked up for television, including its next game against Arizona on Versus this Saturday, Nov. 14 (4 p.m. PT). Cal's regular-season finale at Washington will air on Comcast SportsNet California (3:30 p.m. PT), while a television broadcast announcement for the Big Game at Stanford on Nov. 21 is expected either Monday, Nov. 9, or Sunday, Nov. 15. A total of 83 games (including this Saturday's game against Arizona) have been televised over the last eight seasons compared to 41 in the seven seasons prior to the arrival of head coach Jeff Tedford in 2002.
The Tedford Factor
Jeff Tedford has compiled a 65-33 (.663) record as Cal's head coach. Tedford ranks fourth on the school's all-time win list and needs only two more victories to equal the legendary Pappy Waldorf (67-32-4, 1947-56) for the most wins at Cal in the modern era and move into third place on the all-time list behind Andy Smith (74, 1916-25) and James Schaeffer (73, 1909-15). Tedford has coached 98 career games at Cal and is only three from becoming the third person in Cal history to coach 100 games with Waldorf (103) and Stub Allison (102, 1935-44) the only two to have previously done so. He is on track to coach his 100th Cal game in this year's Big Game at Stanford on Nov. 21. Tedford is 6-1 in Big Games and has also led his teams to school records of six straight bowl games (5-1 record) and four consecutive post-season victories, as well as seven consecutive winning campaigns. The team has been bowl-eligible for each of the last eight years, also a school record with the six-plus wins for eight consecutive campaigns tying a school mark.
Tedford and the Pac-10
Head coach Jeff Tedford has compiled a 39-26 (.600) mark against Pac-10 opponents after taking over a team in 2002 that had not had a winning season in conference play since 1991. Tedford's 2006 club shared the Pac-10 crown with USC and six of his first seven teams (2002-08) placed at least fourth in the final league standings with the 2004 squad taking second. No Cal coach has won at least 60 percent of his conference games since Pappy Waldorf was 40-21-4 (.646) from 1947-56.
Bowling Bears
Cal became bowl eligible for the eighth consecutive season after its 23-21 win at Arizona State on Oct. 31. Cal was bowl eligible in 2002 with a 7-5 record in Tedford's first season as head coach but was not selected for a bowl. Cal's school-record six straight bowl appearances and four consecutive bowl wins since are listed below.
2003 - Insight Bowl (Cal 52, Virginia Tech 49)
2004 - Holiday Bowl (Texas Tech 45, Cal 31)
2005 - Las Vegas Bowl (Cal 35, BYU 28)
2006 - Holiday Bowl (Cal 45, Texas A&M 10)
2007 - Armed Forces Bowl (Cal 42, Air Force 36)
2008 - Emerald Bowl (Cal 24, Miami 17)
Arizona Game Rounds Out Home Season
Cal's game against Arizona this Saturday, Nov. 14 (4 p.m. PT), will conclude the Golden Bears' 2009 home schedule, where the Bears have been both extremely successful and popular over the past six campaigns (2004-09). During this time period, Cal has posted an overall record of 30-6 (.833) in Berkeley and has actually put up a 32-6 mark (.842) dating back to the final two home contests of 2003. In fact, Cal is a perfect 32-0 at home against teams other than Oregon State (0-4) and USC (0-3), who have combined to go 7-0 at Memorial Stadium since the Bears knocked off the Trojans at home in 2003. Cal has been unbeaten at home three times (2004, '06, '08) under head coach Jeff Tedford and has won 10 its last 12 at Memorial Stadium. The Golden Bears' popularity is shown by a current streak of 36 games with at least 50,000-plus fans in attendance at Memorial Stadium for every contest over the last six seasons. Cal is on pace to draw 60,000 or more fans per game for the fifth time in six years this season with an average crowd of 60,697 over its first five dates of 2009, including a sellout of 71,799 vs. USC on Oct. 3. In terms of total numbers, Cal attracted its second-highest total ever in 2008 with 431,437 fans attending seven home dates. Only the 2006 season, which drew 450,223 fans and averaged a record 64,318 spectators per contest, has had a larger final total home attendance count.
