Cal Brings Issues, Talented Best to Rose

(first published on KLAC's Bruins Board --- 10/15/09)

It's a matchup of two reeling Pac-10 teams in Pasadena on Saturday. Both California and UCLA have hit the skids of late.

The Golden Bears were thankful for a bye last weekend that at least guaranteed they wouldn't get blow out again. Prior to that, eighth-year coach Jeff Tedford saw his Cal crew destroyed 42-3 by Oregon on the road before USC throttled the Bears 30-3 on their home turf. It hasn't been pretty, to say the least.

"We're struggling right now to get our swagger back, you know, and our confidence about what we're trying to do," said star tailback Jahvid Best earlier this week. "I still believe in this team and I know everybody in our locker room does to. Hopefully, we can get back on track (against UCLA on Saturday)."

The word is out on how to defend California. Teams who stack the line and contain the uber-talented Best have a shot to beat California. The junior running back had just 102 yards on 30 rushing attempts the past two weeks as both Oregon and USC pressed eight up in the box and took Best out of the game.

When teams have trouble carrying the rock, they usually turn to the air. But Golden Bears' junior quarterback Kevin Riley is only completing 51% of his passes this season, though he does have a good ratio of five touchdowns to just one interception. He couldn’t complete 40% of his passes against Oregon or Cal.

Additionally, the Golden Bears' defense was shredded in both of its last two contests, giving up 524 yards to Oregon and 457 to USC. It hasn't made Tedford happy. "This team has as much talent as any group in the conference," he proclaimed in Tuesday's teleconference. "I know we're capable of better things collectively, but we have to get some momentum rebuilt and rolling first."

California's problems aside, the UCLA Bruins are 3-2 and coming off of two straight troubling defeats. The team could only muster 16 points on the road at Stanford and just 10 a week later home to Oregon. Just when it looked to be turning a corner, the running game for the Bruins has headed south with just 95 yards on 26 carries against Stanford and a miserable 66 yards on 33 carries against Oregon.

Defensively the team has been good against the pass but has been struggled against the run in each of the past two games. Freshman Bruins quarterback Kevin Prince will get the start again despite a 13 for 25 performance for 81 yards last week home to Oregon. The freshman is hitting on 54% of his attempts this season with 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. The Bruins are 9th in the Pac 10 in total offense producing just 282 yards per game and a miserable 4.5 yards per play average.

One of these clubs will turn it around and get the confidence going again on Saturday at the Rose Bowl. With both of these teams so up and down so far this year, it's hard to predict who that's going to be. When in doubt, go with the home team.

Prediction: UCLA 24 - California 21

-JAB