This season can be charecterized as a disappointment for the Bears, after being as high as #10 on the AP Poll, Cal then dropped 4 of their last 5, dropping even behind Stanford in the Pac-10 standings. None of that mattered. Back in the old days of mediocrity for Cal football, the only thing that mattered was beating ole rival Stanford. With starting QB Joe Ayoob benched, the walk on QB from New York got the start. Steve Levy guided the Bears to the stomping of the Cardinal. With the win, the Bears move to #4 in the Pac-10 standings, and the Cardinal fall down to #5. The Bear's now have the first 4 game winning streak against the Cardinal in over 30 years, and more importantly, they hold onto the axe.
Cal PP's:
Donnie McCleskey- Cal's "rover" finally was able to roam around instead of looking out for one particular player and it paid off. He was consistently in the Stanford backfield causing havoc. He finished with 7 tackles, 2.5 TFL, and one sack, good enough to put himself back on the draft radar: very positive
Harrison Smith- Like McCleskey, Smith redeemed himself after a poor second half of the season. He was money in coverage and led the Bears in tackles with 8. He is now back on the draft radar as well: positive
Ryan O'Callagahn- He had a very good day, as did the entire offensive line. He still hasn't shown any signs of ever being injured, even though most thought he was done for the year: positive
Marvin Philip- Had a pretty tough task of blocking Stanford's NT Oshinowo, but did an good job on him, not spectacular but good: somewhat positive
Others:
Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett had the running game going again as the two combined for 180 yards rushing.
Desmond Bishop and Tim Mixon are both juniors, but both will be great prospects next year, up to you BC when you want to write them up.
Steve Levy proved himself and now should start in Cal's bowl game. The Joe Ayoob experiment did not work out, and the starting QB at the beginning of the year, Nate Longshore, figures to regain his starting position unless he goes on his mission.
Micky Pimental was the player of the game with 5 tackles, 1 FF, 3.5 TFL, and 2.5 sacks. He played well enough to deserve some draft consideration.
Stanford PP's:
Kevin Schimmelmann- I like the kid's fiery stye of play. He led the Cardinal in tackles with 7 and had 1.5 TFL. May have a chance at the 5th: positive
TJ Rushing- What do you see in him BC? He was beat deep downfield by DeSean Jackson, granted it was Jackson, but still...: negative
Jon Alston- Boy, this guy is FAST. He was sideline to sideline all game, finished with 5 tackles, an INT, 2 TFL and a sack. Probably the best defensive player on that Stanford team: positive
Babatunde Oshinowo- I thought Philip and the OG's did a fairly nice job on him, he was limited to just 4 tackles and 1 TFL: slightly negative
Michael Craven- 4 tackles, was non-existent: negative
JR Lemon- 22 yards off 8 carries, for a 2.8 YPC average. Looked VERY mediocre: negative
Julian Jenkins- 2 tackles, not very much pressure, wouldn't consider him much a prospect at this point: negative
The Bears got the axe baby!!!