QUARTERBACK

GRADE: A

Steve Levy demonstrated he is not a “one-hit wonder”. After topping the charts with a golden game vs. Stanford in his first start as a Bear, Levy’s effort vs. Brigham Young in the 2005 Las Vegas Bowl was nothing short of platinum. Great quarterbacks don’t just complete passes; they also put their receivers in position to gain significant yardage after the reception.

A perfect example is the touchdown pass Levy completed to DeSean Jackson with three seconds left in the first half. The ball was thrown to a spot that enabled Jackson to utilize his speed and scoot through the defense to the end zone. Had the pass been offline, Jackson may have caught the ball but would not have been able to score.

RUNNING BACK

GRADE: A-

Marshawn Lynch played with an attitude that Bear fans did not see during the regular season. In conference games, Lynch frequently looked for an opening in the defensive line and then ran to the hole. Against BYU, he consistently hit the designated gap quickly and kept driving when the defenders tried to tackle him.

Of course, no game would be complete without Lynch’s signature play – the cutback against the grain. Against the Cougars, it resulted in a 23 yard TD run in the second period.

Justin Forsett fell one yard short of a “grand” season. However, he brushed it off with the observation that “…team goals go way beyond my individual goals”. Forsett’s 999 yards rushing ranks #12 on the all-time Golden Bear list.

Chris Manderino hauled in a pair of passes on one of Coach Tedford’s favorite plays --- “fake a run to the left and have the QB roll right and throw to Mando in the flat”. Wow, we are really going to miss Manderino’s great hands next year…

WIDE RECEIVER

GRADE: B+

DeSean Jackson put on quite a show with six receptions for 130 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His TD catches demonstrated all his skills. The first was the result of a catch and run where he simply “outquicked” the BYU defenders; the second was the product of a spectacular diving grab of a throw into the end zone.

Robert Jordan contributed a brace of receptions for 15 yards and a pair of rushing efforts for ten more.

TIGHT END

GRADE: C

As usual, Craig Stevens did a solid job of blocking.

Eric Beegun’s play must be characterized as inconsistent. He had a couple of pass receptions but also dropped a pass and suffered a critical penalty. David Gray saw a lot of action at wingback but did not find his way on to the score sheet.

OFFENSIVE LINE

GRADE: A-

What a finish for the O-Liners. They showed what they are capable of when healthy. They dominated the Brigham Young DL all evening. In the end, the Cal running backs lit up the BYU defense for 238 yards on 34 carries, an excellent 7.0 yards/attempt.

Their impressive performance was a fitting conclusion, in particular, to the careers of a trio of players, Marvin Philip, Aaron Merz and Ryan O’Callaghan. They arrived on campus to little fanfare yet established themselves as among the best we have seen on the O-Line in the last fifty years.

DEFENSIVE LINE

GRADE: B-

Phillip Mbakogu made the game-saving play with 1:28 left when he hit BYU QB John Beck’s arm just as he was throwing the ball, resulting in a Donte Hughes interception that sealed the Bears’ win.

Brandon Mebane and Nu’u Tafisi contributed 2.5 TFL’s. Overall, however, the DL had a mixed performance. They were unable to apply consistent pressure on Beck and so allowed him time to survey the field and find open receivers.

LINEBACKER

GRADE: B

Led by Desmond Bishop, Mickey Pimentel and Zach Follett (three newcomers to the team this year), the linebacking corps tallied four TFL’s, four pass break-ups and a forced fumble. With the continuous shuttling of linebackers in and out of the game depending on down and distance, Cal’s depth at linebacker paid big dividends against the Cougars. Seven different linebackers appeared in the defensive stats.

DEFENSIVE BACK

GRADE: C+

The Bear defensive backs were severely tested by the BYU spread offense. Brigham Young successfully exploited the middle of the field with repeated passes to tight end Jonny Harline.

They also took advantage of several acrobatic receptions by wide receiver Todd Watkins.

Overall, the Cal DB’s held their ground against an excellent passing scheme, particularly when they received pass rush support from the front seven.

SPECIAL TEAMS

GRADE: A-

David Lonie had an outstanding game. He recorded four kickoff touchbacks in five attempts and averaged 41.2 yards/punt on four kicks. The punt coverage unit yielded one return for three yards.
The only disappointment was a missed 50-yard FG attempt by Tom Schneider.

COACHING

GRADE: B

Offensively, the game plan took advantage of the Bears superior front line with a run/pass ratio of 7-4. It was an ideal scheme for an inexperienced QB to execute and Steve Levy took full advantage.

On defense, BYU benefited when the Bear blitzers were unable to reach Beck. Perhaps it would have been better to flood the field with defenders by rushing only three men in order to narrow the opportunity windows for Beck and his receiving corps.

Attempting a 50-yard field goal when a first down would have put an end to the proceedings was a questionable decision.

Overall, the team was well prepared to play Brigham Young. A couple of tough practices early in the week set the tone and gave the team an “attitude” heading into the contest.

There was no let down this year.

OVERALL

GRADE: B+

Whether it is a bowl game or a key Pac-10 match-up or an out-of-conference game against a D1-AA foe, the goal is always to leave the field with a win.

This was not a junket to “Glitter Gulch”. It was an opportunity to right the wrong of San Diego 2004 and to develop momentum heading into 2006. Coach Tedford and the Bears accomplished their goal – they won the game.

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