December 28, 2007

Steve Megargee
Rivals.com College Football Staff Writer

California and Oregon expected to end the season in Pasadena or New Orleans instead of Fort Worth and El Paso.

The change in postseason destinations reflects their dramatic reversal in fortune. Both were ranked as high as second in the nation before undergoing dramatic late-season slides that knocked them out of BCS consideration.

This is getting to be all too familiar for Oregon, which ended the 2007 regular season on a three-game losing streak after dropping its final four games a year ago. But at least the Ducks (8-4) can blame their late-season slide on a knee injury that knocked out star quarterback Dennis Dixon.

California has no such excuses and continues to search for answers. The Golden Bears (6-6) enter Monday's Armed Forces Bowl against Air Force trying to avoid the indignity of ending the season with a losing record.

"We've got to go back and look at a lot of things," California coach Jeff Tedford said after the Golden Bears ended the regular season with a 20-13 loss to Stanford. "There's injuries, there's schedule, things like that. We had a chance to be in every game and had an opportunity to win every game we played. And that's probably the most frustrating thing."

California started 5-0, including a victory at Oregon, and would have been ranked first in the nation if it had beaten Oregon State at home on Oct. 13. The Bears instead lost 31-28 with starting quarterback Nate Longshore sidelined because of a sprained right ankle.

Longshore returned the next week, but the Bears never recovered. California's only win since the start of October ? a 20-17 triumph over Washington State ? was sandwiched by a pair of three-game losing streaks.

Preseason Heisman Trophy candidate DeSean Jackson hasn't returned a punt for a touchdown since a season-opening victory over Tennessee and hasn't scored a touchdown of any kind since Oct. 27. Longshore has thrown 11 interceptions and only nine touchdown passes in the six games since his return.

California has 21 giveaways and 11 takeaways in the seven-game span that started with that loss to Oregon State. And the Bears have allowed at least 30 points in four of their past seven games.

The end of the Stanford game summed up California's late-season slump. After the Bears drove into the red zone in the final minutes, Lavelle Hawkins dropped a potential game-tying touchdown pass. Two plays later, Nick Sanchez intercepted a Longshore pass at Stanford's 8.

"It's not like they're the better team," California linebacker Worrell Williams said afterward. "They're not. There's no way, no how. You guys know that. Everybody knows that. But taking nothing away from them, they came out and played hard. They're a good team, but we killed ourselves. And that's why we've had this slump. And it's unfortunate."

Injuries offer another reason for California's slump. Jackson missed the Stanford game with a thigh bruise, though he's expected to return for the Armed Forces Bowl. The ankle injury that prevented Longshore from playing against Oregon State has bothered him throughout the second half of the season. Backup tailback Jahvid Best was averaging 7.6 yards per carry before he suffered a season-ending hip injury last month.

"You watch that opener, the game against Tennessee, and the weapons they had were just phenomenal ? the open-field speed, the quickness, the big-play ability that they had," Calhoun said. "To me that's the biggest difference. Longshore, you can tell he's a tough kid, and, like a good soldier, he's competing out there. But he's going to really benefit from having a few weeks off."

Of course, no injury California has suffered can compare to the knee problem that wrecked Oregon's season. The Ducks moved into first place in the Pac-10 and controlled their destiny in the national championship race after beating Arizona State 35-23 on Nov. 3. That win came a week after Oregon beat USC. Dixon also made himself the Heisman Trophy front-runner with his performance against Arizona State.

At the time, hardly anyone knew the severity of the knee injury Dixon had suffered against Arizona State. Although his injury originally was reported as a knee sprain, Dixon actually had torn his anterior cruciate ligament that day.

Dixon attempted to continue playing with a knee brace, but he aggravated the knee injury in the Ducks' next game against Arizona and sat out the rest of the season. An offense that had been as explosive as any in the nation with Dixon at quarterback managed just one touchdown in its first seven quarters without him.

Making matters worse, Oregon backup quarterback Brady Leaf was hurt the following week in a 16-0 loss to UCLA. The Ducks will enter Monday's Sun Bowl against USF with either Justin Roper or Cody Kempt at quarterback. They were running the scout team in early November.

The instability at the quarterback makes Oregon look like a prohibitive underdog in the Sun Bowl, though USF coach Jim Leavitt doesn't see it that way.

"This is a very athletic team that's extremely well-coached and really strong at the line of scrimmage, and now they have a month to prepare two quarterbacks into doing what these quarterbacks can do best," Leavitt said. "And that is going to be a challenge for our defensive coaches because you don't know exactly what (the quarterbacks) are going to do."

Dixon also remains confident in his team's chances. He pointed out how much better Roper and Kempt performed when the Ducks closed the regular season with a 38-31 overtime loss to Oregon State.

"That UCLA game ? everything was pretty much thrown at them," Dixon said. "Giving them a week to prepare (for Oregon State) and actually seeing them grow in the process was great. This off time, I see them getting even better and having an even better performance."

Considering how California and Oregon were playing at the end of the regular season, the time off certainly can't hurt either team.

MORE: Armed Forces Bowl: Cal vs. Air Force | Sun Bowl Preview: Oregon vs. South Florida

Steve Megargee is a national Rivals.com. He can be reached at smegargee@rivals.com.