After a big win against UCLA at The Rose Bowl and Washington State at home , The California Golden Bears are ranked 24th in the nation, in BCS contention, and face another big Pac-10 game against The Arizona State Sun Devils today.
This game is also important because Cal's 5 and 2, and a win puts them at six victories and in "bowl contention" which means the Golden Bears would be picked for some bowl, somewhere, even if it was the Tidy Bowl.
(But Old Blues like myself want the Rose Bowl, and are hoping and praying for Oregon, USC, and Oregon State to tumble. Oregon must beat USC later today.)
Cal's two big weapons are Heisman Trophy contender Jahvid Best and Kevin Riley.
What?
Yes. Kevin Riley.
The man who I once said could overthrow Iran has settled down and into a passing rhythm, completing over 50 percent of his throws (99 of 183) and for 1,454 yards. But here's the real interesting ESPN stat: Riley has thrown for 11 touchdowns verus two, just two, interceptions.
One of them I and other Old Blues painfully remember as the one that brought an end to a glorious opening drive against USC, and started what turned out to be an awful game.
(I am really tired of losing to the USC Trojans.)
But all of this gives Riley a really good 138.49 passer rating as of this writing. Against Washington State last week, Riley threw just 18 times, but completed 12 for 229 yards and three touchdowns against one interception.
And here's the amazing stat I came up with myself based on the ESPN numbers: every time Riley completes over 60 percent of his passes, Cal wins; when Riley makes less than 40 percent of his throws, Cal loses. It's that simple.
This also gives greater value to all the blogging and yammering I've done regarding the need for Cal to have a great, consistent short passing game. A short passing game is a complement to the running game, keeps the ball moving, keeps the quarterback's jersey clean, frustrates the defense, and scores points.
Riley's rediscovered consistency must be maintained if Cal's to get to the Rose Bowl. Much of the credit for Riley's improvement must go to Cal Offensive Coordinator Andy Ludwig, who's game plans have been more intelligent and imaginative in the way they attack defenses (The Wildcat!), and who reportedly finally got "in the face" of the offense and lit a fire under their butts.
Nice job.
GO BEARS!
