Cal Is Roaring to Earn Respect

There remains a Texas-sized chip on the shoulders of California football players, the Rose Bowl snub still a thorn in their sides.

Bear running back J.J. Arrington was, his teammates say, snubbed by Heisman Trophy and Doak Walker Award voters.

And everyone, it seems, has forgotten that Cal was a mere nine yards from beating top-ranked USC -- for the second consecutive season.

From a Bay Area perspective, it all stems from one thing: a no-Cal BCS diet.

Such are the emotions the Bears (10-1) will tote onto the field at sold-out Qualcomm Stadium tonight, looking to take out some frustration against Texas Tech (7-4) in the Holiday Bowl.

The Red Raiders, a just-happy-to-be-here bunch, will throw a Wild-West-type offense at the Bears. But the opponent provides merely a backdrop to Cal’s woeful tale.

Tonight brings to an end nearly a month of Bear unhappiness, born in the rubble of a bowl championship series that left fourth-ranked Cal out of the Rose Bowl. Coach Jeff Tedford has done his best to try to remove the BCS specter from the Holiday Bowl -- “It is not a statement game; it’s a game where we’d like to come out and reach our potential” -- and some of his players have fallen in line.

“This is history for me,” tackle Andrew Cameron said. “I can say I was the left tackle on the first Cal team to ever win 11 games.”

All that sounds good, but not every Bear is in lock step.

“I think this is a statement game,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “It is a chance for us to prove that we are a top-caliber team.”

The Bears thought that had already been made clear, right down to their regular-season-ending 26-16 victory over Southern Mississippi, which won the New Orleans Bowl two weeks ago. Everything was coming up roses for the Bears -- until the final BCS standings were announced and Texas had leapfrogged them in the poll, landing in the Rose Bowl.

“You know, 10 years from now maybe we’ll look back and laugh,” safety Ryan Gutierrez said. “Right now, we feel we were snubbed. It was a tough thing to swallow. Hopefully, we won’t be remembered just for that.”

The Bears, though, may have already written a “we wuz robbed” legacy. They cried shenanigans when the bowls were announced, pointing to what they called politicking by Texas Coach Mack Brown. His plea to poll voters was, Rodgers said, “a little classless.”

Rodgers has not grown weary of the rhetoric, recently noting, “I stand by everything I have said.”

But bear in mind that the Bears do not hate everything about the state of Texas.

“Oh, no,” Gutierrez said, “just the University of Texas.”

Which makes this a put-up-or-shut-up game for the Bears tonight.

Texas Tech is capable of expanding Cal’s distaste for those from the Lone Star State.

The Red Raiders may not design plays in the huddle using bottle caps, but their pass-happy offense does have a playground look at times.

“They have formations we have never seen before,” Bear defensive end Marvin Philip said.

Sonny Cumbie, Texas Tech’s quarterback, has thrown for 4,596 yards and 30 touchdowns this season.

“It’s like the wishbone offense,” Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach said. “We want all our skilled people to touch the ball.”

The Bears are a little more grounded. While Rodgers remains one of the top-rated passers in the nation, an epidemic of injuries to Bear wide receivers shifted the offense to Arrington, who topped 100 rushing yards in all 11 games and finished second in the nation with 1,845 yards.

Of course, those numbers did not earn him a trip to New York for the Heisman Trophy show, or so much as bring a nomination for the Doak Walker Award (which went to Texas running back Cedric Benson).

“We haven’t gotten respect all year,” Arrington said. “This is just another opportunity to show on national television that we deserve the respect.”

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HOLIDAY BOWL

NO. 4 CALIFORNIA (10-1) vs. NO. 23 TEXAS TECH (7-4)

Site, time: San Diego, 5 (ESPN).

Bowl records: California 6-7-1, Texas Tech 7-19-1.

Last bowl appearance: California beat Virginia Tech, 52-49, in the 2003 Insight Bowl. Texas Tech beat Navy, 38-14, in the 2003 Houston Bowl.