California coach Jeff Tedford is widely known as a quarterback
guru, jump-starting six college quarterbacks to potential NFL
careers in the last 11 years.
But over the last three years, Tedford has transformed Berkeley
from a quarterback factory to a haven for up-and-coming running
backs as well.
In 2003, Cal running back Adimchinobe Echemandu ran for 1,234
yards, the third-highest total in school history, and 13
touchdowns.
Last season, the Bears had the Pac-10’s best running back
in J.J. Arrington, who broke school records by rushing for 2,056
yards and 15 touchdowns, finishing second in the country with an
average of 168 yards per game on the ground.
“It just so happened that last season we lost some of our
receivers toward the end of the season, and we had to focus more on
the run,” Tedford said on a conference call with
reporters.
So how could Cal possibly replace Arrington’s
production?
With arguably the Pac-10’s best true running back this
season in Marshawn Lynch.
And even when Lynch broke his pinkie in only the team’s
second game at Washington this season, Cal still had two remaining
big threats at running back in its arsenal.
The well appears to go as deep as Tedford needs it at running
back, as sophomore Justin Forsett and junior Marcus O’Keith,
who prior to this season combined for 400 total yards in their
careers, eclipsed that mark in just two games.
That depth has propelled Cal to be one of the strongest rushing
teams in the country once again, currently averaging 260 yards a
game on the ground, second in the Pac-10 to USC.
And against UCLA this Saturday at the Rose Bowl, all three
running backs, Lynch, Forsett and O’Keith, will be pitted
against a Bruin run defense coming off of its poorest showing of
the season against Washington.
“They’ve had good backs since I’ve been
here,” UCLA senior linebacker Spencer Havner said.
“It’s going to be Adrian Peterson all over
again,” said Bruin defensive coordinator Larry Kerr,
referring to UCLA holding the Oklahoma running back to a career low
two weeks ago.
“We have to hit them, make them run sideways, and not let
them run downhill. We just have to play a much more physical game
than we did against Washington.”
While Lynch is the most heralded and most physical of
Cal’s running backs, the smaller 5-foot-8-inch Forsett may be
the quickest of all three.
To complement their assortment of quality running backs, the
Bears also feature one of the best offensive line units in the
country.
Cal was the only team in the Pac-10 with two members of its
offensive line named to the first-team All Pac-10 in 2004, both of
whom, center Marvin Philip and offensive lineman Ryan
O’Callaghan, are blocking and creating holes the size of
Bruin Walk once again this season.
The offensive line’s experience has paved the way for
Lynch and Forsett to average over 100 yards per game through the
team’s first five games, while O’Keith is right behind
them at 79 yards per game.
And with the news earlier this week that starting UCLA defensive
end Nikola Dragovic would miss the rest of the season, the Bruin
defense knows it’ll need to summon its best effort to hold
its own against Cal’s offensive line.
“That’s obviously a problem, because losing Dragovic
was a tough blow for this team,” Kerr said.
“We’re not really deep at defensive line. That’ll
be the biggest challenge for us, controlling the line of scrimmage
and defeating those big guys. We don’t want to get pushed
around.”