The California team that plays the Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium tomorrow is a two touchdown favorite. The point spread is among the reasons the unranked Gophers could surprise and beat the No. 8 team in the country.
Don’t bet your season tickets on it but there’s no reason to enter TCF Bank Stadium looking more lifeless than a bear in hibernation. Coach Jeff Tedford’s mostly successful coaching era (eighth season, 61-30) has been tainted by struggles on the road. The Golden Bears entered this season with a 5-11 road record the last three years, according to a Cal Website, https://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2009/9/16/1026957/on-the-road-again-how-can-cal.
Among the more talked about road losses was last season’s game at Maryland where the Terps won 35-27 after the Golden Bears arrived only a day before the game and made a three hour time change. The Bears flew across the country and while Tedford may or may not think the time change contributed to the loss, he brought his team to Minneapolis yesterday, a day earlier than opponents usually arrive.
When tomorrow’s game begins at 11 a.m. Minneapolis time the California lads could be thinking it’s only 9 a.m. on the West Coast. “I really don’t think it’s an advantage for the Gophers,” Minnesota coach Tim Brewster said.
Maybe, or maybe not. Now go ahead and take the same view about the Bears being a big favorite in the game. Gopher quarterback Adam Weber was asked about a possible advantage if the Bears feel a little too good about themselves. “There’s some truth to that,” he said. “A team like Cal might come in here and overlook us a little bit. But we’ll demand respect right away because of how we play and what we show them. We’re going to have to have a very flawless game on offense and defense. But if we do that, who knows what happens.”
The 2-0 Gophers have shown an impressive defense and timely field goal kicking in close wins over Syracuse and Air Force, but they hardly have seen a sniff so far from national polls and media. That’s not the kind of resume that will cause Cal to be extra focused and neither will playing a Big Ten Conference team.
The league’s prestige has been in free fall for awhile including last season when conference teams won one bowl game. After two weeks the conference has four wins against BCS teams and three losses.
California’s last trip to the Rose Bowl was 1959 and Tedford has fans talking Pasadena with a team that has impressed with home wins over Maryland, 52-13, and Eastern Washington, 59-7. Conversation about the Bears often begins with game-breaking runner Jahvid Best, among the most likely players in the country to contend for the Heisman Trophy.
Best, though, averaged 96 yards rushing on the road last year versus 153 in Berkeley, according to ESPN The Magazine. The whole Cal team only had 38 yards rushing in that 2008 loss at Maryland, according to the publication which quoted a rival coach as saying this about Best: “He is really dangerous. But if you can penetrate and rattle him early, he gets tentative.”
There’s some intrigue about Saturday’s game, so go in with your head up and hope it’s in the same position around 2:30 p.m.