Messy finale, cloudy future
After season ends in rout, Tedford to meet with A. D.
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Cal went quietly into the night in its season finale Saturday, losing 62- 14 to No. 15 Oregon State. The news Sunday might be more significant.
Cal athletic director Sandy Barbour was expected to meet with Jeff Tedford to address the coach’s future after the Bears ( 3- 9, 2- 7 Pac- 12) suffered their worst season of his 11- year tenure.
Asked if he expects to be back next season, Tedford said: “I don’t know. My job is to develop players. We’ll get back to work tomorrow and get ready to move on.”
Barbour did not say what Tedford’s future would be.
“Now that the season is over, Jeff and I will get to work ( Sunday) on what the solutions are for us to get better,” she said. “We will start the conversation.”
Tedford seemed in high spirits before kickoff, enthusiastically slapping hands with each of his players during warm- ups.
But it took less than six minutes for the Beavers ( 82, 6- 2) to go in front, with Pleasanton native Sean Mannion throwing the first of his school- record- tying four first- half touch down passes, an 11- yarder to wide receiver Markus Wheaton.
Mannion finished 24 of 34 for 325 yards.
Oregon State sophomore Terron Ward, a De La Salle High grad, rushed for 128 yards, including second- half touchdowns of 47 and 17 yards. The second of those assured that Cal gave up 50 points in consecutive games for the first time since 1973.
Cal sabotaged itself with six personal- foul penalties and three turnovers in the first half, creating its largest halftime defi cit of the season, 35- 7. By the second half, the rain was heavier and many of the 43,779 fans at Reser Stadium had seen enough.
The Bears wound up with 15 penalties for 172 yards, including seven personal fouls.
The litany of lows established by the Bears is substantial:
They finished the season with five consecutive defeats for the first time in 28 seasons, losing those games by a combined 21274.
Cal suffered just its n seventh nine- loss season since it began playing football 130 years ago. n
The Bears finished the year having scored only 276 points — 34 fewer than in any of Tedford’s previous 10 seasons.
All of it adds up to an atmosphere of uncertainty for Tedford, Cal’s winningest all- time coach.
He took over in 2002, a year after Cal went 1- 10, and guided the program to seven consecutive bowl games from 2003- 09.
Tedford’s early success could work against him now. His recent teams are measured against his earlier clubs, which twice won 10 games.
The Bears will have missed postseason play twice in the past three seasons. Since the start of 2010, Cal is 15- 22 with only two wins over Football Bowl Subdivision teams with winning records.
Beyond all that, the issue that will make Barbour’s decision particularly tricky is that the Memorial Stadium renovation, which Tedford’s success helped make happen, comes with a $ 321 million price tag the athletic department hopes will be paid down by fans willing to buy expensive seat endowments.
Briefly, Saturday night looked promising for the Bears.
They answered Oregon State’s first touch down, marching 82 yards in nine plays to tie the score at 7- 7 when Isi Sofele dashed in from 9 yards with 6: 30 left in the first quarter. Sofele set up the score with a 21- yard run on the previous play.
But Oregon State came right back with a 68- yard scoring drive, sparked by a 38- yard run by Storm Woods. Woods then appeared to score on an 8- yard run, but a review showed he was down at the 1. So fullback Tyler Anderson scored on the next play, and the Beavers led 14- 7 with 4: 34 left in the opening period.
Mannion threw a 48-yard touch down pass to Brandon Cooks midway through the second quarter as the Beavers extended their lead to 14 points, then a 14- yarder to Connor Hamlett for a 28- 7 lead with 7: 13 left in the half.
Mannion had one more touchdown pass in him before halftime, throwing 6 yards to Micah Hatfield, who tiptoed the back line of the end zone to pull it in.
Cal junior quarter back Allan Bridgford, starting his second consecutive game, scored his first career touchdown on a 1-yard sneak with 58 seconds left in the third quarter.
As has been the case regularly this season, the Bears took the field without all their front- line manpower. Quarterback Zach Maynard ( knee), wide receivers Keenan Allen ( knee) and Bryce Treggs ( ankle) and offensive tackle Matt Summers-Gavin ( knee) missed the game.
Three surprise additions to the Cal injury list included starting outside linebacker Brennan Scarlett, who twice this season has broken his right hand and now is fighting a related infection. Also not on the trip were safety Avery Sebastian ( knee) and defensive lineman Viliami Moala ( concussion).
The Beavers can tie for the Pac- 12 North title if they beat Oregon next week and Stanford loses to UCLA. But Oregon State would lose the tiebreaker to Stanford because of its loss to the Cardinal a week ago.