SAN DIEGO COUNTY CREDIT UNION POINSETTIA BOWL
San Diego, California
#23 Utah Utes (9-3) VS. Cal Bears (8-4)
Wednesday, December 23, 5:00 PM PST
Las Vegas Favorite: Cal -3.0

Sam’s Take (54 – 22):

Prior to the start of the 2009 season many Cal fans believed the Bears would play in a bowl game involving a flower, but the Poinsettia Bowl? It has certainly been an up and down year in Berkeley, and Jeff Tedford would love for his team to end a tumultuous season with a quality win over Utah.

The Utes have been nothing short of remarkable in the postseason, as they will be looking to win their ninth bowl game in a row. Cal hasn’t been too shabby either, as the Bears are looking for their fifth straight bowl victory.

I haven’t been able to properly read Cal all season, so who am I to predict how they will fare in a seemingly even non-conference game? If the Bears come out like they did in the Big Game, Utah will be in for a long night. However, if Tedford’s squad plays like it did in Seattle, its safe to say the Pac-10 will be off to an 0-2 start in bowls for 2009.

I’m not convinced Cal will play with the kind of intensity necessary to beat a team like Utah. Expectations were so high for the Bears and playing on December 23 in San Diego isn’t good enough. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Utes jump out to an early lead behind the legs of 1,000-yard rusher RB Eddie Wide and the arm of talented (and improving) freshman QB Jordan Wynn.

Cal has more talent across the board, but that has been the case in many games this season. The Bears will need QB Kevin Riley to make good decisions and RB Shane Vereen to play like he did shortly after the Jahvid Best injury. But most importantly, the defense must show up and play with passion (unlike it did against U-Dub).

Something tells me the Bears will be sluggish in this one and by the time they wake up it will be a little bit too late.

Prediction: Utah 27 – Cal 24

Utah Player to Keep an Eye On: WR David Reed – Reed is a big time player who had over 1,000 yards receiving this season. The Bears secondary was suspect for most of the year (Cal finished 108th in pass defense) so he could make quite a splash in the box score.

Cal Player to Keep an Eye On: DE Tyson Alualu – Alualu is a dominant pass rusher (7.5 sacks) and he could make life miserable for a freshman QB like Wynn.

Dave’s Take (56 – 20):

Trying to figure Cal out this season (like many seasons before it) has been an act of complete futility. When they are on, they are capable of beating just about anyone, as we saw when they upset the red-hot Stanford Cardinal (in Stanford) in the Big Game. When they aren’t, they are a very mediocre and underacheiving football team.

At least with Utah we have an idea of what we are going to get. The Utes followed up their undefeated 2008 campaign with a very respectable 9-3 record in 2009, with the three losses coming to extremely tough teams on the road in Oregon, TCU, and BYU.

Then again, those were really the only tough games on Utah’s schedule, it isn’t like they aren’t beatable. But which Cal team shows up? Might as well flip a coin.

Short of flipping that coin, my guess is that Cal comes out on the losing end here. Oregon, USC, and Oregon State all proved to be examples of games that Cal SHOULD have been extremely pumped up for that they ended up falling terribly short in. Utah on the other hand I’m much more certain will bring their best, which wouldn’t be enough against Cal’s A game, but will be if the Bears continue to underacheive.

Prediction: Utah 28 – Cal 21