2008 California Golden Bears football team The 2008 California Golden Bears football team represented the University of California , Berkeley in the college football 2008 – 2009 season . They played their home games at California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley , California and are coached by Jeff Tedford . California hosted Michigan State to begin the season on August 30 , 2008 and closed the season at home against the University of Washington on December 6 , 2008 . In addition to the slate of nine conference games , five at home and four on the road , the Golden Bears traveled to College Park , Maryland to play the Maryland Terrapins , while having hosted Michigan State and Colorado State . The Bears finished the regular season in fourth place in the Pac - 10 and accepted a bid to the 2008 Emerald Bowl on December 27 , where they defeated the Miami Hurricanes . The team improved on its 2007 season record of 7 – 6 to 9 – 4 and spent most of the season unranked , breaking into the AP Top 25 three times only to get knocked out each time following a loss . The Bears were finally ranked # 25 in the Coaches ' Poll and just missed getting into the AP Top 25 in January 2009 . Preseason . The aftermath of Cal ' s tumble from potentially being ranked in 2007 led Tedford to declare open competition on all positions . This included at quarterback , where Tedford had come under extreme criticism from the media and Golden Bears fans alike for his decision - making the previous year . Both Nate Longshore and Kevin Riley appeared to be at a standstill through fall practice . But in a surprise move , the younger and less experienced Riley was named the starter for the season opener . However , Tedford indicated that the quarterback competition was not over , and that Longshore would also see action against Michigan State ( he would appear in the second quarter ) . Cal ' s offseason also was noted by the Kevin Hart controversy , where the small town offensive linemen would claim he had been recruited by the Golden Bears , although the athletic department claimed never to be involved with him . Hart would later admit he made the whole thing up . Game notes . Michigan State . The Bears had last played the Spartans in Michigan in 2002 , defeating them 46 – 22 in Tedford ' s first year as head coach . The two teams had only played each other three times in all before their 2008 meeting , with the Spartans winning the other two contests . Both teams were scoreless until a blocked Spartans punt resulted in a Bears touchdown in the first quarter . Cal scored again on a field goal by freshman kicker David Seawright in the second quarter . Michigan State responded when Otis Wiley intercepted a Nate Longshore pass and returned it for a touchdown , while Cal was able to counter with a touchdown run by Jahvid Best prior to the end of the first half . The second half saw both teams score back and forth . The Spartans struck first with a touchdown run by Javon Ringer , followed by Cal QB Kevin Riley connecting with Cameron Morrah for a touchdown . Ringer made his second touchdown run of the game in the fourth quarter , while Riley made his second touchdown pass of the game to Will Ta ' ufo ' ou . After a Spartans field goal , freshman running back Shane Vereen scored on an 81 - yard touchdown run that gave the Bears their final score of the game . The Spartans countered with a touchdown pass from Brian Hoyer to Mark Dell to get within 7 points and had a chance to tie the game with seconds left , but Hoyer threw four straight incompletions from midfield . Longshore , who lost the starting quarterback job to Riley , threw for 62 yards with 2 interceptions . Riley threw for 202 yards with 2 touchdowns . The game marked the first time that two Cal running backs had completed over 100 yards rushing since the 2006 Holiday Bowl , with Best at 111 yards and Vereen at 101 , respectively . Spartans quarterback Hoyer finished with 321 yards passing , including a touchdown and an interception . Ringer , who completed 1 , 447 yards rushing during the 2007 season , was held to 81 yards , which included 2 touchdowns . Washington State . The Cougars hosted the Bears in Pullman , Washington for the first conference game of the season for both teams as well as first year Cougars head coach Paul Wulff . Cal scored early , with Jahvid Best breaking free for an 80 - yard touchdown run on the Bears ' first possession . This was followed by an interception by Syd ' Quan Thompson deep in Washington State territory , setting up a touchdown pass from Kevin Riley to Sean Young . Shane Vereen made a 39 - yard touchdown run on the next possession for the Bears ' third touchdown of the first quarter . A Cougar field goal would prove to be their only score for the game . The Cougars had another chance at scoring in the second quarter , but had a field goal blocked that linebacker Zack Follett was able to return for a 65 - yard touchdown . Riley was able to run in for a touchdown from 27 yards out , while Thompson made an 89 - yard interception that set up another Best touchdown . After the half , Nate Longshore led the Bears in the third quarter . The Cougars were intercepted in the Cal red zone , setting up an 86 - yard touchdown run by Best . This marked the first time that Cal had two runs of more than 80 yards in a single game , as well as in a single season . Cal used its commanding lead in the fourth quarter to give more of its backup players some experience . Following a touchdown by sophomore running back Tracy Slocum , freshman quarterback Brock Mansion was able to take his first career snap . An interception of a Cougars pass in WSU territory gave Mansion the opportunity to make his first rushing touchdown for the final score of the game . Cal produced 505 total yards of offense ( 114 passing and 391 rushing ) and allowed only 167 total yards ( 110 passing and 57 rushing ) to the Cougars , who committed four turnovers . The game marked the first time since 1921 and 1923 that the Bears had won back to back games at Pullman . It was the Cougars ' worst loss since a 1976 loss to UCLA 62 – 3 and the first time that WSU opened the season with two losses since 1999 . Best had exactly 200 yards rushing on 14 carries for three touchdowns , the most by a Cal player since Justin Forsett had 235 against New Mexico State in 2005 . He also became the first player since J . J . Arrington to start the season with consecutive 100 - yard rushing games . The win enabled the Bears to get back into the AP Top 25 at # 23 . Maryland . Cal headed east for its second road game in a row in the first ever meeting between the Bears and the Terrapins with a noon kickoff . The Terrapins jumped out to an early lead and never relinquished it , with Da ’ Rel Scott scoring a rushing touchdown on their first possession . Kevin Riley was intercepted on the ensuing Cal possession , setting up another touchdown run by Scott . Terrapins quarterback Chris Turner threw a touchdown pass to open the second quarter . The Bears were limited to a pair of field goals in the first half , with a possible third one from 25 yards out bouncing off the left upright in the closing seconds of the second quarter . Maryland had only scored 21 points combined in their first two games . In the third quarter , Cal recovered a Maryland fumble , but failed to score and turned the ball over on downs . Maryland extended its lead to 28 – 6 on a 28 - yard touchdown strike from Turner to Darrius Heyward - Bey . Riley was sacked three times . Cal was shut out of the end zone until the fourth quarter , when Riley connected with Cameron Morrah . The Terrapins recovered the ensuing onside kick and was able to respond with a touchdown for their final score of the game . Riley threw two more touchdown passes to bring the Bears within 8 points , but Maryland recovered the ensuing onside kicks and Turner was able to end the game by taking three straight knees . Jahvid Best , coming from back to back games with over 100 yards rushing , was held to 25 on ten carries , with the Bears producing only 38 net rushing yards . Riley passed for 423 yards on 58 attempts , a school record for the most pass attempts . Terrapins quarterback Turner passed for 156 yards and two touchdowns , while running backs Scott and Davin Meggett rushed for 87 and two touchdowns , and 82 yards and a touchdown , respectively . The Bears also gave up five sacks , the most since October 1 , 2005 against Arizona . Humidity was cited as the biggest adjustment that Cal failed to make more so than the time change and Maryland ' s performance in its first two games . The loss brings the Bears ' record to 3 – 7 in its last ten trips to the East Coast and also snapped a ten - game winning streak in the month of September . Colorado State . Although Cal struggled on pass offense and Cal ' s two running backs both committed a fumble early on , the defense and special teams put Cal on the board early in the first half . A Rams punt was blocked and Bryant Nnabuife ran it in for a touchdown , his second of the season . In the same quarter Cal ' s Brett Johnson intercepted Colorado State ' s Billy Farris ' pass for a 43 - yard touchdown . In the second quarter Riley threw an 11 - yard pass to Nyan Boateng for the score after a pass interference call on Colorado State gave Cal a first down . The defense was able to shut out Colorado State for another quarter . In the third quarter Riley was replaced with Nate Longshore who was unable to produce any offense although running backs Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen were consistently gaining first downs . However Cal ' s special teams struck again as Syd ' Quan Thompson ran a punt return for a touchdown . In the fourth quarter , Cal ' s offense finally clicked when Longshore hit Jeremy Ross for a 11 - yard touchdown and Cameron Morrah for another 16 - yard touchdown . The Rams avoided being shut out with a 1 - yard touchdown run by John Mosure that followed a long pass by backup quarterback Klay Kubiak . The final score was 42 – 7 . In addition to the struggles on offense , Cal ' s Jahvid Best walked off the field after dislocating his elbow following a tackle . X - rays showed that there were no fractures and an MRI revealed no ligament damage . Cal ' s Rulon Davis left after half - time with an undisclosed foot injury . Arizona State . The Bears resumed conference play at home against the Sun Devils following a week off . Nate Longshore started for the Bears after Jeff Tedford had him and Kevin Riley compete for the starting position during the week . Cal took an early lead with a field goal in the first quarter followed by a touchdown pass from Longshore to LaReylle Cunningham that resulted from a fumble on the Sun Devils ' first possession . Longshore threw an interception in the closing minutes of the first quarter , but the Sun Devils were unable to capitalize on it . The Bears struck again in the second quarter with a 22 - yard touchdown pass to Cameron Morrah , to which the Sun Devils responded to with a 30 - yard touchdown pass from Rudy Carpenter to Kyle Williams . Cal scored first in the second half , when Longshore connected with Nyan Boateng for a touchdown . Cal was able to block a field goal attempt by Arizona State , but was penalized for jumping on the line , resulting in a first down . This set up the Sun Devils ' final score of the game on an 8 - yard run by Keegan Herring . The Bears defense was able to shut out the Sun Devils in the fourth quarter , intercepting Carpenter for a second time and forcing a fumble that forced them to punt . A Sun Devils field goal attempt in the final minute of the quarter missed . Cal only made one first down in the fourth quarter and spent the rest of the time successfully running out the clock . Longshore finished with 198 yards , including three touchdowns and an interception , moving him up to fifth place on the Cal career touchdown list with 46 . Running back Shane Vereen , stepping in for an injured Jahvid Best , had 93 yards rushing . Tight end Cameron Morrah caught his fourth touchdown pass of the season , the most by a tight end since Garrett Cross in 2004 . Carpenter finished with 165 yards passing , including one touchdown pass and two picks . He injured his ankle in the final minutes and had to leave the game on crutches . The loss marks the Sun Devils ' first three - game losing streak since Dennis Erickson ' s tenure as head coach . The victory allowed the Bears to break into the Coaches ' Poll at # 22 and AP Poll at # 25 following a bye week . Arizona . The Bears put their new # 25 ranking on the line against the Wildcats on the road , where they had lost in 2006 , with Longshore getting his second start in a row for the season . Cal capitalized on a fumble by Arizona running back Nic Grigsby which set up a short pass from Longshore to Verran Tucker . The Wildcats responded in the second quarter with two touchdown runs in a row by freshman running back Keola Antolin of 20 - and 11 - yards , respectively . The Bears tied it up with a 67 - yard by Jahvid Best , who played his first game since dislocating his left shoulder three weeks prior against Colorado State . Cal went ahead with an 18 - yard touchdown reception by Cameron Morrah and a field goal to take a 24 – 14 lead at the half . The Wildcats came storming back in the third quarter , starting with a 56 - yard touchdown pass from Willie Tuitama to Mike Thomas . Antolin rushed for a touchdown for his third of the night , while Longshore was intercepted by Devin Ross less than a minute later for a 21 - yard touchdown . Tuitama then hit Rob Gronkowski for a 35 - yard touchdown and the final score of the game . By comparison , the Bears were only able to score on a lone field goal . Kevin Riley stepped in for Longshore during the fourth quarter but was unable to lead the Bears to a comeback , and both teams failed to score . Best finished with 107 yards rushing , while Antolin ran for 149 yards , marking the first time that Cal had allowed a rusher to go for over 100 in the season . Longshore threw for 218 yards , including two touchdowns and one pick , while Riley threw for 97 yards and one interception . Tuitama threw for 225 yards , including two touchdowns and one interception , and was sacked four times . Wildcats receiver Mike Thomas had 104 receiving yards . The game marked the first time the Bears had allowed more than 40 points since UCLA had scored 47 at home on October 8 , 2005 . UCLA . The Bruins led the series , 49 – 28 – 1 , on the Golden Bears . Kevin Riley started for the Bears , his first since nearly a month before against Colorado State on September 27 . The Bruins took their only lead of the game at the beginning of the second quarter by managing to block a punt attempt by Bryan Anger and recovering the ball in the end zone to go up 7 – 3 . On the ensuing possession Jahvid Best was able to break free for 34 - yard run , the only offensive touchdown in the first half for the Bears . Marcus Ezeff then intercepted a pass by Bruins quarterback Kevin Craft which he was able to return for a 69 - yard touchdown . Both teams then traded field goals into the fourth quarter . After getting a stop on a fake Bruins punt attempt , which nearly converted a 4th and 23 with a 22 - yard pass , Riley hit Nyan Boateng for a 53 - yard touchdown . Michael Mohamed then intercepted a Craft pass for a 19 - yard score . Riley threw his second touchdown pass of the game on a ten - yard strike to Cameron Morrah . UCLA got in the final score of the game when backup quarterback Chris Forcier threw a nine - yard pass to Dominique Johnson , which was set up by a kickoff return by wide receiver Terrence Austin for 81 yards . The victory continued Cal ' s win streak against UCLA at Memorial Stadium , having not lost to the Bruins at home since 1998 . The Bears held the Bruins to 16 yards rushing , while Jahvid Best ran for 115 and Shane Vereen had 99 . Riley passed for 153 yards and two touchdowns , although he was sacked three times . For the Bruins , Craft passed for 206 yards and was picked off four times , two coming off tipped balls . Oregon . The Bears hosted the Ducks on a rainy day at Memorial Stadium with Riley as the starter . Oregon capitalized on an interception at midfield on Cal ' s first possession with a 17 - yard run by quarterback Jeremiah Masoli with the PAT missing . The Bears responded quickly with a 22 - yard pass from Riley to Jeremy Ross on the ensuing possession . Jahvid Best was able to break free for a 50 - yard run from the Cal 20 - yard line , but fumbled the ball in Ducks territory . The Bears held the Ducks and got a safety when Oregon snapped the ball high and into the end zone on a punt attempt . Cal took advantage of the free kick to advance down the field , during which Riley sustained a concussion when he failed to slide while attempting to gain a first down and was sandwiched between three defenders . He did not return to the game and Nate Longshore stepped into the game . Best had his second fumble of the game in the second quarter , but Sean Cattouse then intercepted Masoli to negate it . The Bears fumbled again on a rushing attempt by Shane Vereen but the Ducks were stopped cold on a fourth down conversion attempt in Cal territory . The only score of the quarter was set up by a 50 - yard interception return by Worrell Williams , capped off by a 2 - yard pass from Longshore to Nyan Boateng . Both teams traded field goals in third quarter until the Ducks blitzed down the field from their own 45 - yard line and scored with three plays in 33 seconds on a 17 - yard run by running back Jeremiah Johnson for their final score of the game . In the fourth quarter , Ducks cornerback Jairus Bryd fumbled a punt which was recovered by the Bears , allowing Vereen to score on a 2 - yard run to put the game away . Ducks running back Jeremiah Johnson went over the century mark with a 117 yards rushing , including a touchdown , the second rusher to do so against the Bears . Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli himself had 97 rushing yards , more than double his 44 passing yards , including a touchdown run . Longshore finished with a 136 passing yards including one touchdown , while Best had 93 rushing yards . Verran Tucker was the Bears ' leading receiver with 83 yards . The Bears ' five turnovers were the most since a November 12 , 2005 matchup against USC , while Longshore moved up to fourth place in career passing touchdowns with 49 total . The upset victory allowed the Bears to break into the BCS rankings at # 21 . The Bears also got into the AP Top 25 at # 21 , their highest ranking thus far for the season and the third time they had done so after two road losses at Maryland and Arizona , both unranked at the time . USC . The Bears headed south to face USC at home , putting their highest ranking of the year to date on the line against the # 7 Trojans . Longshore got the start for the Bears and played for the first half , throwing two interceptions that were negated by penalties against the USC defense . The Bears held the Trojans to a field goal in the first quarter before marching down the field to respond with one of their own in the second , their only score of the game . Trojans quarterback Mark Sanchez , on the ensuing possession , then led USC on a 70 - yard drive capped off by a 19 - yard touchdown pass to Patrick Turner . Although the pass appeared on replays to have touched the ground , it was not overturned . The Trojans led the Bears 10 – 3 at the end of the half . Kevin Riley stepped in at quarterback in an attempt to bring the Bears back in the second half . He hit Shane Vereen in the end zone on the Bears ' first possession of the third quarter on a 27 - yard strike , but the play was negated because of an illegal receiver downfield penalty ; he was then intercepted on a tipped pass . Both defenses were then able to keep each side from scoring into the fourth quarter . The Trojans were then able to sustain a drive downfield that ended with a 6 - yard pass from Sanchez to Ronald Johnson to put the game away . The Trojan defense held the Bears to 165 net yards , while its offense produced more than double with 411 . Sanchez threw for 238 yards , including two touchdowns , while Longshore went for 79 and Riley threw for 59 . The Trojans also outrushed the Bears , putting up 173 and holding the latter to only 27 . Jahvid Best was held to only 30 rushing yards on 13 carries . The Trojans won their sixth straight game of the year and their fifth straight game against the Bears . Oregon State . The Bears traveled north to Corvallis , Oregon for their final road game of the season against the # 23 Beavers , who had not yet lost a home game . Jahvid Best took the ensuing kickoff 51 yards to help set up a 5 - yard pass from starter Kevin Riley . The Beavers immediately responded when James Rodgers returned the ensuing kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown , the first kickoff return for a score in the Pac - 10 . Oregon State extended its lead by taking advantage of a 56 - yard punt return by Sammie Stroughter to set up a 2 - yard run by freshman running back Jacquizz Rodgers and would not relinquish it . Cal scored in the second quarter on a trick play when Riley threw a lateral to Jeremy Ross , who then threw a 30 - yard forward pass to Nyan Boateng to make it 17 – 14 Oregon State at the half . The Beavers extended their lead in the third quarter with a field goal and 18 - yard touchdown run by James Rodgers . Best was able to break free for a 65 - yard touchdown run to keep the Bears within a score at 27 – 21 . The Bears had a chance in the final minute of the fourth quarter to make a comeback , but were pinned at their own 6 - yard line on a punt and were set back at the 3 - yard line by a penalty . Riley was then intercepted by Keenan Lewis for a 25 - yard touchdown to seal the victory for the Beavers . Beavers quarterback Lyle Moevao threw for 145 yards , including one interception and a sack , while Jacquizz Rodgers rushed for 144 yards with one touchdown . Riley threw for 117 yards , was sacked five times , and was picked off once . Best ran for 116 yards , with one touchdown . The Bears would finish the season 1 – 4 on the road , their sole win coming against Washington State . Stanford . Cal hosted Stanford for the 111th Big Game . The Cardinal had won the Axe back the previous year , snapping a five - game losing streak , and came in looking to get their sixth win to become bowl - eligible for the first time since 2001 . The Bears were able to score a field goal on their first possession , set up by a 60 - yard run by Jahvid Best . A Cardinal attempt to tie the game with a field goal missed . Cal started a drive late in the first quarter that was halted early in the second when Bo McNally intercepted Kevin Riley on the Stanford 24 - yard line . The Cardinal in turn were able to march downfield and were stopped when Cal forced running back Toby Gerhart to fumble and recovered at the Cal 11 - yard line . Riley then threw his first touchdown pass of the day , a 59 - yard strike to Shane Vereen . Stanford was unable to get into the end zone in the closing seconds of the third quarter with Cal halting Gerhart at the one - yard line and had to settle for a field goal to make the score 10 – 3 at the half . The Bears exploded in the third quarter with three touchdowns in just over four minutes . First , The Bears intercepted Tavita Pritchard on the Stanford 40 - yard line , setting up a touchdown pass from Riley to Cameron Morrah . They scored again on their next possession on a pass from Riley to Sean Young who then lateraled to Best for a 14 - yard score . Best then ran in from a score on Cal ' s next possession , which was set up by a 42 - yard run . The Bears shut down the Cardinal offense , sacking Pritchard three times in addition to intercepting him once . In the fourth quarter , Cal ' s final score came on a 45 - yard run by Best . The Cardinal put up their first points since the first quarter on a 34 - yard pass from Pritchard to Doug Baldwin . They successfully recovered an onside kick to score again on a 10 - yard run by Gerhart . Pritchard was intercepted on Stanford ' s next possession on the Cal 27 - yard line and then again in the final minutes of the quarter to seal the victory for Cal , with the crowd rushing the field in celebration . The loss prevented Stanford from becoming bowl - eligible since 2001 , Tyrone Willingham ' s final year as head coach . Pritchard outpassed Riley , throwing for 306 yards and a touchdown , while Gerhart ran for 103 . Riley threw for 101 yards , including three scores , while Best ran for a career - high 201 yards and scored three times , becoming the seventh consecutive 1 , 000 - yard rusher under Tedford . Washington . The Bears played their final regular season game at home against the winless Huskies in Tyrone Willingham ' s final game as Washington head coach . Cal scored on its first possession when Jahvid Best was able to break free for a 60 - yard touchdown run . On the following possession the Bears were able to march downfield but missed a 30 - yard field goal attempt . However Cal linebacker Zack Follett was able to sack Huskies quarterback Taylor Bean and force a fumble , which the Bears recovered , setting up a field goal from 23 yards . Following an interception by the Golden Bears , Nate Longshore stepped in for Kevin Riley in the second quarter for his final regular season game at Cal ; Best scored with a two - yard touchdown run , followed a 20 - yard run . Longshore threw a 6 - yard touchdown pass to Cameron Morrah with nine seconds left in the quarter to make the score at halftime 31 – 0 . The Bear defense caused three Husky turnovers in the quarter . In the third quarter , Best rushed for his final touchdown of the game on an 84 - yard run . Shane Vereen stepped in at running back to relieve Best , who had rushed for a school record of 311 yards , surpassing a 54 - year - old record held by Jerry Drew for 283 yards . Vereen was then able to score on a two - yard run . The Huskies got in their sole score of the game on a drive that consumed more than six minutes and culminated in a two - yard run by Bean . Cal then put in its backup players to finish the game , managing to prevent the Huskies from scoring in the fourth quarter . Best ' s record - setting 311 - yard rushing game was the fourth best performance in the FBS for the 2008 season and the fifth 300 - yard rushing game in Pac - 10 history . He finished the regular season with 1 , 394 yards rushing as the Pac - 10 rushing leader , surpassing Oregon State ' s Jacquizz Rodgers who did not play the previous week in the Civil War against Oregon on November 29 due to injury . Longshore ' 50th touchdown pass moved him up to fourth overall in touchdown passes for the Golden Bears . The Bears ended the regular season with 23 interceptions , the most since 1953 . The Bears ' victory made their record at home perfect at 7 – 0 and made the Huskies the first 0 – 12 team in Pac - 10 conference history and the only team in the country to finish the 2008 season without a victory . Washington ' s last win had been against Cal in Seattle in 2007 . The Bears had 549 total net yards as opposed to the Huskies ' 200 , and outrushed them 431 to 104 , with net passing yards closer at 118 to 96 , respectively . Emerald Bowl . The Bears faced the Miami Hurricanes on December 27 in the Emerald Bowl at AT & T Park in San Francisco , California ( just across the bay from Berkeley ) , marking the first appearance by either team in this bowl series . Longshore got the start over Riley for his final collegiate game . On the opposite side , Miami started freshman backup quarterback Jacory Harris after starter Robert Marve was suspended for academic reasons . The Bears jumped out to an early 14 – 0 lead on two touchdown runs by Jahvid Best in the first quarter . However the Hurricanes were able to score successive touchdowns on passes from Harris in the second and third quarters , while the Miami defense shut out the Cal offense in the second quarter and limited Cal ' s scoring in the third to a field goal . With the score tied at 17 apiece , late in the fourth quarter linebacker Zack Follett was able to force a fumble on Harris , which the Bears recovered . Longshore was able to connect with freshman tight end Anthony Miller for his 51st career touchdown pass and the go ahead score . Best earned Offensive MVP honors , while Follett was named the Defensive MVP . Aftermath . Cameron Morrah decided to forego his senior season and declared for the NFL draft . He was invited to the NFL Combine alongside Rulon Davis , Anthony Felder , Zack Follett , Alex Mack , and Worrell Williams . Following the departure of offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti for Pittsburgh , he was replaced by Andy Ludwig , who helped guide the Utah Utes to a perfect 13 – 0 season as offensive coordinator . Ludwig had previously worked alongside Cal head coach Jeff Tedford at Oregon and Fresno State , becoming the fifth offensive coordinator at Cal in five years . Players . Depth chart . These were the primary starters and backups through the 2008 season . Mitchell Schwartz started all 13 games and was named a second - team Freshman All - American by " College Football News " , received the Bob Tessier Award as Cal ' s Most Improved Offensive Lineman , and received honorable mention Pac - 10 All - Academic honors .