Holiday Bowl 2011, Texas Vs. Cal: Longhorns Clamp Down In 21-10 Win

After the Texas recruiting juggernaut managed to survive the Great Coaching Purge following the 2010 season with only one 2011 prospect decommitting, the revamped staff had to turn quickly to the recruiting trail already behind on evaluations for the upcoming class, all while beginning to forge a slightly different staff take on how to handle the process.

The first obvious change came with the commitment of Scottsdale Chaparral (AZ) quarterback Connor Brewer before the first Junior Day, a rarity given that Texas hasn’t officially offered before the Junior Days in years. More traumatic was the following change -- Texas received only three committments at the first Junior Day in February, normally a recruiting bonanza for the Longhorns that netted 13 pledges in 2010, with six more by the end of February. It was shocking enough to spark concerns about a potential sea change in recruiting, perhaps as a result of 5-7.

5: Turnovers committed by California, four of the fumble variety. Texas allowed just 195 yards, forced five turnovers (worth 21.8 equivalent points, as defined here), sacked Zach Maynard six times ... and won by 11? This should have been a complete massacre. But Texas’ own offensive limitations, along with quality defensive play from the Golden Bears, meant only 255 yards for the Longhorns and only a handful of scoring opportunities.

9: Three-and-outs. Texas had five, and Cal had four; plus, two other Cal drives ended within three plays because of a turnover. As I mentioned in the preview, fans of strong defense would probably enjoy the hell out of this game. I hope they did, because fans of offense, sustained drives, etc., didn’t have much going for them in this one.

Texas added one more touchdown for good measure on the first play of the fourth quarter, coming on a four-yard Cody Johnson touchdown. The Texas defense forced one more turnover, a fumble, as Cal tried to claw back into it late in the fourth quarter, sealing the win and running out the clock on the ensuing possession.

For more on the Longhorns, visit Burnt Orange Nation and Barking Carnival. For a view from the Bears’ side, head over to California Golden Blogs.

The Cal offense has been lost for most of the game and the Texas defense has proven to be quite an effective killer of points this game.

But the lead was short-lived. Malcolm Brown and Ash ran for 29 yards before the long touchdown pass to Goodwin. Offense is alive and kicking in the second half.

At halftime, neither team has reached 100 yards of total offense. Cal has 71 and Texas is close with 96. One hundred sixty-seven total yards of offense does not making for an exciting game, obviously.

This has been all the excitement in an other wise boring game so far.

Cal almost didn’t get the chance to put points on the board, but keen eyesight and a review allowed Cal to retain the ball. Texas punted and it appeared that the Cal returner had muffed the catch, allowing Texas to regain possession. However, it was ruled that Texas illegally touched the ball on the play, giving Call the ball (but not until after a lengthy talk on the field and then a look at the video).

Brown is 60 years old, so the extension, if he signs it and is approved by the UT Board of Regents, would take him until he’s 67. The reason for the extension, other than the obvious — Brown’s the best coach Texas has ever had, a national title winner, and routinely brings in the best recruits in a talent-rich state — is to address swirling rumors that Brown was leaning toward retirement, which Brown himself denied. From the same story:

If there’s a more Texas way to address rumors than throwing another $11 million or so at a football coach, I don’t know of it.

NOTE: Confused? See the quick glossary at the bottom.

We tend to remember the high-scoring bowl games, the Hawai’i Bowls of years past, as the exciting ones. And if that is the standard for exhilaration, this year’s Holiday Bowl is likely to fall well short. But if you’re interesting in things like “good defense” and “strategy,” this may still be the game for you.

After starting strong at 4-0 with wins against UCLA and Iowa State, the Longhorns couldn’t hold up to the gauntlet that was the Big 12 this year, falling to Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas State and Baylor, sprinkling in wins against Texas Tech and Texas A&M along the way. They’re a talented team, as always, but they’ve been wildly inconsistent this year.

Cal is entirely reliant upon star quarterback Zach Maynard, and as he has gone, so have the Golden Bears. They’ve gone on a nice little run at the end of the year to earn their spot in the Holiday Bowl, riding Maynard’s arm to the tune of 763 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. If they can get a performance from him like that in the bowl, they’re going to be tough to stop

Jeff Tedford is the winningest coach in Cal football history and led his squad to a 7-5 overall record in 2011. The Golden Bears had big wins over Utah and Arizona State and took Stanford to the wire in a 31-28 battle. California won three of its last to finish 4-5 in the new look Pac 12 Conference.

Tedford is 1-1 in Holiday Bowls with the Golden Bears, who are 10-9-1 all-time in postseason play. California’s last bowl game appearance came in the 2009 Poinsetta Bowl, a 37-27 loss to Utah, snapping a four-game bowl win streak for the Golden Bears.

High hopes were the hallmark of college football’s centenary anniversary season opener between Texas and California at Memorial Stadium in Berkley, CA. The teams harbored aspirations fueled by the breakthrough successes of their 1968 campaigns. For both the outcome of the Sept. 20, 1969 game had been planted a year-and-a-half prior.

The summer of 1968 had been anything but lovely for the University of Texas football team. After a trio of four-loss seasons, the Longhorn’s national championship of 1963 already seemed part of a bygone era. As head coach Darrell Royal prepared for his 12th season in charge in Austin, he found himself looking for ways to restore the program’s vitality.

“Yes, I’m still upset about it,” former Cal and current Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers told the San Jose Mercury News. “We’ve got ‘em now in the Holiday Bowl. Seven years later.”

While there are no players on either team remaining from those two teams that season, it still adds a bit of energy to the game, especially from the perspective of Cal fans.