SAN DIEGO -- There have been countless seasons when the
California Golden Bears would have been ecstatic to be invited to
the Holiday Bowl. Any bowl, for that matter.
Just not this year.
Fourth-ranked Cal expected to be playing up the freeway at the
Rose Bowl, until the BCS pairings came out and the Golden Bears
were shocked to hear that the Texas Longhorns had leapfrogged them
and were going to Pasadena.
So the Golden Bears came to San Diego and uttered the obligatory
bowl-week mantra of how happy they are to be here for Thursday
night's matchup against No. 23 Texas Tech and its spread offense,
which scored 70 points twice this season.
The Golden Bears (10-1) say they're over their bitterness. But
what they said in early December still stands.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers said then that Texas Coach Mack Brown
-- a two-time Holiday Bowl loser -- "was a little classless" in
begging for poll votes that would help the Longhorns climb in the
BCS standings.
Coach Jeff Tedford said votes in the coaches poll should be made
public.
"I don't regret anything I said," Rodgers said. "I think I
spoke things a lot of people were thinking but maybe didn't have
the opportunity to say or didn't feel like they should say. As the
leader of this team I felt I needed to utter what we were feeling.
We were frustrated.
"But those thoughts are behind us. We're focused on Texas Tech
and hopefully trying to end off the season on a high note."
Actually, the BCS snub was good for everybody but the Golden
Bears. The Holiday Bowl had been headed for an Arizona State-Texas
A&M matchup -- which wouldn't have been great at the box office --
and Texas Tech (7-4) would have gone to the Alamo Bowl.
Now the Holiday Bowl has one of the country's best teams, a
sellout and a matchup that should fit right in with the game's
history of close, wild finishes.
Cal features the underrated tandem of Rodgers, who's thrown for
23 touchdowns, and running back J.J. Arrington, who rushed for
1,845 yards and 14 TDs.
"We're going to put on a show, I think," Rodgers said. "We're
going to score a lot of points. I think they have the potential
too, as well. It's going to be an exciting game. We're 10-1, we
lost to USC. I think we're one of the top teams in the country."
Texas Tech will counter with Sonny Cumbie, who threw for 4,222
yards -- which ranks just third on the Red Raiders' single-season
list -- and 29 touchdowns. Cumbie averages 53 passes a game.
Texas Tech played some Holiday Bowl-style games this year.
It rallied from a 21-0 deficit to beat TCU 70-35, and from 21-0
down against Kansas to win 31-30.
"We've been in the middle of some of those," coach Mike Leach
said. "For good or for bad, we had the two biggest comebacks in
the history of the school this year. You don't want to come back,
but the alternative's worse."
The Red Raiders also beat Nebraska 70-10, the worst loss in the
Cornhuskers' 114-year history.
The Golden Bears certainly haven't played a team like Texas Tech
this season.
"It's unorthodox," defensive tackle Lorenzo Alexander said.
"We've never seen anything like this. It'll be a big challenge for
us to be able to step up and play five wide receiver sets the whole
game.
"It gives me a lot of opportunities to get some sacks,"
Alexander said. "That's the biggest thing for a D-lineman. It'll
be a lot of fun, just pinning your ears back and getting at them a
little bit."