FanHouse NateLongshore

LOS ANGELES -- USC was picked to win the Pac-10 football title for the seventh consecutive year by the media, and yet the coaches from all nine competitors -- including Arizona's Mike Stoops (right) and even USC coach Pete Carroll -- touched on the uncertainty of the Trojans this season.

USC received 28 of the 32 votes with California receiving three while third-place Oregon collected one vote. The Trojans will be breaking in a new quarterback and several new defenders since 11 players were taken in the NFL Draft. Perhaps this is the year another school emerges and takes the crown out of Los Angeles, but they approached Thursday precariously and with respect. There were no declarations that USC is going down or the reign is over -- not even from UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel.

We've already spent a good chunk of FanHouse real estate covering the Golden Bears and the likelihood of their mediocrity in 2008. But in the interest of equal time (and bet hedging), it seems only fair for us to explore the other side of the argument as well. After all, this team has spent their fair share of time in Top 25 the past few seasons, even if they have managed to lose more than a few seemingly winnable/gimme games.

Jeff Tedford's team enters this season as the prototypical wild card: (a) they've been successful the past few seasons but have seemed to struggle under the weight of high expectations, and this year will have a decidedly lower profile than they did the past couple; (b) they have some key departures, but several of the replacements for those who left could actually prove to be a substantial upgrade by the time everything shakes out; and (c) they have a schedule that sees all but one of their tough games take place at the comfy confines of Berkeley's Memorial Coliseum.

Let's take a closer look at how Cal might manage to shock the "experts" and contend in 2008.

Were it not for all the other wackiness in College Football this season, the collapses of California and Oregon Football would be among this year's major story lines. As both teams were poised to take over the number-one ranking in the country, their quarterbacks suffered injuries which sent their seasons on a downward spiral.

Oregon infamously refused to disclose the status of Dennis Dixon's knee during the bye week between games against Arizona State and Arizona, only to have their national championship hopes dislocated against the Wildcats.

But hiding a quarterback injury wasn't exclusive to the Ducks. California quarterback Nate Longshore played the nearly the whole season with a chipped bone in his ankle--hobbling him ever since the Bears beat the Ducks. Bears coach Jeff Tedford admitted yesterday, "There's a little chip in the back part of it there. I didn't get that it was a broken ankle. But Nate had talked to me about a little chip that was in the back there."

California quarterback Nate Longshore returned to practice for the California Golden Bears and according to the official press release, was feeling good about his new leadership role for the team. "I feel real healthy," Longshore said. "The off-season did a lot for me and did a lot for the team especially -- we're a lot closer as a unit."

But the real story wasn't about Longshore's play on the field--apparently he's been spending some extra time in Bay Area hair salons during the off-season. The quarterback has dyed his hair various shades of blue, "from Seabreeze to Indigo," for Fall Camp.

Now I have heard of people keeping salt-and-pepper in their hair in order to gain respect and look older, but going for a blue-hair look seems a bit of a stretch. Since Cal has closed practice to the public and severely restricts still and video photography for press access, we have an exclusive FanHouse artist's rendering of what Longshore might look like.

Longshore says he is planning to return to his natural blonde by the season opener. Who knew there was such a thing as a natural blonde?!?

All week long, local media hyped the explosive offense of the University of California. But when it came to game-day at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, it was the USC defense which won the day.

Cal was limited to less than 100 yards rushing--as a team--and standout wide receiver Desean Jackson was held to just two receptions on the night.

After the game an incredulous Jackson taunted the Trojan defenders on the field because they double-teamed him. But by the end of the game, Jackson was such a non-factor that defensive lineman Brian Cushing was moved to cornerback to cover Jackson.

Nate Longshore confirmed to the SF Chronicle that he and Jeff Tedford have had discussions about when Nate will take his Mormon mission. However, his comments did nothing to clear things up. Although he said that he's definitely going "at some point," timing is an issue, and he's not sure when. Couldn't he have just said that he won't leave Cal to go on the mission? Perhaps there is more to this "Internet rumour" than Nate would have us believe.

Injury Report

The Chronicle also notes that several Bears are banged up, including right guard Noris Malele, defensive end Nu'u Tafisisi, right tackle Scott Smith, and safety Thomas DeCoud, who did manage to play on Saturday against WSU.