CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2009 California

8–⁠5 (5–⁠4 Pac-10), coached by Jeff Tedford.

Schedule and results

California in 2009, game by game: won vs. Maryland 52–13; won vs. Eastern Washington 59–7; won at Minnesota 35–21; lost at Oregon 3–42; lost vs. No. 7 USC 3–30; won at UCLA 45–26; won vs. Washington State 49–17; won at Arizona State 23–21; lost vs. Oregon State 14–31; won vs. No. 18 Arizona 24–16; won at No. 14 Stanford 34–28; lost at Washington 10–42; lost vs. No. 23 Utah 27–37+52−39Won 52–13 vs. Maryland+39MarylandWon 59–7 vs. Eastern Washington+52Eastern Washing…Won 35–21 at Minnesota+14MinnesotaLost 3–42 at Oregon-39OregonLost 3–30 vs. No. 7 USC-27No. 7 USCWon 45–26 at UCLA+19UCLAWon 49–17 vs. Washington State+32Washington StateWon 23–21 at Arizona State+2Arizona StateLost 14–31 vs. Oregon State-17Oregon StateWon 24–16 vs. No. 18 Arizona+8No. 18 ArizonaWon 34–28 at No. 14 Stanford+6No. 14 StanfordLost 10–42 at Washington-32WashingtonLost 27–37 vs. No. 23 Utah-10No. 23 Utah
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsMarylandW 52–⁠1366%
Sep 12vsEastern WashingtonW 59–⁠783%
Sep 19atMinnesotaW 35–⁠2161%
Sep 26atOregonL 3–⁠4240%
Oct 3vs7USCL 3–⁠3042%
Oct 17atUCLAW 45–⁠2656%
Oct 24vsWashington StateW 49–⁠1789%
Oct 31atArizona StateW 23–⁠2159%
Nov 7vsOregon StateL 14–⁠3161%
Nov 14vs18ArizonaW 24–⁠1654%
Nov 21at14StanfordW 34–⁠2839%
Dec 5atWashingtonL 10–⁠4276%
Dec 23Bowls & playoffvs23UtahPoinsettia BowlL 27–⁠3735%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Utah 37–⁠27 in the Poinsettia Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 32nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 12
  2. Wk 2: 10
  3. Wk 3: 8
  4. Wk 4: 6
  5. Wk 5: 24
  6. Wk 10: 23
  7. Wk 13: 21
  8. Wk 14: 19
Record
8–⁠5
Conference
5–⁠4 tied for 5th in Pac-10
AP final
Unranked peak No. 6
Points
378–⁠331
Coach
Jeff Tedford
Elo
1565 −25 this season
SP+ rating
6.5 No. 45 of 120; offense No. 47, defense No. 41, special teams No. 98
SRS
5.3 No. 41 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 37
Offensive coordinator
Andy Ludwig
Defensive coordinator
Bob Gregory
Most valuable player
Jahvid Best, Mike Mohamed and Shane Vereen
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense65th of 120
  • Defense32nd of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted61st of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted33rd of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0438%1.1265th of 120
Defense0.0138%1.0032nd of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.04 off
0.01 def		38% off
38% def		—61st off
33rd def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.1own 312% allowed
Defense-0.2own 321% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsKevin Riley QB2,850 yds
Passing touchdownsKevin Riley QB18 TD
Rushing yardsShane Vereen 952 yds
Rushing touchdownsJahvid Best 12 TD
Receiving yardsVerran Tucker WR453 yds
Receiving touchdownsJahvid Best 4 TD
InterceptionsMike Mohamed LB3 INT

Top recruits in the 2009 class

Steve Williams CB★★★★No. 136
Deandre Coleman DT★★★★No. 153
Allan Bridgford PRO★★★★No. 243
Mark Brazinski OC★★★★No. 246
Dasarte Yarnway RB★★★★No. 318

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2009 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.908
Running backs14.00.896
Offensive line23.50.876
Defensive line23.50.884
Defensive backs33.00.864
Athletes and specialists12.00.733
Whole class103.30.865

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2010

The 2010 draft
Rd 1Tyson Alualu DTJacksonville Jaguars
Rd 1Jahvid Best RBDetroit Lions
Rd 7Syd’Quan Thompson CBDenver Broncos

Roster 106

The 2009 roster

106 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2009 line; 36 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Pac-10

5 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2009 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2009 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oregon8–⁠110–⁠311
Oregon State6–⁠38–⁠5
Arizona6–⁠38–⁠5
Stanford6–⁠38–⁠5
USC5–⁠49–⁠422
California5–⁠48–⁠5
Washington4–⁠55–⁠7
UCLA3–⁠67–⁠6
Arizona State2–⁠74–⁠8
Washington State0–⁠91–⁠11

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.