By JOEDY McCREARY, AP Sports Writer
December 5, 2004
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) -- California coach Jeff Tedford was praising J.J.
Arrington and couldn't resist the chance to give his fourth-ranked Golden Bears
one more plug for entry into the Bowl Championship Series.
Arrington ran for a season-best 261 yards, his school-record 11th straight
game with more than 100 yards, in Cal's 26-16 victory over Southern Mississippi
on Saturday night.
``He's a very solid, consistent performer for us,'' Tedford said. ``There
has to be something said for consistency throughout the year.''
Like a BCS bid?
``I would hope so,'' Tedford said. ``That's the way I would look at it.''
Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes and California scored on a bizarre
special-teams play in the closer-than-expected win. The Golden Bears (10-1)
learn Sunday if it will result in their first Rose Bowl bid since 1959.
``We want the Rose Bowl so bad we can taste it,'' defensive lineman Lorenzo
Alexander said.
The Bears were fourth in the latest BCS standings, barely ahead of Texas.
They need to stay ahead of the Longhorns to earn a trip to Pasadena, Calif.
``Our one loss was to the No. 1 team in the country,'' Rodgers said,
referring to Cal's 23-17 loss to Southern California two months ago. ``Texas is
a very good team as well. Their one loss was to (Oklahoma), the No. 2 team in
the country. We're hoping the computers stay the same and the human voters
don't change their minds.''
Rodgers was 15-for-28 for 223 yards for Cal, which had 546 total yards, held
Southern Miss to 23 yards rushing and finished with 10 regular-season wins for
the first time since 1949.
Southern Miss, a 24-point underdog, pulled to 17-16 on Dustin Almond's
1-yard touchdown run with 5:56 to play.
But Darren McCaleb's potential game-tying extra-point attempt was blocked by
Thomas DeCoud. Wendell Hunter returned it 85 yards for two points, giving Cal a
19-16 lead.
Arrington then ran 56 yards up the middle to set up Marshawn Lynch's
game-sealing 12-yard touchdown run with 4:51 left.
``They made it look easy,'' Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower said.
Arrington said he had two sets of pollsters to impress -- the voters who
decide the national rankings, and those who determine the Heisman Trophy
winner.
``I don't know what else I've got to do,'' Arrington said. ``I've been
humble all year about it, but I'm going to speak out now. I'm the only back in
the nation who rushed for 100 yards every game. That's a tribute to my
(offensive) line. ... Man, something's got to go right.''
Almond threw for a career-high 304 yards on 17 of 37 passing for Southern
Miss (6-5), which plays North Texas in the New Orleans Bowl on Dec. 14.
``Around here, we're used to being the underdog and that's the way we like
it,'' Almond said. ``We went out there today knowing we had nothing to lose.''
Cal took the lead for good with touchdowns on consecutive second-quarter
possessions.
Rodgers tied it at 7 on his 36-yard pass to Geoff McArthur, who ran through
one tackle and sidestepped another on his way to the end zone.
The Golden Bears then forced a three-and-out, got the ball back and scored
again. Rodgers' 8-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Cross with 6:25 left in the
half gave Cal a 14-7 lead.
McArthur, Cal's top receiver, had six catches for 145 yards but broke his
leg late in the fourth quarter, Tedford said.
McCaleb's 33-yard field goal in the third quarter pulled Southern Miss to
14-10. Tom Schneider's 24-yard field goal on Cal's ensuing possession returned
the lead to seven.
Southern Miss took an early 7-0 lead on a flea-flicker. Almond took the
pitch back from Sherron Moore and hit Anthony Perine over the middle for the
40-yard TD.
``We came to this game holding nothing back,'' said Perine, who had four
receptions for 101 yards.
The game, originally scheduled for Sept. 16, was pushed back nearly three
months when Hurricane Ivan threatened the Gulf Coast. Cal beat Southern Miss
for the second straight year.
``We blew them out 34-2 last year and this year they wanted to step up and
show they could play with us,'' Alexander said.
Updated on Sunday, Dec 5, 2004 12:37 am, EST
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