The 2005 California Golden Bears football team represented the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in the

2005 NCAA Division I-A football season The 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on September 1, 2005 and ended on Dec ...

. They played their home games at

California Memorial Stadium California Memorial Stadium also known simply and commonly as Memorial Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium on the west coast of the United States, located on the campus of the University of California in Berkeley, California. It ...

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

and were coached by

Jeff Tedford Jeffrey Raye Tedford (born November 2, 1961) is an American football coach and former player who is currently serving as the head coach at Fresno State, a position which he also previously held from 2017 to 2019. From 2002 to 2012, Tedford was t ...

. At the beginning of the season quarterback

Nate Longshore Nathan Dean Longshore (born June 30, 1986) is a former American football quarterback for the California Golden Bears football team of the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a three-year starter and led the Golden Bears to a share o ...

was chosen to succeed Aaron Rodgers as the starting quarterback. However he was injured during the first game of the season and replaced by Joe Ayoob for the next nine games. The Bears got off to their best start, at 5–0, since

Steve Mariucci Stephen Ray Mariucci (born November 4, 1955), nicknamed "Mooch", is an American sportscaster and former football coach who was the head coach of two National Football League teams, the San Francisco 49ers (1997–2002) and the Detroit Lions (200 ...

coached them in 1996. But then stumbled and lost four of their next five games. Third string quarterback Steve Levy, replaced Ayoob, and was named as the starter for the Big Game. Levy played as fullback during the previous season, in his first time as a starter he led the team to defeat Stanford 27-3. The team ended up in the 2005 Las Vegas Bowl, where they beat

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

, 35–28.

Schedule

Game summaries

Washington

*Source:''
ESPN

USC

Cal then hosted the #1-ranked

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ''Trojans'', the women's athletic teams are referred ...

, led by head coach

Pete Carroll Peter Clay Carroll (born September 15, 1951) is an American football coach who is the head coach and executive vice president for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the head football coach at USC from ...

and an offense including Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback

Matt Leinart Matthew Stephen Leinart (born May 11, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football at USC, where he won the Heisman Trophy ...

and running back

Reggie Bush Reginald Alfred Bush Jr. (born March 2, 1985) is an American former football running back who now serves as an on-air college football analyst for Fox Sports. He played college football at USC, where he earned consensus All-American honors twi ...

. The Trojans scored first after Ayoob's first of four interceptions in the game, on a

LenDale White LenDale Anthony White (born December 20, 1984) is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the second round (45th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft. He has also been a member of the Seattle Seahawks and De ...

rush. Ayoob recovered after the interception, and led the Bears to a field goal to cut their deficit to four at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Leinart rushed for a pair of touchdowns to give the Trojans a 21–3 lead at half-time. After a pair of White rushing touchdowns, the Bears scored again on a Chris Manderino rush that ended scoring in the game, with the Trojans winning 35–10. With the win, the Trojans clinched at least a share of the Pac-10 title.

Stanford

*Source:''

Steve Levy had 125 yards passing and Marshawn Lynch had 123 yards running.

References

{{California Golden Bears football navbox 2005 Pacific-10 Conference football season, California California Golden Bears football seasons Las Vegas Bowl champion seasons California Golden Bears football