A Dynasty Nipped in the Bud: An Alternative History of American Football in the 21st Century.
Hello, and welcome to a timeline that is about college football, but will discuss the NFL. Our starting point is the 2004 college football season, specifically October 9th, 2004.
Chapter 1: Cal vs. USC, 2004.
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, home of the USC Trojans
From the Fox Documentary
Crossroads: the 2004 College Football Season Remembered
Narrator: On October 9th, the Southern California Trojans hosted the California Golden Bears. This game would ultimately decide the conference championship as well as having national title aspirations. Cal had beaten the Trojans the year before, and the Trojans wanted revenge. However, this Cal team was coming into its own, and was confident of securing a victory.
Aaron Rodgers (Former Cal Quarterback): Even though we had pulled the upset off the year before, this was still going to be a tall order. USC was the defending national champion and had brought back most of their stars. But we had star power as well between myself, Marshawn Lynch, J.J. Arrington, and Geoff McArthur.
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From the ABC broadcast of California vs. USC, October 9th, 2004.
Keith Jackson: First down and goal from the 9, 1:47 left to go in the contest. Dan Fouts, as we come back from timeout, what do you think Cal is going to do here?
Dan Fouts: Keith, to be honest I would keep throwing it here. Tedford clearly has done a great job getting the proper plays in. With
McArthur being perfectly healthy and the rhythm that Rodgers is in, you want to keep doing what you have been doing.
Keith Jackson: Agreed. Rodgers gets the snap, steps up in the pocket. He dumps it off to Arrington, who is stopped at the 3, and they can let the clock run. Tackle made by Lofa Tatupu.
Dan Fouts: You can let Cal score right now, or try and stop them. I would stop them here.
Keith Jackson: 1:12, 1:11 to go, and Rodgers takes the snap. Rush is on, he eludes Tatupu and fires in the endzone, caught by McArthur for the Cal Touchdown! And you could hear a mouse right now in the Coliseum.
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From the ABC broadcast of California vs. USC, October 9th, 2004.
Keith Jackson: 2nd and 9, USC out of timeouts, and nearing midfield.
Dan Fouts: You hate to be critical here, but that last scramble by Leinart was a bonehead move. He has played great today, but you have to know the situation.
Keith Jackson: 1 minute left in the ball game, snap to Leinart. He rolls to the left, fires deep to Jarrett, picked off by Mixon! He slides to the ground, and Cal will get the win in the Coliseum in Los Angeles.
(Crowd goes silent, with the exception of visiting Golden Bear fans)
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From the ESPN 30 for 30
Golden Bear Rising
Dan Fouts (Lead ABC College Football Analyst): After Matt Leinart threw the interception, it was hard to miss the fact that USC really had questions to answer. Yes, Pete Carroll had won a split national title, but here was this Cal team that really looked like they had one firm hand on a national title birth. That victory the year before by Cal was no fluke.
Jeff Tedford (Cal Head Coach): Certainly, my best win to date. We dominated USC, and the only reason the game was close was a couple of turnovers and USC getting short fields off special teams. Aaron played the perfect game at quarterback, but we knew that the hardest part was yet to come. We still had to keep winning in order to gain the respect we deserved.
Author Notes: I picked this game because in our timeline, USC won 23-17 despite Cal dominating things offensively and Aaron Rodgers having the game of his life. I figured that if Geoff McArthur doesn’t cramp up, Rodgers would have likely found him for the game winning touchdown. I should also add that I am not a fan of either USC or Cal.