California vs. Texas: Latest News, Notes and Analysis for the 2011 Holiday Bowl

On paper, the 2011 Holiday Bowl may just seem like any other ordinary mundane pre-New Year’s Day bowl pairing, as this year’s two participating teams, California and Texas, both put together rather mediocre and forgettable 7-5 campaigns this season.

But if you begin to dig deeper into this matchup, you’ll see that there are actually quite a few compelling storylines to follow for this showdown in San Diego.

It begins with the two men who will be leading their teams into battle on the night of Dec. 28, Texas’ Mack Brown and California’s Jeff Tedford.

Once two of the most respected head coaches in college football, both Brown and Tedford have seen their reputations take a considerable hit over the last few years, as their teams have suffered through some down seasons recently.

The two coaches have each had to deal with their fair share of heat and criticism from the fans and the media alike, and 2012 is shaping up to be a big make-or-break year for both of them.

Notching that eighth win of the season and getting a bowl victory may seem a bit trivial to some, but for two coaches who are going to have to hear “hot seat” talk all summer long, it’s definitely important and it will at least help salvage an otherwise disappointing campaign.

These two teams should both have enough returning talent to make some noise in 2012, and getting a win and going into the offseason with some momentum is certainly crucial.

The question is, which team will have the advantage on Wednesday night?

The Longhorns will limp into Qualcomm Stadium after putting up no-show performances in three out of their last four games, as they ended the season with with a 1-3 swoon.

We know Texas has talent, especially in the defensive front seven with guys like defensive linemen Kheeston Randall, Alex Okafor and Jackson Jeffcoat and linebackers Emmanuel Acho and Keenan Robinson.

The Longhorns finished 15th nationally in total defense and 11th in rushing defense, but the problem for them was on the offensive side of the ball, where inconsistent play at the quarterback position ultimately doomed them.

Texas may not have a true starting quarterback, as the Longhorns will rotate between David Ash and Case McCoy in the bowl game, but what the offense does have is two freshmen, who are budding stars in running back Malcolm Brown and wide receiver Jaxon Shipley.

Brown and Shipley aren’t just the future of the Texas offense, they’re the present, and they’ll both be counted on to contribute in a big way in the Holiday Bowl.

Finding room to make plays against Cal’s stout defense won’t be easy, though.

The Golden Bears have a difference-maker on all three levels of their defense, with DE Trevor Guyton, LB Mychal Kendricks and S Sean Cattouse.

Kendricks, the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, is the star of the show, and he’s the key player for Cal’s defensive success.

It will be interesting to see if Kendricks and the defensive front seven can slow down Malcolm Brown and keep him in check for four quarters.

On offense, Cal has an emerging offensive trio of QB Zach Maynard, RB Isi Sofele and WR Keenan Allen. All three have the chance to be premier players in the Pac-12 next year, and it will be interesting to see how they all fare against a strong Texas defense.

What I think this game will ultimately come down to is which quarterback can manage the game the most efficiently and make the fewest mistakes.

I like what I’ve seen from Zach Maynard this year, and I think he’s grown up a lot in his first year as a starter, but on the other side, I can't say that I've been all that impressed with David Ash or Case McCoy.

These two defenses have the talent up front to make any quarterback feel shaky, and in the end, it will be interesting to see how all three quarterbacks can handle the pressure that they're surely going to face in this game.