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Lynch, Forsett lead California to Holiday Bowl win

Dec 29, 2006 - 8:57 AM SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett provided a 1-2 punch that proved to be too much for Texas A&M to handle.

Lynch scored two touchdowns and rushed for 114 yards and Forsett added 124 on just eight carries to lead No. 20 California to a 45-10 rout over 21st-ranked Texas A&M in the Holiday Bowl.

Making its school-record fourth consecutive bowl appearance, California (10-3) finished the season with two straight triumphs after a 23-9 loss to Southern California, which ended the Golden Bears' hopes for their first Rose Bowl since 1959.

"For this team to bounce back after a couple of disappointments at the end (of the season) when there were such high expectations, I'm just real proud of how they hung in there and how the leadership surfaced," California coach Jeff Tedford said.

"We came out here, and when you see all of your fans, we kind of had something to prove," Lynch said. "We did lose (the 2004 Holiday Bowl), so we felt like we had to redeem ourselves."

Lynch carried the ball 20 times in his seventh 100-yard game of the season. The Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year ended the campaign with 1,359 yards - the third-highest single-season total in school history - and is second in career yards with 3,233.

With the game tied at 7-7, Lynch put the Golden Bears on top with his 10th touchdown of the season and 28th career with a two-yard score early in the second quarter.

"I can never say too much about my offensive line," Lynch said. "They give me, and I give them, credit week in and week out. We play hard and it's just been wonderful to play behind them. We had two 100-yard backs today, so you can't really say too much more about that."

Lynch added his second TD of the night on a two-yard scamper early in the third period before Nate Longshore found Lavelle Hawkins for a three-yard score and 28-10 bulge with two minutes remaining in the quarter.

"It comes down to our offensive line, really," Tedford said. "I think our offensive line did a great job protecting the passer. (Longshore) had time to throw the football. We blocked well in the running game and I thought the receivers really caught the ball extremely well."

Longshore completed 19-of-24 passes for 235 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Forsett highlighted his second 100-yard game this season by gaining all 51 yards on a fourth-quarter drive that concluded with a seven-yard TD with 2:49 to play.

Stephen McGee was 17-of-26 for 177 yards and a first-quarter touchdown to Chad Schroeder for Texas A&M (9-4), which lost for the third time in four games.

"It comes down to making plays when it matters most, and we didn't do that as an offense tonight," McGee said. "It seemed like we were a good play here or there from putting together an efficient drive, and we can't do that against a good football team. When you play good football teams like that, those little mistakes can add up."

"We were not up to the task," Aggies coach Dennis Franchione said. "I thought they controlled the line of scrimmage very well on both sides of the ball. We had some opportunities offensively. We got down there and didn't get it done."