The Bakersfield College football season has ended, a 22-8 loss to College of the Canyons on Saturday (Nov. 15).

It was the best defensive effort of the season for the Renegades, who sacked Canyons quarterback Joey Frias eight times and limited Fred Winborn, one of the top rushers in the state, to 53 yards on 20 carries.

But it was also evident that the Renegades are going to need to revamp their offense if they hope to turn around things next season. BC finished 4-6, matching the 2002 season and only the second time since 1986 the Renegades had a losing season.

The Renegades will return running back Andre Smith next season, but they'll lose Bruce Frieson, who is the No. 3 all-time rusher in BC's history. That's a big hole to fill.

The passing game needs to be upgraded. In this modern era of high-octane offenses, the Renegades did not have the talent of recent seasons at quarterback and wide receiver. That meant basically a one-dimensional offense.

Running the ball has been a BC way of life like, forever, but nowadays you've got to have above-average passing if you're going to contend for a conference title with the likes of a team like Canyons, or if you want to have a chance at the state championship.

BC had strong all-around offensive attacks in recent seasons. With QBs like Thomas Peregrin, Cody Stone and Jacob Bower, and recent receivers like Brandon Banks, Taj Smith, T.J. Lee, Jonathan Nunez and Attrail Snipes, defenses are stretched which makes the running game more effective.

The receivers mentioned above had seasons with no fewer than 33 receptions. The BC leaders this season, Chika Madu and William Randle, wound up with 17 catches apiece. No BC quarterback had more than 600 passing yards.

I suspect coach Jeff Chudy and his staff will be focused on bringing in talented skill people. The one thing a 4-6 season does is make a coaching staff more motivated for the future. Especially when you're a BC team that's used to winning.

A three-game winning streak gave Bakersfield College momentum and a turnaround to its football season, but the 31-17 loss to Ventura Saturday night likely ended any chance of a bowl berth. It certainly killed any hope of a Southern California playoff spot.

Even coach Jeff Chudy acknowledged the playoff scenario. BC won't get a chance to match up with the state's best. The past two seasons, BC reached the Southern California title game, losing two close ones to narrowly miss out on a spot in the state title game.

With a 4-5 record and with 8-0 College of the Canyons set for the regular-season finale on Nov. 15, BC must win that game and hope Canyons also loses to Pasadena next Saturday (BC has a bye next week). That would mean a three-way tie for first place in the Northern National Conference. If Canyons beats Pasadena, Canyons clinches the outright conference championship and eliminates BC from sharing the title.

Southern California Football Association Commissioner Jim Sartoris told The Californian that bowl berths outside the four-team playoffs go to teams above .500 unless a team finishes at .500 and is a conference champion or co-champion.

Against Ventura, BC was plagued by the problems that were common during the Gades' 1-4 start: Failure to prevent third-down conversions by the opponent and inconsistent offense. Ventura quarterback Lee Mondol expertly found receivers open in the BC zone defense. The Gades had only two quarterback sacks, and simply failed to put enough pressure on Mondol to affect the plays. Mondol, to his credit, was not fazed the few times BC put on a big rush.

The Gades have two weeks to prepare for Canyons and get healthy. Should BC upset  Canyons, it would salvage a .500 season and end the year on a positive note, since this Canyons team is as good as any squad BC has faced in recent years.