Berkeley, Calif. » The images of Robert Johnson, Koa Misi, Stevenson Sylvester and Utah's other defensive players float on the screen in Andy Ludwig's office, tucked inside the University of California's Memorial Stadium.

To most opposing offensive coordinators, they would be merely numbers, matched with scouting reports. Not to Ludwig. He knows these guys. And in advance of next week's Poinsettia Bowl, they are coming back into his life.

"It's kind of fun, but it can be distracting, because I'm not just watching x's and o's," Ludwig was saying this week. "Every player's got a story, and I know most of those stories."

That's why the story of this bowl game, as much as anything, is Andy Ludwig vs. the Utes. Mix in the longtime friendship between him and Ute coach Kyle Whittingham, the reunion with the offensive coaches he supervised for four seasons and the mixed views of his schemes in Salt Lake City, and we have the makings of an intriguing evening in San Diego.

"Fun for you, maybe," Ludwig clarified for a visitor, smiling.

As for himself, Ludwig again must find ways to attack Whittingham's aggressive defense -- having lost to the Utes in previous existences with Fresno State and Oregon -- and figure out his own offense, the group that averages 29 points but never scores 29 points, exactly.

"We either scored 50 or three," Ludwig said, barely exaggerating. "If I could explain it, I'd fix it."

The Bears scored 34 points in beating Stanford, but then managed only 10 at Washington in a defeat that dropped them in the Pac-10's bowl strata and into a matchup Ludwig would rather have avoided.

This game will help gauge how much he should be missed. Asked how he imagines he's remembered in Utah, Ludwig said, "With the players and coaches there, I'm perceived extremely well, and that's all I care about. There's mutual respect."

Among fans, little sense of loss was publicly registered last December when Ludwig announced he would be leaving (initially, joining the Kansas State staff, before moving again in February) after the Sugar Bowl. Partly because of having to follow the dynamic Alex Smith/Urban Meyer offense, Ludwig never was embraced.

Even last season, when Utah won every game, much of the credit went to senior quarterback Brian Johnson for directing rallies against Oregon State and Texas Christian and orchestrating a no-huddle offense that stunned Alabama in the first quarter.

That scheme was Ludwig's parting shot. Yet, true to his self-effacing nature, he described the strategy as his effort to "take the coaches out of the game."

Whittingham ("Andy did a very good job for us") and Johnson ("He definitely made me the player that I was") need little prompting to praise Ludwig's contributions. After a season when Whittingham took some duties away from Dave Schramm, Ludwig's successor, and Utah five times settled for field goals in a loss to BYU, perhaps the glee in Uteville regarding the departure has lessened somewhat.

In any case, Schramm and play-caller Aaron Roderick now have to live up to Ludwig's 4-0 bowl record with the Utes, with averages of 32 points and 438 yards.

Utah's production dropped off this season and Cal's increased in a pro-style system that's designed by coach Jeff Tedford, with Ludwig calling the plays. The Utes' reduced numbers are partly explained by having a junior college transfer and a freshman play quarterback. Ludwig endorsed Jordan Wynn as a Utah recruit last year and will see him again in San Diego.

But the Ute QB is not among the folks Ludwig is most concerned about. That list features Johnson, Misi and Sylvester, now that the coach has dealt with his family's bowl approach.

"I was hoping that my kids would never have to root against the Utes," he said, but the children sporting Utah jerseys in the photos behind his desk are genuine Bears now. After their father wondered how they would respond, Joe and Delaney Ludwig say they'll be wearing blue in San Diego.

kkragthorpe@sltrib.com