SB Nation - Chris Polk

Cal v. Washington Report Card

TwistNHook — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:00:16 -0000

Position	QB	RB	Rec.	Run B	Pass P	Run D	Pass R	Pass D	ST	Coach	Overall
Score	1.406	2.188	1.969	0.677	0.531	1.469	0.896	0.302	0.875	0.708	0.490
Grade	D+	C+	C	D-	D-	D+	D	D-	D	D-	D-

There are so many times I want to quit this blog. I ask myself is it worth it? Are risking many Hydrotech Face Punchings worth it? But the amazing community we have here usually inspires me to the do all the work. And working on the Report Card post is usually one of my most favorite posts to put together. Seeing what all you people have written is always a lot of fun.

Fun was not the word that came to mind doing the Report Card post this time. You guys certainly know how to express your opinion and, well, given how the game went, I'm sure you can imagine what went on. If you like positive, optimistic things like daisies riding unicorns and ponies snuggling with rainbows, I suggest you read NO further. But if you like pessimistic things and are full of self-loathing, well, then you are a Cal fan and probably added something to this Report Card. You may read on.

I think PolarBear91 hits the right note here in his "overall" thought:

Worst. Episode. Ever.

Tough to disagree, Mr. Bear91. Tough to disagree.

Gameday Experience

via calbearsonline.com

WTFFFFFFFF - I watched in front of my laptop and had to contain my anger from smashing my keyboard. WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF. MY LAPTOP COST ME GOOD MONEY. I DON'T WANT TO BREAK ITTTTTTTTT.

OhioBear - I promped by daughter to do another "Go Bears." It's not "Goo Bay" anymore. It came out "Go Bars." After watching the game, that's what I wanted to do.

Kodiak - Well, the baby was squirrelly and just wouldn't settled down to let me watch the game in peace. Little did I know that the little angel had my best interests in mind and was only fussing in an attempt to preserve my sanity. I did sample our Xmas limoncello to make sure that it was fit to give out as gifts...and sort of briefly lost all feeling in my teeth. Unlike our team, it's more potent than it looks. I might be rambling now...Still can't feel my teeth. Damn. This would be the time to see if I could chew through a 2x4. Life is tough sometimes as a Cal fan.

Blackandoldgold - If you like hearing foghorn, this was your game. In other words, terrible.

Swamphunter - Why the fuck did we have to slouch on the job NOW? I'm so pissed that we had to lose to the fucking puppy dogs that I'm going against what I said earlier and doing a report card for this loss. We should have killed these mother fuckers and instead they run all over us.

c98 - sucked.

grinandbearit - Unfortunately, I go to UW for grad school now and made it to this game thinking "hey, it can't be worse than 2007, right?" The crowd was pumped. The whole UW team was pumped. It was the last home game for the seniors (and possibly Jake Locker), and it was probably a bit colder than most Cal players were accustomed to, but man ... what was that?

I guess I had seen this before against Oregon and USC. In fact, this was really just a blend of those two games. The saddest thing about this game was that, unlike 2007, I never got the feeling (whatever that's worth) that the players quit, and still, 42-10. What a beatdown.

Oh, and since we're talking about the gameday experience. A small minority of fans were woofing/barking when UW did something good. I mean, I get it, the Huskies, but really, you see Cal fans growling like a bear every time we get a first down or score?

Last thing, they kept on chanting "one more year" for Jake Locker. I think this was a good send-off for him since they're not playing in a bowl game. My guess is he's gone, but what do I know?

beson - We went over to a friend's house to watch the game and barbeque. Our usual MO is to take shots after every Cal touchdown. Last year, I got obliterated. This year, my friend made blue jello shots. I was anticipating another rough Sunday morning. Unfortunately it was rough in other more horrible ways. The jello shots made for celebrating became jello shots of sadness and frustration.

ososdeoro - Auspiciously tweaked my back playing tennis in the morning.

Golden Rationality Award

Commenter/alias name	Standard Deviation
osodeoro	1.417
polarbear91	1.722
grinandbearit	1.927
Haas8388	2.007
sec119	2.016

Old Blue Award

Commenter/alias name	Average score (out of 4)
c98	0
prd74	0.364
blackandoldgold	0.485
WTFFFFFFFFFFFF	0.545
polarbear91	0.652

Golden Sunglasses Award

Commenter/alias name	Average score (out of 4)
Kodiak	1.758
Manwich	1.667
socalbears	1.500
beson	1.470
grinandbearit	1.348

via calbearsonline.com

Kodiak - A few flickers, but mostly bad Riley. In his defense, the protection had something to do with that. And once the game got out of hand, the D could just tee off on him. Even so, it's really disappointing to see him regress and be inconsistent with his accuracy, decision-making, and ball security.

Swamphunter - Short-hops and wide throws. The only bright spots were when Riley was throwing the ball, though.

prd74 - If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything.
I have nothing to say.

grinandbearit - I don't like to put too much blame on him since our OL sucks, but his throws were definitely off and sometimes he threw some scary passes to well-covered WRs. He did have a couple of nice runs, and I think he should continue to pull it down and run with it rather than sitting back in a collapsing pocket while loosely holding onto the ball.

That is one thing I really dislike about Riley is that he doesn't have a very good sense for ball security. Maybe he needs to sit down with Coach Gould and get a lesson or two on what the RBs do.

Haas8338 - Riley seems like a good guy and has improved from last year, but, and this is a BIG BUT, he is not good enough to lead a top Pac10 team. I won't use the term "inconsistent" anymore, he just is not very good.

beson - Riley definitely had some pretty terrible throws but I think most of the blame has to go to the O line which just sucked. Sure Riley should have made the throws when he wasn't pressured, but I can't really blame him for having lack of confidence in his line.

via calbearsonline.com

OhioBear - Vereen ran for 92 yards on 16 carries, but it was a fairly quiet 92 given the avalanche that poured over us. Vereen did a nice job, basically the only bright spot in an otherwise pathetic night.
Haas8338 - Vereen did what he could do in the circumstances. Pass blocking needs work that is for sure.

grinandberait - The effort is consistently there, and I just feel bad when I see Vereen run towards the line and hesitate because he knows he has nowhere to run because of our ____ty OL.

via calbearsonline.com

Kodiak - It's nice to have a former QB providing commentary. Apparently, some of Riley's struggles weren't just inaccuracy, but the receivers running sloppy routes. Which is pretty sad considering we really can't use the "young" excuse at this point in the season.

c98 - sucked.

grinandbearit - Marvin Jones is clearly our go-to guy. I was disappointed "they" didn't get Miller more involved. Everyone else is just a clone of a mediocre WR. Marvin is our #1 WR, and he gets open and makes catches more often ... I wonder what all the other WRs are doing differently. Running bad routes? I can't really say because I've never really sat down and followed the WRs on their routes during games, especially not on TV because you usually can't see this happening.

Good thing is that I didn't see too many huge drops except for one possible TD catch that looked to be fairly well defended.

Run blocking

via calbearsonline.com

WTFFFFFFFF - I walked past a Chinese restaurant that prominently displayed the sign "NO MSG". You speak truth Chinese restaurant - so much painful truth.

Kodiak - Inconsistent push. In fairness, UW rolled the dice and bet that Bad Riley wouldn't be able to beat them if they crowded the line and run blitzed frequently. Sadly enough, that's been a pretty safe bet all year.

Blackandoldgold - The only thing worse was the Great Stink of 1858.

Swamphunter - Fire Marshall. He's a virus that needs to be eradicated.

Haas8338 - Even with MSG this line is only mediocre. Schwartz can dominate at times, but Tepper is up and down and the center and two guards were aweful. The Mutts' 340 lb DT (Taamu?) just abused our 260 lb center (shocking) and the guards didn't help much. Cheadle looks pretty darn stout, but man does he get manhandled at times...WTF?

Pass protection

via calbearsonline.com

Kodiak - Up and down. Riley was under pressure a lot, but UW was blitzing multiple guys on obvious passing downs. Chess match win for the UW coaches because we never seemed to have the right call or protection.

Swamphunter - Fire Marshall. He's a virus that needs to be eradicated. I believe in this so much right now that it deserves to be said twice.

prd74 - If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything.
I have nothing to say.

stevy - 5 sacks... much more pressures and knockdowns. And it wasn't like it was close. The D-line was coming straight through. Marshall needs to go, I think.

grinandbearit - This was softer than a baby's bottom and smelled like one, too. I really don't know if this was a matter of coaching or scheme or just a lack of talent (though I like Syd'Quan and Cattouse), but we always seemed out of position. Always chasing some guy down who slipped behind coverage, chasing some guy from behind on a slant. Just too many holes in the pass coverage that they exploited.

If I think about all the games this year, our pass defense only had one good game against a reasonably good offense and that was against Arizona at home. They were just good enough against Stanford, but I think we were mainly just fortunate to have our running game clicking and keeping our mediocre defense off the field.

Haas8338 - Tepper better start working out at guard because the NFL just wrote him off at tackle. Guarnero is just overmatched physically, simple as that.

Horrible preformance.

ososdeoro - sack, sack, sack. 3-step drop anyone. Oh yeah, that goes under coaching.

Run defense

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OhioBear - Meh. We held Polk under a hundy but it seemed like we let him get away too much. We didn't have an answer for Locker's running, really.

Blackandoldgold - I can't do this anymore. Too depressing...

stevy - Washington never ran it that much. Defending locker on broken plays is tough, but they need to wrap up and not arm tackle.

Haas8338 - Take away Locker's running and it was a decent performance.

sec119 - I'm not sure if run defense counts the same as Locker scrambling for 15 yards at a time, but either way it was bad.

Pass rush

via calbearsonline.com

c98 - sucked.

beson - The pass rush seemed decent but Locker's escapability killed us. Everytime we got a good rush, it seemed like it was at the expense of containment and Locker made us pay.

sec119 - From snap to whistle, Locker had time to re-tie his shoes, drink some gatorade, and bake a souffle before the pass rush got within five yards of him.

Kodiak - Well, haven't really had one all year, so can't expect it to miraculously appear now. Even when we blitzed, they picked it up pretty easily. We could really use some playmakers who know how to put the QB in the grass.

stevy - Horrid. With this D-line, the 3-4 is ineffective in getting pressure. The outside linebackers almost never got pressure on Locker making it easy for him to dominate the game.

Pass Defense

via calbearsonline.com

Kodiak - Tough game for Nbufie. For all that people have been screaming all year for more aggressive D...More blitzing + man coverage = DB's getting burned for long gains/TD's. Maybe the coaches know that besides Syd, our coverage is a bit questionable and that's why they usually play zone. It'll be addition by subtraction when Johnson and Ezeff leave. It's really disappointing for two seniors to be non-factors, much less liabilities.

c98 - sucked.

ososdeoro - Good God. It seemed like the linebackers were told to: a) pick a receiver to cover; b) cover said receiver for five yards; c) stop and turn around to see if Locker is going to run while receiver goes on his merry way; d) "protect" the astroturf five yards downfield from any Huskies who might bother to venture in his general direction. The first TD pass coverage really wasn't that bad. That said, you give a guy a permanent 10-yard cushion and you're letting him receive the ball anywhere he wants to.

Haas8338 - Locker was on target, to his credit, but he was not pressured and our coverage seemed confused at times.

grinandbearit - This was softer than a baby's bottom and smelled like one, too. I really don't know if this was a matter of coaching or scheme or just a lack of talent (though I like Syd'Quan and Cattouse), but we always seemed out of position. Always chasing some guy down who slipped behind coverage, chasing some guy from behind on a slant. Just too many holes in the pass coverage that they exploited.

If I think about all the games this year, our pass defense only had one good game against a reasonably good offense and that was against Arizona at home. They were just good enough against Stanford, but I think we were mainly just fortunate to have our running game clicking and keeping our mediocre defense off the field.

Special Teams

via calbearsonline.com

prd74 - If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything.
I have nothing to say.

c98 - sucked.

stevy - Goal for next year: GET A CONSISTENT KICKER. And Sofele was ineffective on returns. Once, he got a whole 5 yards on a short kick. Not good.

grinandbearit - Kick coverage is still pretty weak, and we missed a not-that-long FG in the first half. I wonder if Tedford will ever consider having someone else coach special teams.

Also, is it standard for college teams to send one guy to loop behind all the other kick coverage personnel acting as a trailer just in case everyone else fails to tackle the returner? I don't remember seeing any team play prevent on kickoffs.

Anger is still decent. Whew.

Haas8338 - Alamar may be the worst coach in college football.

ososdeoro - Just Gawd-fucking-awful. Nice to see Anger finally get off some good punts when we didn't need them anymore. Kickoff coverage sucks(tm) and now punt coverage does too. Nice FG try by D'Amato, er, not.

Coaching

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OhioBear - We were not ready to play. Credit to Washington, obvi, because they played well. But we had no answer. We seemingly had few, if any, adjustments to the offensive onslaught. And we had no answer to getting hit in the mouth by Washington. A lackluster performance from a team that didn't seem ready to play - coaches have to take some blame for that.

prd74 - If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything.
I have nothing to say.

stevy - Ludwig is still undecided about what type of offense he wants for Cal. Will they do short pases? will they run the ball? will they do long every down? Cal's offense has no identity and that's a huge problem. If Ludwig is back next year, he MUST decide what type of offense he wants to run. This flip flopping from game to game is hurting offensive production.

grinandbearit - I don't know what to say here because I can't tell what the root causes are of the problems we have. So I guess I'll just list some questions:

1) Our run blocking is piss poor, so is it the coach's fault or the talent?
2) When in the WildBear formation, why do we fake the sweep with Sofele 95% of the time and then have Vereen pause for a few seconds and then run forward into our crappy OL?
3) Playcalling: we ran the ball on 3rd and 23 ... it must have taken UW off guard because who in his right mind would've thought we would make anywhere near 23 yards on a run play with our OL?

ososodeoro - Not a one of them earned their pay in this one. Every other team seemed to have answers for U-Dub (even the Dawg wins were close), why didn't ours?

sec119 - I never would have thought there'd be a game I give the special teams the highest grade. Talk about damning by faint praise! At this point, 50/50 on field goals is on-par for field goals.

Overall

via calbearsonline.com

WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFf - Time to start drinking.

OhioBear - I haven't been this angry since Washington 2007. Giving up 42 points and getting blown out by the Pac-10 champion on the road is one thing. Giving up 42 points and getting blown out by a team that was 3-5 in the Pac-10 and 4-7 overall coming into the game is quite another. No excuse for a performance like this.

Maybe we left our heart at stanfurd stadium 2 weeks ago.

Kodiak - Well, it stunk, but I can live with it if the game serves as a wake-up call. As nice as it would have been to finish tied for 2nd with a chance at a 10-win season, could we honestly have said that we've been happy with the team this year? Instead, there's no question that Tedford will have to take a long look at his coaching staff, player evaluations, and what's been done from spring through winter to get the guys ready to play.

prd74 - If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything.
I have nothing to say.

c98 - sucked hard.

stevy - Horrid game. Where did the Cal team that played so well against Stanford go? The team needs some to do serious soul searching in the off season.

grinandbearit - Keys to winning given our current set of problems:
- recruit some good defensive players this coming offseason
- get our OL mad before games so that they spark our running game so that we can keep our defense off the field and control the clock.
- start kicking all kickoffs out of bounds until we find someone who can consistently kick it past the 15.
- perfect the fake FG, especially when the FG is longer than 35 yards
- maybe our OL is just 2-3 good guys away from being good ... wouldn't that be great?

beson - Oh juju. Of course we lost after I celebrated USC and their all but assured poinsetta bowl berth.

Manwich - We can't get pumped up for big games other than the Big Game. I take back everything I said before, the optimism I had for containing Luck/Gerhart evaporated in a second. I'm beginning to think the PAC-10 has passed Tedford and Carroll by in terms of philosophy.

Before it was run the pro-style and the bend don't break and it worked. Now we're seeing our opponents run more option based attacks with mobile quarterbacks. It's time to change philosophies, otherwise, Tedford will become a Bobby Bowden, stuck with loyal assistants and doomed to middle of the PAC-10.

sec119 - I have very little to say that might be positive about this stinker of a game. That it occurred at the end of the season tells me that maybe we didn't learn much from our prior losses, nor am I hopeful about next year.

Grading the game

John Berkowitz — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:22:08 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

5 days ago: Washington quarterback Jake Locker, right, is embraced by coach Steve Sarkisian after the team beat California in an NCAA college football game Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009, in Seattle. Washington won 42-10. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

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Quarterback - Grade A

If this was Jake's last game as a husky he saved the best for last. He was cirtually perfect all day when either running or throwing.

Running Back - Grade A

Chris Polk picked up 94 tough yards on the ground and Cal's early emphasis on shutting the UW running game down opened up the airways for Jake who took full advantage.

Receivers - Grade A

What more can you say about Kearse and Aguilar who controlled the game all night with big plays. How about Cody Bruns and his long pass? Kavario Middleton had his best game of the year too.

Offensive Line - Grade A

So this is what Jake can do when he has plenty of time? Keep an eye on Mykena Ikehara next season...he will be anchoring the line as long as he keeps his weight on in 2010.

Defensive Line - Grade A

Pressure was the name of the game yesterday and DTN went out as the all time sack leader at Washington with three in his last game. Five sacks overall by Washington kept Riley on his heals most of the day.

Linebacker - Grade A

We are all going to miss Donald Butler who went out in style. Foster and Dennison were also solid all day. Cal had one big running play all day. UW shut the run down which is the way you humble the Bears. I like what Dennison brings on a weeky basis.

Secondary - Grade A

You have to wonder how many more games this team would hav won with a healthy Jason Wells back there. Trufant and Long continue to improve every game.

Special Teams - Grade A minus

Nothing really special and nothing terrible either. Keeping Cal's return game in check was one of the keys of the game.

Coaching - A

Washington dominated from the the first to the last snap in the final game of the season. this team could have packed it in after the UCLA game and it looked like that was happening after OSU. give the coaches credit for keeping these guys motivated enough the last two weeks to finish the season strong.

5-7 is a win or two off from what we all really wanted but a five win improvement led by four conference wins is pretty impressive. If you are a top flight recruit it doesn't take much to buy into what is going on at Washington.

Huskies Pound Cal 42-10

John Berkowitz — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:53:53 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

5 days ago: Washington quarterback Jake Locker reacts after keeping the ball for a 9-yard gain against California in the second half of an NCAA football game Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009, in Seattle. Washington won 42-10. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

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If this was Jake Lockers last game he picked a great way to go out. Washington astounded every expert in the country today routing the Golden Bears at home 42-10. The Huskies fall one game short of qualifying for that elusive bowl berth but consider this they are only the 11th BCS team since 1946 to rebound so high coming off a winless season.

Jake started with a 40-yard TD pass to Jermaine Kearse on Washington's first drive, then added touchdown runs of 19 and 2 yards in the second quarter as the Huskies jumped to a 21-3 lead and were never challenged.

Locker added TD throws in the third quarter of 21 yards and 13 yards to Devin Aguilar and the Huskies (5-7, 4-5) made an impressive final statement against a bowl-bound Cal (8-4, 5-4) that didn't look happy to be in Seattle in December.

Locker completed 19 of 23 passes for 248 yards while exposing Cal's secondary. He also ran 14 times for 77 yards. Chris Polk added 94 yards rushing and a touchdown for Washington. Jermaine Kearse had seven catches for 147 yards and a TD -- all in the first half -- while Aguilar grabbed five passes for 72 yards and two scores.

Washington's defense was also a star for the second straight week holding Shane Vereen under 100 yards and putting constant pressure on Cal QB Kevin Riley. Riley was sacked five times, including three times by Washington senior Daniel Te'o-Neshehim, who became the Huskies' all-time leader in career sacks in his final game with 30. Riley was only 14 of 32 for 215 yards.

Inside The Numbers: Washington Edition!

TwistNHook — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:17:50 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

Can the Washington Husky defense get to Kevin Riley after shutting out Washington State in the Apple Cup?

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Here we go. Last regular season game. Last regular season Inside The Numbers. Gonna be a hard fought battle against UW tomorrow. Can Cal pull it out? After the fold, we take a look at the Washington numbers on both offense and defense. We all know they nearly beat LSU and did beat USC early in the year. But its been months since then. How is UW doing and what can we expect from them tomorrow? GO BEARS!

After the jump, Avi and I breakdown the numbers, pass and rushing O and D.

TwistNHook: First up, the University of Jake Lockers:

Situation	G	Att	Comp	Pct.	Yards	Int	TD	Rating	Long	1st	15+	25+
All Plays	11	373	211	56.6	2552	11	18	124.07	51	111	56	23
1st Half	11	187	109	58.3	1372	6	9	129.38	51	61	32	12
2nd Half/OT	11	186	102	54.8	1180	5	9	118.72	47	50	24	11
1st Quarter	11	83	50	60.2	612	4	3	124.46	51	28	12	4
2nd Quarter	11	104	59	56.7	760	2	6	133.31	50	33	20	8
3rd Quarter	11	84	48	57.1	579	3	4	123.61	47	22	12	6
4th Quarter	11	99	54	54.5	601	2	5	118.18	39	28	12	5

Well, let's see here. This is OK, but not great. 56% completion rate is not good, it's actually roughly what Riley is doing. 124 Rating is again, not that good. Hes averaging about 232 yards a game in the air, which again is not terrible, but not great. What I see here is a passing attack that could prove dangerous, but also could be pedestrian. And that's the advanced analysis you've come to expect from the California Golden Blogs!

Avinash: At first glance, Jake doesn't look like someone we should worry about. Locker is 81st in the country in completion percentage, T-70th in YPA, and 73rd in passer rating. It makes it sound like we're going up against Carl Bonnell.

However, there is one particular stat that should concern Cal fans: 3rd down. Locker has the fifth best passer rating of any QB in the country on 3rd down (17th in the country in passer rating), and he's converted over 50% of his 3rd down passing plays, putting him right up there with Canfield as one of the best passers in passing situations. He converts 64% of his 3rd and 4-6 situations, nearly 40% of his 3rd and 7-9 situations, and (the most impressive number of all) over 40% of his 3rd and 10+ situations.

A lot of this I think also has to do with Locker's running ability--he's picked up 15 of 39 first downs on 3rd down runs. Although his numbers are a far cry from his fantastic 2007 numbers on the ground, defenses have to respect that ability, so it probably gives him better looks down the field. Sarkisian seems to have made sure he runs with the ball less than expected and trust his arm to throw, and it's paid off. Considering Cal struggled with Luck last week scrambling for yardage, we can expect similar issues with Locker.

Bears fans should not feel safe in any situation. Cal's defense has played very well the past two weeks, but they're going to have to kick it up a notch to prevent getting burned by Locker on 3rd down (the Bears gave up nearly a 46% conversion rate on 3rd down in the month of November). There's a reason NFL GMs are drooling over Locker right now. His ability to complete passes on obvious passing down, his ability to scramble and create plays, a strong ability to throw deep...all of those things are very tantalizing.

TwistNHook: Now, let's look at the rushing stats:

Situation	G	Att	Yards	Avg.	TD	Long	1st	10+	20+
All Plays	11	351	1491	4.25	10	56	87	57	13
1st Half	11	173	698	4.03	4	56	41	24	8
2nd Half/OT	11	178	793	4.46	6	41	46	33	5
1st Quarter	11	89	387	4.35	4	56	22	12	4
2nd Quarter	11	84	311	3.70	0	34	19	12	4
3rd Quarter	11	78	324	4.15	3	41	19	17	2
4th Quarter	11	99	478	4.83	3	24	27	16	3

Well, their rushing offense seems pretty good. Not amazingly great, but 4.25 yards isn't that bad. Kind of like their passing offense, it's not great, but it's not terrible.

Of course, they do have a great rushing QB, but that number is dragged down, because a lot of his runs don't always end so well. Here are the individual stats:

	Name	Yr	Pos	G	Att	Yards	Avg.	TD	Att/G	Yards/G
1	Chris Polk	FR	RB	11	204	1019	5.00	4	18.55	92.64
2	Jake Locker	JR	QB	11	98	311	3.17	5	8.91	28.27

Chris Polk is their main RB and is looking pretty good there. Not a lot of TDs, but he does average almost 100 yards a game. 5 yards a carry, flat, is pretty impressive. Locker averages about 30 yards a game running. I feel like our Run D can do fairly well against this team. It has shut down some pretty impressive RBs, like Quizz. And was able to somewhat contain Gerhart. Their Rush O seems fairly good, but, even on the road, I like our Run D in this situation.

Date	Opponent	Surface	Result	Att	Yards	Avg.	TD
09/05/09	15 LSU	Turf	L 23-31	21	90	4.29	0
09/12/09	Idaho	Turf	W 42-23	19	80	4.21	1
09/19/09	20 Southern California	Turf	W 16-13	25	71	2.84	0
09/26/09	@ 23 Stanford	Grass	L 14-34	19	75	3.95	0
10/03/09	@ Notre Dame	Grass	L 30-37	22	136	6.18	0
10/10/09	Arizona	Turf	W 36-33	9	34	3.78	0
10/17/09	@ Arizona St.	Grass	L 17-24	12	51	4.25	1
10/24/09	7 Oregon	Turf	L 19-43	18	104	5.78	1
11/07/09	@ UCLA	Grass	L 23-24	15	132	8.80	0
11/14/09	@ 13 Oregon St.	Turf	L 21-48	19	116	6.11	0
11/28/09	Washington St.	Turf	W 30-0	25	130	5.20	1

Avinash: Not to mention he's peaking. Four straight hundred yard games, including three against quality defenses (okay, Oregon and UCLA aren't really stout against the run anymore, but still, 116 yards on Oregon State, 8.8 ypc in the Rose Bowl? Might be something to look out for). Not to mention his running style reminds you a lot of the type of backs that could give our sloppy tacklers problems.

"He’s got plenty of upside. He’s a guy who is still learning," UW head coach Steve Sarkisian said. "But the one thing he has is physical and mental toughness. The ability that when things aren’t always blocked great, he fights through it. He continues to fight."

We’ve seen that from Polk all season: the way he puts his head down and pushes his small-but-explosive frame forward; the way he manages to get those extra couple of yards, even with a mass of defenders blocking his way. Heck, on one play Saturday it looked like Polk tripped and fell over a WSU lineman, but he still managed three yards.

"He hasn’t had a bunch of runs where it’s just big gaping holes and he’s running for yards," Sarkisian said. "He’s earning his yards. I think the next step for him is his ability to play at the second level, in the open field once he clears the line of scrimmage, and his creativity with his running style."

Really, Polk shouldn't be underestimated. It seems he has that ability like Vereen to slip off of tacklers and keep on going. Him, Quizz, James, Vereen...boy, talk about running backs it'll be hard for defenses to bring down next season.

TwistNHook: Well, you've made me look like an idiot yet again Avi. Let's move on from the rushing attack and take a moment to glance askew at the Passing D:

Situation	G	Att	Comp	Pct.	Yards	Int	TD	Rating	Long	1st	15+	25+
All Plays	11	331	214	64.7	2673	8	15	142.62	77	116	65	24
1st Half	11	182	116	63.7	1437	3	7	139.46	67	62	32	13
2nd Half/OT	11	149	98	65.8	1236	5	8	146.46	77	54	33	11
1st Quarter	11	82	60	73.2	650	1	2	145.37	56	29	13	6
2nd Quarter	11	100	56	56.0	787	2	5	134.61	67	33	19	7
3rd Quarter	11	73	50	68.5	664	3	4	154.76	77	26	18	5
4th Quarter	10	75	47	62.7	550	2	4	136.54	50	27	14	6

Me likee. You might remember that the Stanford D, which was fairly generous for Riley, was giving up roughly 63% of the pass attempts against it. UW is even worse at nearly 65% of the pass attempts. Riley is completing roughly 56% of his attempts, so if he is at 65% during this game, it should end VERY well for Cal. They actually allow 73% completion rating in the first quarter, so I think it is imperative for Cal to jump out to a big lead, hopefully using the reinvigorated pass attack.

142 QB rating against, again, is a very positive number for Cal. Looking at this, I feel like Riley can build on the momentum from the Big Game where he seemed to be playing with a lot of confidence. Notice also that they only have 8 interceptions to 15 TDs given up.

By comparison, note Cal's passing D:

Situation	G	Att	Comp	Pct.	Yards	Int	TD	Rating	Long	1st	15+	25+
All Plays	11	393	243	61.8	2835	10	14	129.09	80	121	65	27

This is a pass D that has been MUCH maligned this year. People have complained endlessly about its ineffectiveness. And, let's be honest, it has not be at the level many Cal fans anticipated it would be at the start of the year. The numbers are admittedly not great in some situations, but, save for the yards given up (surprise!), it is better across the board than this UW passing D.

Avinash:

Date	Opponent	Surface	Result	Att	Comp	Pct.	Yards	Yards/Att	Int	TD	Rating
09/05/09	15 LSU	Turf	L 23-31	19	11	57.9	172	9.1	0	3	186.05
09/12/09	Idaho	Turf	W 42-23	40	26	65.0	349	8.7	1	0	133.29
09/19/09	20 Southern California	Turf	W 16-13	22	13	59.1	110	5.0	1	0	92.00
09/26/09	@ 23 Stanford	Grass	L 14-34	14	7	50.0	103	7.4	0	0	111.80
10/03/09	@ Notre Dame	Grass	L 30-37	31	23	74.2	422	13.6	1	2	203.38
10/10/09	Arizona	Turf	W 36-33	53	39	73.6	384	7.2	2	1	133.13
10/17/09	@ Arizona St.	Grass	L 17-24	36	22	61.1	295	8.2	0	2	148.27
10/24/09	7 Oregon	Turf	L 19-43	22	14	63.6	157	7.1	0	1	138.58
11/07/09	@ UCLA	Grass	L 23-24	31	23	74.2	371	12.0	2	2	183.11
11/14/09	@ 13 Oregon St.	Turf	L 21-48	31	22	71.0	194	6.3	0	4	166.12
11/28/09	Washington St.	Turf	W 30-0	32	14	43.8	116	3.6	1	0	67.95
	Totals			331	214	64.7	2673	8.1	8	15	142.62

No sugarcoating this--these are really bad numbers. Allowing 70% completion rate to four quarterbacks is kind of excusable, considering Foles, Canfield and Clausen are three of the most accurate in the country...but Kevin Prince? Really? Other than knocking around Wazzu's quarterbacks around, they haven't had a great performance since the Furd game...the one where Gerhart rolled over them like the marvelous white stallion he is.

Based on the tenor of their defensive coordinator, Nick Holt likes his players to play aggressive. However, they lack the personnel to play in attack mode the entire way; they just don't have the ability to handle good quarterbacks or even semi-competent quarterbacks and it leads to big big plays. They eventually lead to lapses, ending up with situations like this.

Kevin Riley has had good games this year, had clutch performances this year. A good performance against the Huskies could go a long way towards getting ready for the bowl game against Oklahoma or BYU/Utah (our likely bowl opponents). Consistency is all we want from him now as he wraps up his junior year.

TwistNHook: And now, finally, let's take a look at the UW Rushing D. What does that look like?

Situation	G	Att	Yards	Avg.	TD	Long	1st	10+	20+
All Plays	11	367	1705	4.65	17	75	87	56	20
1st Half	11	177	835	4.72	7	60	41	29	11
2nd Half/OT	11	190	870	4.58	10	75	46	27	9
1st Quarter	11	80	438	5.48	5	60	18	13	8
2nd Quarter	11	97	397	4.09	2	42	23	16	3
3rd Quarter	11	102	463	4.54	6	75	25	15	4
4th Quarter	11	87	406	4.67	3	56	21	12	5

It looks OK. Not great, like ASU's 2.5 a carry against. But not redick bad. Of course, notice that the worst section is in the first quarter, so hopefully we can jump out to a large lead based on the solid running game. Cal is coming off of its best running game in a long long time (and that's saying a lot considering how amazing our running game has been). However, it appears that stud OLineman Matt Summers-Gavin is not going to play. This is unfortunate, because he appeared to be a catalyst for the running game when he returned against Arizona and Stanford. So, it is a mixture of bad and good news. UW seems to have a rush D that Cal could handle. However, we said the same thing against OSU and had major trouble without MSG.

Avinash: Let's not underrate these guys here. Mason Foster and Donald Butler are both great tacklers, can definitely cause the Bears problems if they struggle blocking.

Date	Opponent	Surface	Result	Att	Yards	Avg.	TD
09/05/09	15 LSU	Turf	L 23-31	29	149	5.14	0
09/12/09	Idaho	Turf	W 42-23	23	63	2.74	2
09/19/09	20 Southern California	Turf	W 16-13	33	250	7.58	1
09/26/09	@ 23 Stanford	Grass	L 14-34	51	321	6.29	3
10/03/09	@ Notre Dame	Grass	L 30-37	29	108	3.72	1
10/10/09	Arizona	Turf	W 36-33	30	77	2.57	2
10/17/09	@ Arizona St.	Grass	L 17-24	27	169	6.26	1
10/24/09	7 Oregon	Turf	L 19-43	40	259	6.48	4
11/07/09	@ UCLA	Grass	L 23-24	40	84	2.10	1
11/14/09	@ 13 Oregon St.	Turf	L 21-48	37	178	4.81	2
11/28/09	Washington St.	Turf	W 30-0	28	47	1.68	0
	Totals			367	1705	4.65	17

You can see the performance of this defense depends heavily on the running games they face. Toby Gerhart apparently obliterated them, as did the USC running corps, as did the James/Masoli/Barner trio, and so did...Arizona State? Other than that though, these guys have done alright shutting running games down.

With Best, I'd feel a lot more confident in establishing our run game--in open space he'd just outrun half these guys. Without him though, it becomes a little bit more interesting. Although I like Vereen a lot, it's still asking a lot for a guy who ran the ball 43 times two weeks ago to replicate that performance. I don't want him slugging in the trenches--we need the offensive line and our fullbacks/tight ends to block and open space for him to outrun this defense.

Also there's a few interesting numbers that stand out, like who's leading the conference in forced fumbles...

	Name	Team	Yr	Pos	G	Fumbles Forced	Fumbles Forced/G
1	Mason Foster	Washington	JR	LB	11	5	0.45
2	Daniel Te'o-Nesheim	Washington	SR	DL	11	3	0.27
2	Donald Butler	Washington	SR	LB	11	3	0.27

The Huskies have forced 15 fumbles (2nd in the conference to the Trojans) and have the three leaders in the conference in Foster, Te'o and Butler. And they got only ONE of those against Wazzu (4 against USC and UCLA, 3 against Oregon State, 2 against Arizona State). Vereen will hopefully be able to protect the ball, but what about the youthful Deboskie-Johnson (who will almost certainly see more carries)? Ball control will be key for our running backs in keeping the offense going.

There's a lot to worry about. We're far away from punching our tickets to El Paso. We've got a tough ball game Saturday and no Jahvid Best to break it open.

Poll

How is Cal going to do against UW?

Big victory

73 votes

Close victory

105 votes

Close loss

5 votes

Big loss

4 votes

187 votes | Poll has closed

Some OfThe UDub News That's Fit To Print

TwistNHook — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:00:33 -0000

by Elaine Thompson - AP

12 days ago: Washington coach Steve Sarkisian, right, holds up the Apple Cup trophy as Gov. Chris Gregoire, center, and school president Mark Emmert look on after the team beat Washington State in an NCAA football game Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009, in Seattle. Washington won the annual Apple Cup, 30-0. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

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I know for a lot of people this UW game seems like sort of an add on to the season. To many, the Big Game is the putative end of the football season and they find it odd, for the second year in a row, to face a UW team afterwards. Last year, Cal decimated a soul-less UW team just playing out the string. This year, Cal faces off against another UW team that has no bowl possibilities, but is much more dangerous. They defeated USC and were extraordinarily feisty against LSU. While many Cal fans seem to be looking past UW to what bowl we might end up in, hopefully the team is much more focused. With a week off to rest after an incredibly competitive Big Game, hopefully Cal can come in and quickly put an end to any upset talk.

Let's take a look at some stories about UW football to get better acquainted with them. First off, a bit of interesting news, especially given some of the big stories in the news:

In a very noble gesture, the University of Washington is offering free tickets to Saturday's football game against the University of California to active police, fire and military personnel in the Seattle area.

The school announced the move today in response to the senseless shooting deaths of four Lakewood, Wash. police officers on Sunday.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of the officers that were killed in Lakewood over the weekend," head coach Steve Sarkisian said during Monday's press conference. "For what you do, we are thankful."

Fire, police and military personnel with identification will be able to get four tickets to Saturday's game, which is the last of the season for the UW Huskies. Tickets can be claimed at the Huskies ticket office Monday through Friday during normal business hours or picked up on game day at the ticket window at the Northeast Plaza of Husky Stadium.

So, USAFGoldenBear, now is your chance to get free tickets!

CBSSports takes a look at some of the offensive stars for the Huskies:

Washington, though, is coming off its first shutout victory since Nov. 1, 1997, when it beat USC 27-0.

The Huskies allowed 163 total yards last week - including 47 on the ground - to the 1-11 Cougars. The effort could provide some momentum for a team that's giving up 398.0 yards and 28.2 points per game.

Offensively, talented junior quarterback Jake Locker threw for 196 yards and a touchdown and ran for another 94 yards and a score, while Chris Polk rushed for 130 yards to become the first Washington freshman to crack 1,000 yards in a season.

Polk is fifth in the conference with 1,019 rushing yards, while Locker leads the Pac-10 with 260.3 total yards per game.

Polk is definitely somebody to watch out for. He was recruited by many teams, including USC, and chose Washington, hoping to get some instant playing time. He has found what he wanted, gaining over 1,000 yards this season. We'll have more on the rushing attack tomorrow, but it is something that brings me pause. Then again, Cal has been remarkably good at shutting down the run this season, for the most part, so hopefully Cal can do it again. Hopefully.

The Seattle PI takes a look at the change in atmosphere surrounding the Huskies:

But once one looks past the numbers and takes a deeper look at the program as a whole, one thing is becoming clear.

The Huskies are finally on the rise again.

Much of how the Huskies do next season will hinge on whether or not Jake Locker chooses to return for his senior season or leave for the allure of the NFL. But that pending decision aside, Washington has to be intrigued by the core that return next season.

One of the only positives that comes from going 0-12 is that there is the opportunity to turn the team over to young players. And Steve Sarkisian and his staff have done that in spades.

On the defensive side, the Huskies have run out freshman on the defensive line (Talia Crichton and Andru Pulu), a sophomore at the linebacker position (Cort Dennison), and three freshman in the secondary (Desmond Trufant, Adam Long, and Nate Fellner).

On offense the Huskies have a star running back in just his first official year (Chris Polk), promising underclassmen on the offensive line (Drew Schaefer), and a receiving corp comprised entirely of underclassmen at the starting positions (James Johnson, Jermaine Kearse, Devin Aguilar, and Kavario Middleton).

The seniors (and maybe Locker) the Huskies will be losing are major contributors (Donald Butler, Daniel Te'o-Nesheim, Paul Homer, and Ben Ossai). But even that group of seniors sees nothing but green pastures for the Huskies. Butler dubbed his likely successor at linebacker, Dennison, a star on the rise, and Homer talked about the change in attitude that has occurred this season.

"Everything about the energy is different," Homer said. "Every aspect has changed."

Last year, the UW team we faced just didn't care anymore. Wills was clearly on the way out and they knew it. They folded early in the game. Even though UW had another rough season this year, we shouldn't anticipate that they will fold again. As Paul Homer notes, the energy is different and everything has changed. You know that UW will be gunning for upset after their emotional Apple Cup victory. If we can't jump out to a quick lead, it could be a long evening for Cal as UW gains more and more confidence.

The Olympian takes a look at UW's ineffective DLine play and how things have recently changed:

The way the Washington Huskies have rotated defensive linemen in and out of the lineup this season – hurriedly and liberally – nobody other than Daniel Te’o-Nesheim has played a long string of plays in any game.

Injuries have played a big part.

So has ineffective play in Nick Holt’s new scheme.

But lately, especially last weekend in the Apple Cup against Washington State, Holt stayed with his veteran defensive ends – Te’o-Nesheim and Darrion Jones, both seniors – exclusively.

"We weren’t out there very long. There weren’t a lot of long series, except maybe for the first one," Holt said. "The guys were fresh. We want to get some kids in, but they were playing so well, and weren’t tired, so we went with them."

Given more snaps the past two games, Te’o-Nesheim (11/2 sacks, two fumble recoveries) and Jones (first two career sacks, forced fumble, pass breakup) have contributed bigger impact plays.

"Darrion is a great player," Te’o-Nesheim said. "These last couple games, his stats have shot out of the roof."

Holt started tightening the rotations in mid-November against Oregon State. True freshman Talia Crichton, listed as the starter on the depth chart for much of the latter half of the season, did not play at all. Newcomers Andru Pulu and Kalani Aldrich played sparingly behind Jones.

In that game, Beavers quarterback Sean Canfield was sacked three times. And against the Cougars – even if it was only for 60 plays, that took up 271/2 minutes – it was Te’o-Nesheim and Jones, all to themselves, at defensive end.

"I’ve always had great continuity with Daniel. I’ve been around him a long time," Jones said. "I have great chemistry with him."

The Cal OL has been an area of concern for us Golden Bears fans. I wish Cal had faced this DL earlier in the season when they were in a state of flux. It appears in recent games, including the Apple Cup, players were finally able to stick. Daniel Te’o-Nesheim is the man to keep an eye on here. You might remember him from that terrible terrible game last time Cal went to Husky Stadium:

Wow did that suck! 2 years later, he's the main man there. He currently leads UW with 7.5 sacks and is second on the team with 9 tackles for loss. Quite simply, if he can be a force against our OL, it could be a long evening. Hopefully, UW will return to the flux of their early games and our OL, resurgent from their great Big Game performance, can dominate!

The success of the running game will be highly dependant on the fullbacks, who are of high quality:

The starting fullback from Nebraska - Paul Homer - will play in his 49th and final game for the Washington Huskies on Saturday, set to leave as one of the program's truly unheralded seniors.

His backup from Nevada – junior Austin Sylvester – will likely see some action, too, against 19th-ranked California. But his time should come next season.

Perhaps no two players on the UW roster have taken more divergent paths than the team’s top fullbacks – staples in coach Steve Sarkisian’s offense.

In fact last weekend against Washington State in the 102nd Apple Cup, Sarkisian went with more of a power rushing attack, utilizing two-receiver sets and giving more snaps to Homer.

Homer also caught four passes for 28 yards in the 30-0 win.

"Paul has performed well for us," Sarkisian said.

Typical of fullbacks is the fact that they seem to rely on one another throughout the season. Homer and Sylvester are no different.

"They’re very similar," Huskies running backs coach Joel Thomas said. "Usually when I see one, the other one is right there. They’re similar to linemen in the fact they have a camaraderie going through a lot of the battles they do. They do a lot of the grunt work."

Homer and Donald Butler were the only true freshmen to play in 2006. Homer played in all 12 games under former coach Tyrone Willingham. The past two seasons, he’s been named the team’s toughest contributor.

Looking at it from the other angle, their OL could have some solid success against our DL, especially in the run offense. And aiding them there would be the top notch fullbacks that UW has. Paul Homer, noted previously, will use his experience to open holes for Polk. The Stanford FB had great success against Cal. Hopefully, we can avoid a repeat of that success with the UW fullback. But he's definitely a bruiser and can actually catch passes. Keep an eye on Homer, who will be geeked for his Senior Day.

GO BEARS!

102nd Apple Cup: Washington 30, Washington State 0

Grady. — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 20:41:08 -0000

This game also happened yesterday.

Cougars vs Huskies Recap

Player of the Game: Reid Forrest. Our over-utilized punter had 7 boots for 277 yards, a long of 50 and 3 kicks downed inside the 20.

Unsung Hero: Xavier Hicks. Picked off Golden Boy Jake Locker and returned it 13 yards.

It was over when... Washington RB Chris Polk dove into the end zone to make it 20-0 with 6:11 to go in the third.

Play of the Game: Well, we didn't score, so... the Hicks INT.

Stat of the Game: The Cougars were unable to get any closer to the end zone than the Huskies' 33 yard line.

Grading the Game

John Berkowitz — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 16:09:31 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

12 days ago: Washington's Chris Polk, left, runs as Washington State's Alex Hoffman-Ellis gives chase in the second half of an NCAA football game Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009, in Seattle. Polk led all rushers with 130 yards. Washington won the annual Apple Cup, 30-0. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

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Enter this one into the record books as a big win for Washington. Sure the Cougars are terrible but any win is big for a team that didn't have one last season.

Quarterback

This was the first time all season we saw the real Jake. You know the Jake Locker who can win a game with his feet as well as his arm. I have seen him run better and I have seen him pass better in the past. That being said the return to health that has harnessed him since the Oregon game was good to see.

Grade A minus

Running backs

Another solid perfomance by Chris Polk who becomes the first Husky freshman to run over 1000 yards in a season. No asterisk on this one since he got it done in eleven games. Paul Homer made his first appearance as an offensive threat since the ND game. One wonders why Sark hasn't used that weapon until now.

Grade A minus

Receivers

Too many dropped balls stalled the offense in the first half of this one. As a unit this may have been one of their more questionable games since mental errors dominated just about everyone's performance.

Grade C plus

Offensive Line

The WSU defense gave these guys way too much trouble in the first half. Washington eventually wore down the Coug D who were on the field way too much. this group needs a better perfomance next week if Washington is going to give Cal much of a game.

Grade C plus

Defensive Line

The return of Cameron Elisara elevates this group a couple of notches. Darion Jones played most of the way and like Paul Homer who I mentioned above you have to wonder why UW didn't use him more this season. It was a great game by this unit overall but you have to facor in they were playing the worst offensive team in the BCS.

Grade A

Linebackers

As usual the play of this unit was solid and it was good to see Trenton Tuiasosopo get some meaninful playing time again. cort Dennison continues to play strong in the absence of EJ Savannah. Mason Foster and Donald butler were all over the place.

Grade A

Secondary

Jason Wells played a great game and the entire secondary was seldom challenged during the game. The young corners seems to be getting more comfortable out on the wings or was that just the competition they were playing against?

Grade A

Special Teams

Erik Folk was 3 for 3 and Nate Fellner once again served notice that he will be a force over the next three years. He had the hit of the day on a KO return that knocked a Cougar out of the game.

Grade A

Coaching

Sark finally let Jake run and we are all happy for that. Despite that the offense is still a work in progress still looking to click on all cylinders in a single game. Give Sark credit for getting his team fired up for this one and Nick Holt for guiding his defense to its first shut out as the Husky DC.

This game highlights how much work still needs to be done for next season to keep this team growing but you come away with the feeling that this staff will get it done.

Grade A

Poll

Who was the Apple Cup MVP?

How about those Apples...UW crushes WSU 30-0

John Berkowitz — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:46:15 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

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Washington's defense pitched the first shutout in the Apple Cup since 1968 as the Huskies stomped the Cougars 30-0 which stopped a two game losing streak in the series.

Despite the win and the goose egg this won't go down as a pretty one for the Huskies. The same type of problems that have plauged them most of the season on offense persisted throughout the game. Dropped balls, inaccurate throws, and some funky routes by the receivers helped keep Washington in check more than the Cougars did in the first half. Washington only led 13-0 at the half due to two first half drives ended in Erik Folk FG's.

Jake was 16 of 28 for 196 yards and one TD yesterday but the offense really never started moving till he jump started it with his feet. Locker rushed for 94 yards on 10 carries which helped ignite the Husky running game which picked up a total of 265 yards.

Chris Polk became the first Husky frosh to rush for over 1000 yards in a season. Chris picked up 130 yards and one TD on 25 carries. Demetrius Bronson had three for 33 but a late fumble wiped out another TD opportunity deep in Cougar territory as the game was winding down. Curtis Shaw even got in the act with a couple of late carries for ten yards.

The stars of the game from the Husky perspective were the defense which held the Cougars to only 163 total yards. The Cougars went through all three QB's on Saturday and all were knocked out of the game by viscous Husky hits from time to time. WSU QB's were a combined 14 for 32 for only 116 yards. The Husky defense sacked the Cougars five times and picked up two turnovers. The Cougs never got a running game going and were limited to only 47 yards on the ground. In 12 offensive possessions the Cougars never got inside the Huskies' 33-yard line.

"It's always a goal to take quarterbacks out of the game,'' said defensive tackle Cameron Elisara. "And we had two out today and we were putting hits on them. It felt great to be able to put a hit on someone. And it really hurts a team to put their leader out.''

The Huskies move to 4-7 overall and 3-5 in Pac-10 play. They finish the season next week against California at home in Husky Stadium.

Spaulding Roundup: Thankful Bruins & Big Picture Thoughts On Saturday

Nestor — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:27:56 -0000

More photos » by Jae C. Hong - AP

CRN and Prince have lot to be thankful about today

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Back in day (like when we were attending UCLA or before then) Thanksgiving was special for a very specific reason. Back then the last regular game of the season was usually scheduled for the third Saturday in November. The way it would work out was Ohio State and Michigan would start our morning brunch (on the West Coast) at 9:30 and then carry us over to UCLA-U$C.* We never lost to U$C* when many of us were students and it was something truly awesome going back home to see all the Trojans (fans and students) over the Holidays. Guess now with BCS, TV Ks, things are a little different. Things have been specially painful last 10 years of a dark and gloomy stretch when except for one aberration (and it was a sweet one), we have had nothing to gloat about.

Are things going to turn this year? I don't know. I always consider Bruins having a chance to win everyone of these games because I don't think it's a contest you ever concede (no matter what the situations are). It's not one of those games which you use to find silver linings and moral victories when the scoreboard doesn't come out in our favor. Yet what we want to see from our guys this year is to make sure when they enter the Mosoleum on Saturday, they don't get caught with the deer in headlights look we found our Bruins in during Toledo's last two years (staring with that 0-27 disgrace in 2001) and Dorrell's first two trips. We want our guys to come out there on Saturday and emerge as the aggressor. Trojans are going to come out and attack like rabid, hurt, desperate dogs on their end. I have no doubt Pom Pom will have them fired up and ready to go for our throats from the first snap. We are going to have not only match their fire, but one up them. We not only don't want them to give an inch, we want them to throw that first punch on both sides of the field.

Thankfully it sounds like we have a football team that is approaching the game with right perspective. It's clear from reading the stories this am about our players and coach, they have the big picture in mind heading into Saturday. Reggie Carter doesn't sound all that upset about the Trojan attack on the Bruin:

"You feel disrespected, but I'm positive whoever did it wouldn't come up to me and tell me they did it," Carter said. "It's fine. As long as I get to suit up and play this game, I could care less what an aluminum bear's doing right now. He's not hurting; it's OK.

"(USC) will feel some hurt on Saturday, though."

Sounds like Reggie. I think it will be interesting to see how he and his team-mates handle McKnight on Barkely on Saturday. I have already written how worried I am about our LBers being able to contain McKnight and Bradford. Whenever I think of the Trojan RBs, I have nightmares of Jahvid Best (best wishes to him on this day) and Shane Vareen slicing through our defense. I wonder if our defense has gotten its grove back since that ugly afternoon in the Rose Bowl. From what we have seen in recent weeks, it looks like our defensive front-7 still has rough time in the early going against opposing RBs. They were manhandled along the edge by Arizona. Chris Polk had a great day against them early on at the Rose Bowl and then they were gashed last weekend in first half by the ASU running attack (before our D stiffened up).

So what is going to happen this Saturday? Here is what the Trojan OC Jeremy Bates had to say to the LA Times:

"We're going to be aggressive, but were going to be smart about it," Bates said. "They're ball hawks back there."

Bates said he was encouraged by the sight -- and the sound -- of the offense this week during practices that followed last weekend's open date.

Interestingly Bates team has not scored more than 21 points in its last 3 games. However, as mentioned before they are getting Damien Williams back for this Sat (which should help them a lot). The Stanford team that bottled them up doesn't exactly have the best defense in the conference. So, the Bruin defense are going into this weekend's game with a mixed bag of factors going for and against them. I really can't tell which way things are going to break right now. However, if we can keep those guys contained (on the scoreboard) in the first half, and hold our own on offense, I think I like our chances. Speaking of our offenses, few great stories around them to pass on this Thursday. Come with me after the jump.

So on the offensive side, it will be a huge game for our OL. This is their final test (before heading into finals week on campus) and Jake Dean is as excited about it as anyone else on the team. Jake is going to start at RG, as Ryan Taylor is still questionable with his ankle injury. From the LA Times:

"This means a lot," Dean said. "Growing up, you want to play in this kind of big rivalry game. I'm getting a shot to finally go out and do it, and not just watch. You come here to play this game. All that matters is how you perform in this one."

Dean started seven games at center a year ago, but with the influx of offensive line talent this season, he was relegated to a backup role. He has practiced at center, guard and tackle before getting his first start of the season against Arizona State last week.

"It helps to have played already this season, but this is SC," Dean said. "They're the best. This is the one that matters."

Dean continued to work even though his future as a lineman was in doubt, given the younger players in the starting lineup. The Bruins have started three sophomores and a freshman on the line all season.

But "my dad always tells me you never know when it will be the last you get to play, you have to go out and have fun with it."

Speaking of having fun, Marcia Smith actually has a decent article on Kevin Prince. The Bruin QB is getting ready for a big day - TODAY:

Last year, Prince missed having Thanksgiving at home for the first time. The Bruins were on the road at Arizona State and he had to say grace over a hotel ballroom Butterball. He had been stewing through the end of a redshirt and losing season and awaiting spring football and a promotion.

"This Thanksgiving," said the tall, funny but soft-spoken player with a fuzzy, reddish beard, "I have a lot of reasons to be thankful."

Now Prince is a starter who has been improving every game. His newly bowl-eligible Bruins (6-5, 3-5 Pac-10) are running high from three consecutive victories. He's healthy, feeling no lingering wooziness from the concussion he got from a Washington Husky, no ache in the jaw fractured by a Tennessee Volunteer.

He's chasing the football dream his older brother, Austin, 22, wanted but couldn't have because of battered, surgically repaired knees. He's playing a game that his East Coast cousin, Madison, born 22 hours after Kevin, loves but can't fully grasp because of autism.

Most of all, Prince is grateful to be home for the holiday, in the oven-warm company of the people and the place that shaped this young man whom Rose Bowl spectators have only known beneath a golden helmet and No. 14 jersey.

Someone correct me if we are wrong. One of our readers have sent in a tip saying this Saturday also happens to be the Birthday of none other than Number 14. Is that true? Either way, UCLA has to feel good about how the season has developed for Prince, given the challenges he faced after a solid start in his first two games.

I cannot wait to see how he comes on Saturday. I am getting goosebumps thinking about. I will not be surprised if he struggles a little. He is a freshman after all. However, at the same time remembering how he handled himself in the pressure packed situation in Neyland stadium, I also get a sense of real hope (I haven't felt in more than a decade before our team heading over to South Central).

Lastly, the one guy who will do everything in his power to get these guys in the right mindset on Saturday is none other than CRN. Great article by Jon Gold in the Daily News today on his reflections on the trip he took this summer to Iraq. This was my favorite part of the story on CRN's trip:

Eight days into the May 28-June 4 trip to visit U.S. soldiers along with six other prominent college football coaches, a trip that has brought him to hospitals and war zones, to dirt lots that have gone from battlefields to ballfields, Neuheisel meets the captain of a naval base in Rhoda.

Throughout the trip, all he'd seen was orange and red - orange for Texas' Mack Brown, red for OhioState's Jim Tressel, two other coaches on the trip - and he needed to see some blue and gold.

The plane touches down, the coaches deboard, they climb some stairs to get into the base, and the captain greets him in a UCLA hat.

"It turns out, he was the guy who, in our first game against the Trojans at the Rose Bowl in 1982, got up on the crossbar," Neuheisel says, breaking into a wide smile. "There's a picture of when Karl Morgan sacked Scott Tinsley - no time on the clock, they're going for two to win the game - the crowd rushes the field and one guy gets on the goal post. That was this guy."

It took Neuheisel eight days, seven countries and thousands of miles to find him.

Well, not sure if this is going to happen BUT what if those UCLA students, who have taken so much heat (from us) last few days, are also hanging on the goal post this Saturday. Can you guys picture that? Envision that for a bit.

Happy thanksgiving to you again.

GO BRUINS.

AUDIO: CougCenter Podcast, Episode 15

Nuss — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:58:20 -0000

Stuck in your house instead of traveling? Need to kill close to an hour waiting for tonight's game in the Great Alaska Shootout?

Then the latest edition of the CougCenter podcast is for you!

Grady and I talk about the Apple Cup and share our favorite "why I hate the Huskies" stories, then move into hoops, specifically talking about how much better we feel after the Pac-10's abysmal start to the season. (No Craig again this week.)

If you've listened before and not liked it all that much, give this week a try. The conversation is great, and if you've ever been turned off by the sound quality of previous shows -- either the fact that it sounded like a phone call or the random popping noises that seem to be inevitable with TalkShoe.com -- good news! We've dramatically improved it by using Skype, which improves both the quality of voices and the quality of the conversation, since there's virtually none of the dreaded cell phone lag.

To be frank, we really enjoyed making last night's show a lot more than some other recent shows, and we think you'll enjoy the results, too.

Incidentally, the transition to Skype came at the recommendation of Ty Hildenbrandt at The Solid Verbal, to whom I owe a huge debt of gratitude; I always just assumed that we'd never be able to have good sound quality since we're all three in different parts of the country. Maybe I can pay him back by being a guest on his podcast when the Cougars are relevant again in five years!

As usual you can listen to the audio via the player below, or visit our podcast page for myriad subscription options. You can also find us in the iTunes directory under keyword "CougCenter." The advantage of subscribing? Besides having the audio directly delivered to your player of choice, I often upload the audio to the podcast site before posting it here -- this podcast was uploaded early this morning, so many of you might have already listened to it.