The Curse of the Palouse is ended; Cal won in Pullman for the first time in 28 years.
Cal's first touchdown came after a blocked punt by Nu'u Tafisi
gave the ball to Cal at the WSU 5 yard line. Two short runs by Marshawn Lynch delivered the score.
The Cougars came into the game well aware of Cal's ability to blitz
a defense, and to put games out of reach early. After that punt block and Cal
TD, the Cougs pushed hard to even the game. They drove 54 yards
on 5 plays, one of which was a 55-yard pass to Brandon Gibson, WSU's
leading receiver on the day. Already Cal's defensive strength was evident:
four of the five plays on that drive netted -1 yards, so when faced with
a 4th and 11 at Cal's 29, coach Doba elected to go for it - and was rewarded
with a dropped pass at the back-edge of the end zone by his star receiver Jason Hill.
Zack Follett and Nu'u Tafisi shared credit for the sack that forced that
fourth down attempt.
Cal's second touchdown came five minutes later after an 11 play 71 yard
drive, highlighted by three passes each to DeSean Jackson and Robert Jordan.
With Longshore going 7 for 9 on the drive it seemed like Cal's offense
was beginning to roll. Longshore, who especially enjoys a chance to score on
a running play, pushed the ball over from the one-yard line to cap the drive.
After the initial surge, his long legs could be seen behind the pile steadily
driving forward, a tractor pull in reverse.
Then Washington State, determined to stay in the game, put on their best drive
of the day, driving 13 plays for 72 yards only to be stalled on the Cal 8 yard
line and forced into a field goal that got them their 3 points. During the
drive WR Jason Hill caught one pass for 6 yards, one of only two he would get
as be was virtually shut down by Cal cornerback Daymeion Hughes.
The WSU drive ended when the Cougars could not convert a 1st and goal at the
Cal 10. On first down, running back Woolridge was limited to a 1-yard run
by Zack Follett and Abu Ma'afala, then followed by two pass attempts
that netted just one more. Loren Langley's field goal attempt from the
8 was good and ended WSU scoring for the day.
Cal's defense was stifling. The Cougars managed a respectable 350 yards
of total offense, but only 88 of those were from running plays (and 70 of that
from one play) as the Cal defensive line shut down the running game and forced
WSU to pass. The Cougars were zero for 11 on third down attempts for the day - and
2 for 6 on the fourth down attempts that they were forced into by the Cal defense.
Cal started another drive from its own 12 following a Daymeion Hughes interception
on a ball so poorly thrown that it seemed intended for Hughes. From there,
Cal closed out the scoring for the day with a 12-play 88-yard drive that put
the game out of reach. With the ball on the Cal 26, the Bears got a break when
a Longshore sack on 1st and 10 resulted in a face mask penalty against the
Cougars that moved the ball out to Cal's 45 and a first down.
The drive for Cal's last TD was accomplished with a mix of runs by Lynch,
Forsett, and Lavelle Hawkins (on an end-around that gained 7 yards), and passes
by Longshore to Jordan and Forsett. Marshawn Lynch closed out the drive with
a slick draw over left guard that let him slip through untouched into the end
zone.
That left 3:27 on the clock, and nothing but futility for the Cougars.
While a 21-3 win over the Cougars at Pullman is always to be savored, Cal
coach Jeff Tedford was unhappy with several aspects of the effort, especially
on offense. The ball was put on the ground by the offense 4 times, though
just one resulted in a turnover. 6 penalties were called on the offense
including 2 holding calls, 2 false starts, 1 delay of game, and 1 illegal formation
(too many players off the line of scrimmage at the snap). Though the
number of penalties matched the Cal average for the season, Tedford cited the
unusual nature of some of them - illegal formations and fumbled snaps - as
he expressed his disappointment.
Cal's offensive line faced tough opposition, a defensive line that led
the Pac-10 in sacks coming into this game. In six games to date, the Cougars
had sacked opposing quarterbacks 27 times; the second place team, Arizona State,
had 19. In this game, the Cal line limited WSU to one sack, even if they did
allow more pressure on Longshore than he has seen since the season-opener at
Tennessee.
Longshore's numbers were good if not exceptional, 17of 31 with two interceptions.
He was frequently off balance, however, or not in good synch with his receivers.
Several passes soared over receivers heads, or were sufficiently offline as
to make them uncatchable. Whether this was a result of the pressure WSU exerted
or a reported illness is not clear.
Cal ran well against the Cougars, picking up 177 yards on the ground, even
if there were few long gainers. Lynch contributed 25 carries for 165 yards,
carrying the ball almost twice more frequently than his average this season.
Forsett chipped in 25 yards on 8 carries.
Robert Jordan led Cal receivers with 6 catches for 56 yards; DeSean Jackson
trailed him with 4 catches for 60 yards for an even 15.0 yards per catch. For
the first time in 9 consecutive games, however, Jackson did not score a touchdown.
Desmond Bishop, as is becoming his tradition, let Cal tacklers with 8. Follett,
Pimentel and Bishop had TFLs, while Follett, Pimentel, and Tafisi shared in
the 2 sacks the Bears laid on the Cougars.
Syd'Quan Thompson made the defensive play of the day when late in the
third quarter Cougar running back Derrell Hutsona circled around left end,
cut back across the field, and found a seam to the right side line where he
sprinted past all defenders for an almost sure touchdown. With minutes left
in the 3rd quarter, a touchdown could have given the Cougars a breath of life.
From his cornerback position on the far side of the field, however, Thompson
closed like a steak and submarined Hutsona out of bounds at Cal's five
yard line.
As Bishop explained later, after seeing Thompson's effort, the defense
dedicated itself to preventing a Cougar touchdown.
With a first and goal at the five, Brink threw incomplete to receiver Charles Dillon with coverage by Thompson. On second down, running back Dwight Tardy gained one. On third and four, Brink finally completed a pass - to Tardy - only to be stopped by a determined Worrell Williams at the one for a three-yard gain.
Then it was 4th and goal from the one, and quarterback Brink tried to drive for the TD, but went into the welcoming arms of Steve Kelley and Brandon Mebane. As Bishop explained after the game, the defense could have left the field on that play because Mebane was going to stop the play by himself if necessary.
This all happened, though, because of Thompson's furious snap-to-whistle
effort that made it possible.
The Bear are now 6-1, 4-0 in the Pac-10, tied with USC (who struggled to beat Arizona State) for the top slot. The Bears and Trojans at 4-0 provide the bookend to the struggling Cardinal at 0-4. Oregon, who handed UCLA a solid defeat, is in sole possession of third place, followed by a jumble of middle-tier teams at 2-2: UCLA, Washington, and Washington State. ASU, OSU, and Arizona trail.
Cal will welcome the Washington Huskies to next Saturday's game at Memorial Stadium for a 12:30 p.m. game. They then benefit from a much needed bye week before plunging into the final drive of the season, playing UCLA
at Berkeley, Arizona at Phoenix, USC at the Coliseum, and Cardinal in the friendly
confines of Memorial.
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