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Articles
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Cal goes Berserkeley in 2nd half
Student body left goes student body right By Malamute, Posted 14 November 2004 Thirty-one point underdog Washington (1-9) took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter and held that lead for most of the first half. Although the Huskies trailed 7-6 at the half, they had out-gained Cal, 210 to 167 yards. The Bears (8-1) roared back with 3 third-quarter touchdowns to break the game wide open on a beautiful autumn day at Husky Stadium. A punishing second-half ground game, led by Marshawn Lynch and J. J. Arrington, sealed the 42-12 victory for the Bears. Desperately needing something to crow about, UW fans can claim half of a moral victory for lame-duck coach Keith Gilbertson. Gilby's virtual victory came at the expense of Cal's coach Jeff Tedford, who, ironically, but not likely, may be the UW's next coach. Once again the UW defense played a good game before wearing out late in the third quarter; however, the UW offense, which committed 4 turnovers (38 total on the season, -17 compared with its opponents), only managed to score 12 points. The Huskies accrued 84 yards net rushing compared with the Bears' 304. QB Casey Paus completed 20 of 44 passes for 328 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions. WR Craig Chambers highlighted the Huskies' offense on a 189-yard, 8-reception day. He posted one score on 77-yard pass play from Paus. RB Kenny James ran for 96 yards on 23 attempts. Cal's heralded freshman RB Marshawn Lynch got off touchdown runs of 33 and 77 yards. Lynch also scored on a 29-yard pass thrown by Cal QB Aaron Rogers. J. J. Arrington rushed for 121 yards on 22 carries and scored a touchdown on a 5-yard run. After the Bears received the opening kickoff, Washington was able to hold them to one first down and then a three-and-out. Except for the USC game -- and now against Washington -- California had scored a touchdown on each of its previous opening drives. UW went three-and-out on its first possession, as did Cal on its second. On each of Cal’s first two possessions, DT Greyson Gunheim sacked Rogers for a loss. Backed up on its own six yard line, Washington managed to work the ball up field on the running of Kenny James and passing of Casey Paus, who, on the highlight of the drive, hit Sonny Shackelford on a 34-yard pass play, a post-corner route, that carried to the Cal 18. After the drive bogged down, Evan Knudson connected on a 35-yard field goal to give the Huskies a 3-0 lead, the scoring drive going 76 yards in 12 plays. Early in the second quarter, LB Scott White intercepted Rogers on a Cal drive that had carried to the UW 29-yard line. From their own 40, the Huskies managed to get to the Cal 47, but the drive ended when Shelton Sampson fumbled the ball away on the Cal 49. The UW defense held Cal to a three-and-out, with LB Joe Lobendahn sacking Rogers on a third and 5. However, David Lonie managed to pin the Dawgs back on their one-yard line with a 48-yard punt. On his own 3, Paus hit Greg Chambers on a deep post route, a 42-yard pass play that carried to the UW 45. Hit as the threw the ball, Paus was intercepted by Ryan Gutierrez to end the UW drive. Once more the UW defense came to the fore, holding Cal to a three-and-out. With 5:47 left in the half, the UW led 3-0 and was in the redzone for the second time in the game. Starting from its own 22, the UW managed to get to the Cal 18, most of the yardage coming on two big plays, a 23-yard pass to Chambers and a 33-yard run by Kenny James. The drive ended when Evan Knudson missed a 36-yard field-goal attempt. With 1:09 remaining in the half, Cal took a 7-3 lead on an 86-yard, six play drive, Rogers completing a 29-yard pass to WR Marshawn Lynch for the score. The UW closed the gap to one point (7-6) going into the intermission on a 40 yard, 6-play drive. Aided by a 46-yard kickoff return by Louis Rankin, which carried to the Cal 48, the UW managed to work the ball to the Cal 8, from where Knudson connected on a 26-yard field goal. The Bears, who have outscored their previous opponents 132-28 in the second half, jumped off to a 14-6 lead on the UW's first possession. After taking the opening kickoff, the UW went three-and-out on, ending up on its 9-yard line after a sack on Paus. Greg Van Hoesen blocked Sean Douglas' punt, and Justin Forsett recovered the ball in the endzone, to give Cal the 8-point lead. However, on the UW's next series, Paus struck back with a touchdown pass to Chambers on a 77-yard pass play, and the UW trailed 14-12. Knudson missed on the extra-point attempt, the ball moved to the right hash after a too-many-men-on-the-field penalty had stopped a two-point try. The drive went 87 yards in four plays. On Cal's ensuing drive, which carried to the UW 14, LB Evan Benjamin intercepted Rogers in the end zone, and the Huskies had the ball back, trailing 14-12. With 2:13 left in the third quarter, Marshawn Lynch got off a 33-yard touchdown run, giving Cal a 21-12 lead. The Bears picked Paus, icing the game with its third TD in the quarter. . To wit: Paus was intercepted by Wendell Hunter, who carried the ball to the Washington 8. J. J. Arrington bolted up the middle for 5 yards and Cal's next score. With 1:09 left in the third period, the Golden Bears led 28-12. Behind 35-12, Paus suffered his third pick of the game, ending a 14-play, 67-yrd drive. His second interception in the game, Wendell Hunter took the ball on the 4 and ran it back to Cal's 26. Three plays later, Lynch ran 70 yards for a touchdown, to give Cal a final score of 42-12. In his post-game comments, Coach Gilbertson said, "I really liked the way our guys battled...It was a good half of football. We missed a corner route for a touchdown; we missed another down the seam for another (in the first half). I thought we were going to play with them. I think Cal is the most physical team in the conference. Pretty soon they wear you down. I thought the (blocked) kick was awfully slow. I didn't see any pace on it." ----------- Letting Paus play the whole game was crucial for the junior quarterback's development as a Pac-10 quarterback. Unfortunately, pulling him prematurely in a couple of games may have cost the UW some wins, as well as putting Paus behind the learning curve in his development. Paus is beginning to look like a Pac-10 QB, maybe not the best, but certainly adequate enough, and providing he has a team to support him next season, should lead the UW to some wins. Paus has completed three games this season, the UCLA, Oregon and California games. In his two best games, against UCLA and Cal, Paus completed 33 out of 72 passes for 528 yards, with 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. His efficiency rating for those two games is 112.85. His stats in the Oregon game were wretched, that is, 14 out of 36 passes for 211 yards, 4 interceptions and no touchdowns. Remember, Paus came off the bench last season against Oregon to lead the Huskies to a second half victory. With WR Craig Chambers coming on strong at the summer practices in Olympia, one wonders why it took so long for Gilbertson to play him. Finally, with all the WRs going down for one reason or another, Chambers (6-foot-3, 205 pounds) got his chance to play late in the season. Ironically, Chambers, out of the 2003 class, may be the last of the high-profile local recruits to sign with Washington until a new coach establishes a successful footing. Why would Jeff Tedford or Urban Meyer (Utah) want to leave successful programs and attempt a reincarnation of the UW program? We believe the most likely candidate to replace Gilby is either Scott Linehan, who is the offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, or Boise State head coach Dan Hawkins. The UW can dangle both a BCS lure and a generous salary package in front of Hawkins as enticements. Linehan, an assistant coach at the UW from 1994 to 1998, might want a head-coaching opportunity. He's used to tough weather conditions. However, this doesn't mean that the UW should give up on Tedford or Meyer as candidates. Ruth Robbins, (Link: realdawg) makes a strong case for Meyer in an article that is a must read for all UW fans. (See "An Urban Legend Worth Believing," Ruth Robbins, November 15, 2004).
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