By JOSH DUBOW
AP Sports Writer
BERKELEY, Calif. -- Two trends were evident in the first month of the season for California and Arizona. While the 12th-ranked Golden Bears have had little trouble running the ball, the Wildcats have given up far too many big plays on the ground. That could set up quite a mismatch Saturday when the Pac-10's top rushing offense faces the conference's worst run defense. "It gets down to tackling," Arizona coach Mike Stoops said. "If we're going to have success, we need to tackle better than we have all year. We haven't tackled very well in the secondary and that's a concern. We're not playing very good in run defense and obviously we're going to get challenged in a big way this weekend." While Cal (4-0) has used a trio of talented running backs to average more than 275 yards per game on the ground, the Wildcats (1-2) have been giving up 202, including two touchdown runs of longer than 50 yards. With Cal's top running back, Marshawn Lynch, expected to return from a broken finger this week to share the load with Justin Forsett and Marcus O'Keith, it would seem like a safe bet that quarterback Joe Ayoob would spend a lot of time handing the ball off.
Maybe not, warned Cal coach Jeff Tedford, who pointed out that much of the success against Arizona has come by Utah and Purdue, who utilize a spread-option attack. "It was just a matter of Utah and Purdue making some big plays with the option," Tedford said. "You're not going to pound them all day long because they are a physical group." But Arizona's players know they need to improve. "We have to play a lot more aggressive and physical," cornerback Antoine Cason said. "We just can't come up there and arm tackle these guys." Ayoob is also prepared for the Wildcats to focus on stopping the run and forcing him to pass. After throwing 10 straight incompletions in the opener against Sacramento State, Ayoob has settled down in his first season after transferring from junior college. He has completed 60 percent of his passes the past three games with six touchdowns, teaming up with Robert Jordan and DeSean Jackson to complement the running game.
"I'm sure defenses think let's stop the run and force us to throw the ball," Ayoob said. "But we have receivers on the outside that if they get one-on-one coverage, they will win nine out of 10 times. They can turn a 10-yard catch into an 80-yard touchdown. If teams start stacking up against the run, we have the weapons to expose them on the outside." Even though the Wildcats' only win so far this season has come against Division I-AA Northern Arizona, they played Utah and Purdue tough, losing the two games by a combined 10 points. Cal has had a much easier road, beating four relatively weak opponents -- Sacramento State, Washington, Illinois and New Mexico State are a combined 3-13 so far this season. A win against Arizona would give the Bears their first 5-0 start since 1996 under Steve Mariucci. After watching tape of Arizona's first three games and last year's 38-0 Cal win, Tedford has noticed a big improvement for the Wildcats in Stoops' second season. Arizona was second-to-last in the nation in scoring a year ago, but has scored at least 24 points in each of its first three games this season. Richard Kovalcheck has thrown for at least 250 yards in all three games and looks much more comfortable in his sophomore season. "They're much improved and it comes as no surprise," Tedford said. "They could very easily be 3-0 right now. ... They've had a chance to work for a year in the same system. Anytime you can do that and gain experience, you're better for it."
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