ANG Newspapers: Cal's Wunderlich Team can play, too

By Dave Newhouse, STAFF WRITER 

BERKELEY — Cal had its Wonder Team. Now Cal has its Wunderlich Team.  Players entering the NFL draft are subjected to the Wunderlich tests, designed to check each player's IQ.  On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that over the past seven years of Wunderlich scores, Cal finished in a third-place tie with BYU. Stanford was first and Purdue second.  "Cal has the reputation as a cerebral place, but not great athletes," Bears linebacker Ryan Foltz said. "I read that (Wall Street Journal) report, and it's great to see that we have great athletes who are smart."  Cal's football graduation rate was 48 percent, but coach Jeff Tedford said that when he took over the program in 2002, the graduation rate was much lower.

"We had 22 of 26 (seniors) graduate last year," he said. "The ones who didn't graduate dropped out of school to prepare for the NFL."  

HAND JIVE: Tailback Marshawn Lynch played for the first time in three weeks, rushing for 107 yards in spite of a broken/dislocated little finger on his left hand.  Because of the hand, he fumbled the ball away once against Arizona.  "It was the vibration," he said. "I was carrying the ball in my right hand, but was hit on the left hand, and I was shaking that hand while I was going down."  By the time Lynch hit the turf, the ball was loose. He said in 20 rushes Saturday, he carried the ball in his left hand only once.

BEAR TRACKS: Cal offensive linemen Andrew Cameron and Aaron Merz, who both sat out two games with concussions, started Saturday. Cameron played only one series before sustaining a knee injury. Tedford said X-rays were negative, but the coach isn't sure if Cameron will play Saturday at UCLA. ...Wide receiver Lavelle Hawkins (ankle injury) didn't play against Arizona, but Tedford said he would face the Bruins. ...Arizona had one touchdown called back on a holding penalty _ Syndric Steptoe's 84-yard punt return. And Nick Folk's 50-yard field goal try for the Wildcats was blocked by Abu Ma'Afala. ... Lynch extended Cal's streak of 100-yard rushers to 17 games.