Contra Costa Times: In a way, their postseason begins here

THINGS WILL ONLY GET TOUGHER, SO CAL, WASHINGTON ST. NEED A WIN

By Jay Heater

A bowl berth does not quite hang in the balance, but the loser of today's game between Cal and Washington State at Memorial Stadium will be in a deep hole in terms of playing postseason football. The 25th-ranked Bears (5-2, 2-2 Pacific-10) and the Cougars (3-3, 0-3) went undefeated in non-conference play, beating up on inferior competition. The road of late, though, has been rocky, with Washington State losing three in a row and Cal its past two. And after today, things get much tougher: Cal goes to Oregon, then plays host to USC; Washington State gets USC, Arizona State and then Oregon. Throw in the fact that both teams might be having some doubts about their ability to win. The Bears lost two close games, to UCLA and Oregon State, and the Cougars have squandered fourth-quarter leads in two of their past three games. ``You do worry a lot about confidence,'' Washington State Coach Bill Doba said. ``You don't want to go into the fourth quarter thinking, `Here we go again.' We've been talking to our players, telling them if you have the lead, you don't want the clock to tick faster. You want it to click slower so you can get an even bigger lead.'' The clock will tick very slowly if Cal's running game grinds to a halt, as it did against Oregon State (75 yards). Right tackle Ryan O'Callaghan is doubtful for today's game after suffering a concussion last weekend, and he is a key to the rushing game.

Washington State will be without its marquee defensive player, linebacker Will Derting, who injured his knee three weeks ago. Both Doba and Cal Coach Jeff Tedford said they just need somebody to make a big play. ``We haven't been able to do it,'' Doba lamented. If one guy has been making plays for Washington State, it is tailback Jerome Harrison, who rushed for 260 yards and two touchdowns in a 44-41 overtime loss to UCLA last Saturday. That was Harrison's ninth game in a row (dating to last season) with more than 100 yards. ``He has great patience and confidence,'' Doba said. ``He can slow to a walk waiting for a wide receiver to make a block.'' Tedford is wary of Harrison, especially after his Bears allowed Oregon State's Yvenson Bernard to run for 194 yards last weekend. ``Washington State has a great running back,'' Tedford said. ``He is very quick and he hits the hole hard. Plus, their offense is very multiple and they can spread you out. They have big-play potential.'' Cal linebacker Ryan Foltz said the defense will bounce back. ``The main thing we need to work on is everyone doing their job,'' he said. ``Our defense is predicated on everyone doing their assignment. That is our main focus. You can't freelance or do your own thing. ``We've talked about making great plays, but there is a time and place for everything. We take calculated risks.'' So far, though, those risks have not worked out. Tedford knows both teams have struggled at crucial moments. ``When they need to play a play, they are coming up short, just like us,'' he said. ``But it all comes down to making plays and working together as a team. We have to stay consistent.''