Daily Evergreen (Pullman Washington): Leveling the playing field

Cal and WSU have many similarities, except for their Pac-10 records this season.

MARCUS POTTS STAFF WRITER 

Running down the similarities between the WSU and Cal football teams will leave you with a lengthy list, including strong running games, fast starts this season and losing streaks of late on both sides.  However, running down the differences will uncover the more important comparison: No. 25 Cal has two Pac-10 victories and WSU is still searching for its first conference victory.  At 7:15 p.m. on Saturday in Berkeley, Calif., the two teams will meet, each looking to set the season back on track. The game will be televised on FSN, channel 26 in Pullman.  The Golden Bears (5-2 overall, 2-2 Pac-10) jumped out to a quick 5-0 record to start the season, seemingly affirming preseason projections, but in the last two weeks the team has lost to UCLA and Oregon State. Head coach Jeff Tedford said his players haven’t lost confidence.  “I think there’s still a belief there in what kind of team we have,” he said. “[The players] are kind of searching for ‘How do we get over the hump?’ ”  One thing Cal hasn’t had to search for this season is a dominant running game. On the legs of Justin Forsett (756 yards) and Marshawn Lynch (493 yards), the Bears have become the only team in the Pac-10 averaging more rushing yards per game (243 yards) than passing yards (207 yards).  Quarterback Joe Ayoob has been improving during the course of the season after replacing the injured Nate Longshore in the first game of the season. Last week he threw a touchdown pass, ran for a score and tallied a touchdown reception.  “He’s been up and down a little bit,” Tedford said. “Sometimes he really seems like he’s comfortable with what’s going on and at other times it looks like he’s not so comfortable.”  Cal boasts one of the top defenses in the Pac-10, leading the way in total defense and scoring defense. That could make for an interesting clash Saturday, because for all their troubles this season, the Cougars have been explosive offensively.  WSU is third in the conference in total offense and its 504-yard per game average is good for seventh in the nation. Running back Jerome Harrison leads the Pac-10 in rushing and is coming off a 260-yard effort last weekend against UCLA. The Cougars (3-3, 0-3) are reeling from losses to Oregon State, Stanford and UCLA. The offense has struggled to find consistency, the defense has had problems getting stops and the losses have all been heart-breakers. Match-ups with No. 1 USC and No. 15 Oregon await WSU down the stretch.  “We need to win pretty quick cause you’ve got a tough game coming up after this one and you gotta get that skid stopped somewhere,” said WSU head coach Bill Doba.