Sac Bee: Cal report: Loss isn't lingering, according to Tedford

By Ryan Lillis -- Bee Staff Writer
BERKELEY - As the coach of a football team with so many young faces, it's not surprising that Cal's Jeff Tedford is concerned how his Bears will bounce back from their first loss of the season, a 47-40 tough-beat Saturday against UCLA. But any concerns Tedford had were more or less wiped away at Monday's practice."(The players have) always been more resilient than the coaches," Tedford said at a Tuesday news conference. "I think they're anxious to play again and get that taste out of their mouth." If that's the case, consider Oregon State the mouthwash. The Beavers, coming off their bye week, will bring a two-game win streak at Memorial Stadium into Saturday's game in Berkeley. Oregon State (3-2, 1-1) features one of the nation's top receivers in senior Mike Hass, a former walk-on who's averaging a nation-leading 166.2 receiving yards a game. After Hass, however, there's a large drop-off for a team that ranks ninth in the Pacific-10 Conference in rushing and last in total defense.
Something else the Beavers don't possess is the thing that killed Cal (5-1, 2-1) against UCLA: a special teams threat like the Bruins' Maurice Drew. Tedford's staff is still aching over Drew's 182 return yards Saturday night that included an 81-yard punt return for a touchdown and a 69-yard return that set up another score. "(Special teams coach Pete Alamar) has a good attitude, and he's just really anxious to improve on what we did last week," Tedford said. "We're all in this together. The coaches take it hard." The Beavers' top special teams threat is sophomore Lamar Herron, a Natomas High School graduate whose 29.1-yard average on kick returns ranks second in the Pac-10. While much of the talk this week has been on how the special teams would respond to the UCLA loss, the offense is taking things in stride. Cal amassed 545 yards against the Bruins, including a season-high 330 on the ground, but fell from No. 10 to No. 18 in the Associated Press weekly poll. "There really hasn't been much talk about the loss," said senior right tackle Ryan O'Callaghan, who broke his right wrist against UCLA but is expected to play against Oregon State while wearing a soft cast. "We scored what, 40 points? Offensively, everyone pretty much has their heads up."
Valley watch - Senior center Marvin Philip aggravated a rib injury against UCLA but "he'll be fine," Tedford said. The Oak Ridge High graduate is expected to start this week. Redshirt freshman Worrell Williams from Grant High had three unassisted tackles against the Bruins.