Many Bears aching, and rest should help before final four games
By Jay Heater, MEDIANEWS STAFF
BERKELEY — Just after his team survived a wild encounter against Washington on Saturday at Memorial Stadium, relieved Cal coach Jeff Tedford talked about the importance of the upcoming bye week. Tedford noted that his players are beaten up after their 7-1 overall start, 5-0 Pac-10, and the break in the schedule will give them some rest before embarking on the four-game stretch that will end the regular season. However, health isn't the only issue facing the Bears, if they expect to earn their first Rose Bowl bid since 1958. After scoring 40 points or more in a school-record five consecutive games, Cal's offense sputtered the past two games in wins over Washington State and Washington.
Cal scored just two offensive touchdowns during regulation of Saturday's 31-24 overtime win against the Huskies, and the Bears have scored six touchdowns in the past two games combined. That from a team that appeared to be unstoppable less than a month ago. "You have to give Washington credit, they played very well," Cal offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar said. "And we stopped ourselves. The timing of our passing game was not very good early, for whatever reason. Everything we do is based on our ability to stretch the field, and we didn't do that. If you become one-dimensional, you are a lot easier to stop. "We probably got a little conservative."
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