If Cal football coach Jeff Tedford needed any motivational techniques for his team while preparing to meet UCLA tonight, Oregon State provided it last weekend with its upset victory of USC. More than motivation, it reinforces the gospel Tedford has preached and the team has ridden to success not experienced in Strawberry Canyon since the Pappy Waldorf days of the late 1950s. The Bears (7-1, 5-0 Pacific-10 Conference) have won seven consecutive games and realize that winning at least three of their last four games -- including a victory at USC on Nov. 18 -- will take them to their first Rose Bowl since 1959. The Bruins (4-4, 2-3) have lost three consecutive games. However, Tedford is wary entering the 5 p.m. game at Memorial Stadium. And he has said all season that any team in the conference is capable of defeating another. "There's a lot of football to be played, and every team in our conference is playing well," Tedford said earlier this week at a news conference. "It's one game at a time. UCLA's a good football team, and they're coming in here really anxious to get a win."
When it comes to anxiety, though, the highest quantity might exist with longtime Cal backers. "If Cal goes to the Rose Bowl," said Jim Muldoon, assistant commissioner of the Pac-10, "it's going to be huge in the Bay Area. I say that only because our offices are (in Walnut Creek), and I already have been begun to be asked about tickets." The conference winner receives an automatic berth to the Rose Bowl, and that would be fine for most old-school Blue supporters.
"I think for many older Blues," Muldoon said, "getting to the Rose Bowl after all of these years would kind of be their holy grail. I doubt one game at a stadium in Glendale, Ariz., (for the national championship) could match that." Only one team in the Pac-10, Arizona, has had as long a wait for a Rose Bowl appearance. Arizona has yet to earn a Rose Bowl shot, and the Wildcats joined the conference in 1978, Muldoon said. The Bears enter this evening's game coming off a timely bye. They spoke about using the week off to heal nagging wounds such as running back Marshawn Lynch's sore ankle. Lynch, a junior All-America candidate, is an extremely impressive physical specimen. There are NFL players who wouldn't hesitate to exchange bodies with Lynch. Yet he might not be completely healthy. "We rested him quite a bit last week," Tedford said of Lynch, who is listed at 5-foot-11 and 217 pounds. "We forced him to rest. He wanted to practice." Luckily for the Bears and Tedford, Justin Forsett backs up Lynch, who leads the conference with 907 rushing yards. The two junior running backs get the job done effectively but differently. And Tedford has myriad offensive weapons. Sophomore wide receiver DeSean Jackson has 36 catches for 622 yards and this week was selected as a semifinalist for the Fred Biletnikoff Award, which goes to the nation's most outstanding receiver. The team's leading receiver and second-leading scorer, Jackson has eight receiving touchdowns and scored two as a punt returner.
Add Lavelle Hawkins, Robert Jordan and tight end Bryan Storer, and quarterback Nate Longshore has a bevy of options. Longshore, only a sophomore, has a steady hand and has shown a penchant this season for making big plays. The Bears, who lead the Pac-10 with a plus-10 turnover margin, have speed on both sides of the ball. Cal's quickness and talent, combined with Tedford's discipline and coaching, have made the Bears a Rose Bowl and national title contender. Undoubtedly, as USC found out last weekend in Corvallis, Ore., there is much drama to unfold at this level. Tedford only hopes no soapopera action pops up tonight against the Bruins.
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