Monday, December 08, 2008

Contra Costa Times: Payback against Washington was sweet for Cal Bears

Saturday's game against winless Washington really had no impact on the postseason. But it could have made a serious dent in the legacy of the 2008 Cal Bears.  Win or lose, the Bears were going to finish in fourth place in the Pac-10 and go the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco. But a loss would have prevented an undefeated season at home, resulted in a failure to avenge last year's ugly defeat in Seattle and left Cal's seniors with a nightmarish memory of their final game at Memorial Stadium.  That's why coach Jeff Tedford did something he never does — take a tour of the locker room before the game and make sure his players had the right mind-set.  They obviously did. Sophomore tailback Jahvid Best set a Cal record with 311 yards rushing, and the Bears dominated the hapless Huskies from the opening kick in a 48-7 rout in front of 50,038, the lowest attendance in Berkeley since 2003.

"I was a little bit more on edge," Tedford said. "I probably tried to tighten the screws just a little bit just to make sure that we understood. I just tried to get the mood where it needed to be. I just kind of went through the locker room and picked out some guys who were laughing a little bit. We needed to get our game face on."  Best had his on. On Cal's second play from scrimmage, he burst through the line for a 60-yard touchdown run. He added scoring runs of 1, 20 and 84 yards and threw in two other jaunts of 53 and 34 yards.  Best surpassed Cal's previous record of 283 yards, set by Jerry Drew against Oregon State in 1954. Best broke the mark on a 34-yard run early in the third quarter before leaving the game. His performance also was the fourth-best in Pac-10 history and the fourth-best in the country this season.

Best entered the day trailing Oregon State's Jacquizz Rodgers by 170 yards in the race for the Pac-10 rushing title. He now has 1,394 yards in 11 games. His performance also boosted his season-average to 126.7 yards per game, topping Rodgers' mark of 113.9 (also in 11 games). The rushing title will be decided after both backs play in their bowl games.

"I had the rushing title in the back of my head, so I knew I had to have a big day," said Best, whose career-high had been 201 yards against Stanford in Cal's previous game. "I was getting some great blocks, and that made it easier for me."  Emerald Bowl officials had to wait until about 90 minutes after the game to make sure USC defeated UCLA. The Bears officially accepted the invitation after that. Cal's opponent won't become official until today, but Emerald Bowl executive director Gary Cavalli said it is "very likely" it will be Miami. The Emerald Bowl is on Dec. 27 at AT&T Park. "It's a good bowl, and it will be fun to play in front of the home fans one more time," Cal center Alex Mack said. "I've been to San Francisco a bunch of times so I know it's a fun place to be. Some people don't get to play in a bowl game so we should be thankful. It's fun to get pampered and get put in a hotel. It's always fun."

Cal's defense, motivated by a horrible performance during a 37-23 loss at Washington last season, held the anemic Huskies to just 200 yards of offense and forced three turnovers, which the Bears turned into 10 points.  Cornerback Darian Hagan had two interceptions to give the Bears' 23 on the season, their highest total since 1953 and the third-best mark in the country this season. "We had a little revenge factor and had to get some respect back," Cal linebacker Zack Follett said. "We went out there and did that."

Tedford planned to take Best out after his 84-yard scoring run put him over the 200-yard mark (269). Best had taken off his elbow brace, but when informed he was close to the school record, Tedford told Best to go back into the game. "They told me I was done, so I was getting ready to relax a little bit," Best said. "He came back and told me I needed 15 more yards, so I put (the brace) back on and was ready to go to war again. It was so quick that I was still in the mind-set of playing."  Washington became the first Pac-10 team ever to go 0-12. It also marked the last game of former Stanford coach Tyrone Willingham's tenure in Seattle. He was fired midseason but allowed to finish out the year.

"There is a sense of disappointment," Willingham said. "Disappointment for our young men and disappointment for the Husky program, that we didn't get done what I came here to do. I become a normal citizen today."

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